History Characters / DragonAgeAnders

[[center:[-[[Characters/DragonAge Main Character Index]] > [[Characters/DragonAgeRecurringPartyMembers Recurring Party Members]] > [[Characters/DragonAgeAlistair Alistair]] | '''Anders''' | [[Characters/DragonAgeCassandraPentaghast Cassandra Pentaghast]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeLeliana Leliana]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeLoghainMacTir Loghain Mac Tir]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeMerrill Merrill]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeMorrigan Morrigan]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeVarricTethras Varric Tethras]] -]]]

!!'''Anders'''
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' | ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''
!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/GregEllis (''Dragon Age Origins - Awakening''), Creator/AdamHowden (''Dragon Age II'') (English); Tammo Kaulbarsch (German); Jacek Bończyk (Polish)

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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes In ''Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dao_anders.jpg]]
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->''"Most people enjoy being kicked in the head to be woken up each morning. Me, I'm just so picky."''
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An apostate who despises blood magic almost as much as the Chantry does. Despite this, the Chantry still sees him as a threat, and keeps him locked up. Since Anders values freedom above all else, he has made many, many, ''many'' escape attempts. He finally succeeds when the new Warden-Commander invokes the Right of Conscription to save him from being dragged back to the tower once again.
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* AmbiguousSituation: While he claims to be innocent when accused directly, it's never revealed whether or not if he actually murdered his Templar captors, or just sat back to watch and let the Darkspawn do it for him.
* AppropriatedAppellation: When he was initially brought to the Circle as a child, he refused to speak. Not knowing his true name, other apprentices started to call him "the Ander" because of his Anders heritage. This became the only name he later uses.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Tries to invoke this with Nathaniel, whom he notes is also hated for who he is. Nathaniel is slightly annoyed by the oversimplification.
* BoxedCrook: He can be saved from death sentence for the supposed murder of the templars who were guarding him, but only if the Warden invokes the Right of Conscription.
* {{Claustrophobia}}: If brought to the Deep Roads, he nervously notes the miles and miles of rock over the party's heads. "Is this a bad time to tell you I'm claustrophobic?" It's hard to say how serious he's being, but he claims to have spent a long time in solitary confinement - an entire ''year'' after his sixth unsuccessful escape attempt.
* CombatMedic: His default specialization is Spirit Healer.
* [[CrazyCatLady Crazy Cat Dude]]: He loves the kitty he can be given in ''Awakening,'' and reminisces fondly about his previous pet.
* CuteKitten:
** He had one in the Circle called Mr. Wiggums, which later got possessed by a Rage Demon and killed at least three Templars before being defeated. Anders considers that Mr. Wiggums' proudest moment.
** Ser Pounce-A-Lot, the kitten that the Warden-Commander can give him. In ''Dragon Age II'', he says that the Wardens made him give it up for "making him soft."
* CutenessProximity: Towards Ser Pounce-A-Lot.
* DeadpanSnarker
-->'''Nathaniel''': Do you always wear robes?\\
'''Anders''': Not when I'm naked, I don't.
* {{Determinator}}: "After my seventh escape attempt, you'd think they'd have given me credit for trying."
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He's introduced incinerating the Darkspawn who just killed his Templar handlers. Then he switches to dorkily wagging his fingers as though going "hot, hot, hot", before denying he killed the Templars and making a [[GallowsHumor pretty dark joke]] about the noises they made when they went down.
-->'''Warden''': That's inhuman!\\
'''Anders''': That's what ''he'' would call me whenever he kicked me in the head, so I guess it was pretty accurate.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** If questioned, he reveals that he's actually ''really'' pissed off with the Templars and wishes he could have a harem, a banquet, and the ability to rain fireballs upon every Templar in creation. The latter basically sums up his personality and actions in ''Dragon Age II''.
** He also makes the observation "Bet they regret that rule," when explaining that the only reason he's avoided being made Tranquil is that it's illegal to do that to a mage who has passed their Harrowing. In ''Dragon Age II'', Anders rages that things are so far gone in the Kirkwall Circle that the Templars ''are'' disregarding that rule.
** There's a scene where the Warden-Commander destroys a religious statue, and Anders comments that he's "always up for a spot of light iconoclasm." [[spoiler: Again, rather dark, considering his actions in [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII the second game]]]].
** After helping the Warden-Commander retake Vigil's Keep, his reaction to the Templar who attempts to arrest him and bring him back to the Circle to face justice for the Templars he ([[AmbiguousSituation supposedly]]) "murdered" during his latest escape.
--->'''Anders''': Oh, ''please'', the things you know about justice would fit into a thimble...
* FormallyNamedPet: Ser Pounce-a-Lot and Mr. Wiggums, although the latter got the name from an elf mage who liked hats with cat ears.
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Downplayed. His next-to-last escape from the Circle before the beginning of ''Awakening'' has earned him a year of solitary confinement, and the only living creature he was allowed to see during this time was a tower cat, which explains his affinity for them. He appears to be laid-back in his interactions with the Warden, but he occasionally lets slip that imprisonment had a profound negative effect on him:
-->'''Anders''': If I didn't have perspective, I'd still be sitting in a templar dungeon drooling on my smallclothes.
* HappyEndingOverride: The epilogues where he happily settles in with the Wardens, as they eventually countenance Templar harassment, attack him after he merges with Justice, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking confiscate his pet cat]].
* HealerSignsOnEarly: He is the second [[spoiler:(first, if the player counts Mhairi's unfortunate demise)]] party member the Warden-Commander encounters during the opening, and he can be recruited pretty much straight away. He comes back shortly after Oghren's arrival even if the player decides to let him run.
* {{Hypocrite}}: While not ''nearly'' to the extent as the next game, Anders does lament what mages suffer this game, and dismisses an Elven Warden who tries to bring up that their people suffer too. "No one ever locks ''you'' up for being what you are." They're called ''[[FantasticGhetto alienages]]'', Anders.
* {{Irony}}: If the player makes him a Blood Mage, he lampshades the irony of it all.
* KindHeartedCatLover: Anders is very fond of cats.
* LivingLegend: He's infamous among both Mages and Templars as the most prolific escape artist in the Ferelden Circle's history. According to Finn in ''Witch Hunt'', Anders is the reason that Mages no longer do physical fitness exercises outside... after he ducked past the Templars, jumped off the dock, and swam across Lake Calenhad to freedom.
* LovableSexManiac: Comes off as one. He claims that mages wear robes because it allows them to have illicit quickies without the fuss of buttons.
* MindRape: Suggested in his comments during the Joining that he may fear being made Tranquil, as further evidenced by what happens to mages in Kirkwall in ''Dragon Age II''.
* MiseryPoker: Again, not nearly to the extent of the next game, but he does engage in this a bit. If an Elven Warden tries to point out their people are oppressed too, Anders dismisses them by saying no one ever locks ''you'' up for what you are... seemingly forgetting what [[FantasticGhetto alienages]] are for.
* MrFanservice: A surprising number of fangirls and fanboys wish Anders was a romance option. After Alistair and Zevran, he probably generates the most sexy fanart. Then ''Dragon Age II'' makes him a full love interest for both genders.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: If you let him keep running after your first meeting, he comes back to help you anyway, as the darkspawn need to be stopped. This gives the templars a chance to catch up with him, paring his options down to "conscription" or "dragged back to the Circle."
* TheNotLoveInterest: Anders is arguably the closest thing to a romance in ''Awakening'', but even then it never actually goes anywhere with the female Warden-Commander.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: His EstablishingCharacterMoment, no less! The Warden walks in on him using fire magic to burn Darkspawn to a crisp, with the charred corpses of Templars lying nearby. His response? "Uh, I didn't do it."
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Anders is not his real name; he was given the nickname because he was originally from the Anderfels. His real name is [[TheUnreveal never revealed]], not even in ''DAII''.
* PermaStubble: Sports one of these.
* PrisonEscapeArtist: has escaped from the Circle Tower (which is on an island in the middle of a lake and heavily guarded by armed and armored Templars with AntiMagic) seven times. Of course, he kept getting recaptured, and once spent a year in solitary, but...
* PubertySuperpower: His magical abilities first manifested at the age of 12 when he accidentally set a barn on fire.
* SadClown: There are a few scenes in ''Awakening'' which hint that the situation that mages face hurts him more than he lets on. His talkativeness can be also partially attributed to his previous isolation -- he's been released from a year long solitary confinement shortly before the beginning of the game:
-->'''Anders''': ''(sadly)'' Never mind me, now and again I recall that I'm not sitting in a cell and I have to smile, that's all.
* ShipTease: His banter with the female PC is as close as ''Awakening'' gets to an actual romance.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes In ''Dragon Age II'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/da2_anders.png]]
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->''"There will always be mages born in Thedas. But Templars are made by men... and they can be unmade."''

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In ''Dragon Age II,'' Anders has left the Grey Wardens and come to Kirkwall to use his healing magic to help refugees. He is the current host of the Spirit of Justice. He is a romance option for a Hawke of either gender.

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* AesopAmnesia:
** If he's brought along for ''Legacy'', the revelation of Corypheus' origins shakes him up so badly that he declares he will reconsider whether the Chantry might have a valid point about the danger of mages. He doesn't, of course.
** He experiences a combination of this and IgnoredEpiphany after his personal quest in Act 2. [[spoiler:If Ella survives, he tries to put aside his cause to learn to rein in Justice. Unfortunately, because of how bad the situation in Kirkwall has gotten by Act 3, the obsession soon returns worse than ever. If Ella dies, his HeroicBSOD is much worse, but he doesn't put aside his cause, instead throwing himself in more than ever [[IveComeTooFar so it won't all be in vain. ]]It's very possible that Justice just flat out ''won't let'' these moments sink in.]]
* AllLoveIsUnrequited:
** It's implied that Anders falls in love with Hawke even if he is not romanced, as not starting his romance at the first opportunity nets rivalry points. Obviously, this is subverted if Hawke does romance him, where Anders states that he's been "aching for" Hawke for the past three years, pretty much proving that he falls in love with Hawke either way.
** This is implied to be true for both him and Justice, given Justice's comments on the nature of love in ''Awakening;'' he does not return the love of Kristoff's wife, but he still wants to experience such a love. However, Anders tells a romanced Hawke that "Justice disapproves of my obsession with you."
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: InUniverse. By the time of ''Inquisition'', just about every single character has VERY strong opinions on Anders and his actions, ranging from people seeing him as a [[AntiHero brave freedom fighter]] to a monster. Depending on their relationship, Hawke can agree with any of these portrayals or argue that none of them properly capture Anders' complexities.
-->'''Inquisitor''': What was he like?\\
'''Hawke''': ''[[ByronicHero Complicated.]]'' It's... not like the minstrels make it out to be.
* AndIMustScream: Says this almost verbatim in a piece of banter with Merrill.
-->'''Anders''': [[spoiler: [Being an Abomination] ]] is like being trapped in your own body. Seeing out your eyes, while someone else moves you like a puppet, and you're trying to scream, to move a single muscle, but there's no escape.
* AntiHero: To start with [[spoiler: but he later slides down the scale until he becomes an UnscrupulousHero, or goes through a straight up FaceHeelTurn, depending on the player's stance on the mage-Templar conflict.]]
* TheAtoner:
** Can potentially become this if the player has him at high rivalry and tries to convince him that his [[spoiler:merging with Justice was wrong and that there are other ways for mages to win their freedom, so that he will join Hawke when he sides with the Templars.]]
** [[spoiler:Even if the player sides with the mages, Hawke (and Merrill) can choose to invoke this as a reason to spare him. He implies that he agrees with this, saying that he'll try not to make so much of a mess out of his second chance at life.]]
* BagOfSpilling: By the end of ''Awakening'', Anders was [[TheArchmage an archmage]] who probably could have taken on Urthemiel single-handedly. In ''II'', he joins the party with single-digit levels and only a basic healing, repulsion, and ice spell.
* BatmanGambit: He knew exactly how Meredith would react when he [[spoiler:destroyed the Chantry and he was depending on it for his plan to work. It did.]]
* BeatTheCurseOutOfHim: During ''Legacy'', [[spoiler: Corypheus's influence briefly causes him to snap - Justice's voice takes over, but demons start appearing around him. After the fight, he stays lucid and on Hawke's side for the rest of the campaign.]]
* BerserkButton:
** The Templars, and the foundation upon which they stand, including the Circle and the Chantry. But especially Templars.
** BloodMagic as well, to a slightly lesser extent. Of course, part of why Blood Magic offends him so much is that it's the main thing the Templars use to justify confining mages.
** His reaction to Karl being made [[FateWorseThanDeath Tranquil]], causing Justice to manifest;
--->'''Justice''': ''You will '''never''' take another mage as you took him!''
* BettyAndVeronica: Is the Betty in most possible LoveTriangle combinations being fiercely loyal to Hawke. The only cases where he becomes the Veronica is when up against Chantry brother Sebastian and sweet and ditzy Merrill
* BigBrotherMentor: To Bethany, though she finds him more reminiscent of her father than anything else. Sadly, he becomes rather snarky towards her [[spoiler:if she goes to the Circle, which he sees as throwing away the kind of freedom he always wanted.]]
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Even before [[spoiler: Justice/Vengeance corrupts him so badly]] by the events of Act 3, Anders has a very simple view on the mage-templar conflict: all mages (as long as they're not maleficars) are good, and all templars (even some of the more reasonable and well-meaning ones) are pure evil. Then as the years go by, Anders becomes [[spoiler: slowly more irrationally convinced that the cause of mage freedom, or at least his view of it, is the real distinguishing mark of morality and that anyone who disagrees (even other mages) is his enemy. This is a result of Justice exerting more and more influence.]]
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: More subtle than most, but the presence of Justice fundamentally alters Anders' viewpoints on a lot of things. Having a significant part of who and what you are made up of an entity formed around an unyielding concept, coupled with the lack of an understanding of time (time is irrelevant in the Fade, so Justice doesn't understand the concept of "waiting"), creates a distinct slant on his perceptions. It doesn't excuse his actions, but it does make them understandable.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy:
** If brought along for [[spoiler: ''Legacy'', Anders becomes a thrall of Corypheus. He snaps out of it after a brief boss fight. If Anders is alive and in a relationship with Hawke at the time of ''Inquisition'', Hawke says that Anders is being kept out of the action specifically to prevent this from happening again.]]
** One interpretation of [[spoiler: his actions in Act 3 was that Justice pushed him to destroy the Chantry. During his [[ShutUpHannibal speech to Meredith and Orsino]], the player can hear Justice's deep voice intermixed with his words, implying that he's just below the surface and barely contained.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Anders was flirty and cheerful with a soft spot for cats in ''Awakening''. Things change big time in this game... well, save for the love of cats.
* BrokenPedestal: Potentially with Hawke or Bethany. He places them on a high pedestal of living the ideal apostate life, having been trained by a loving father. Anders' image of them can come crashing down if Hawke is Pro-Circle or just disinterested. [[spoiler: If Bethany joins the Circle, he acts a lot harsher towards her.]]
* ByronicHero: He got into the cause for mage justice, freedom and equality with the best of intentions. As time goes on, those intentions drive him to increasingly ambiguous extremes (though the spirit[=/=]demon in his head helps some too) until he comes pretty damn close to the PointOfNoReturn.
* CombatMedic: Still retains his healing powers. He uses them on sick refugees in Kirkwall.
* CrazyJealousGuy:
** Whether romanced or not. If Hawke romances Merrill or Fenris, [[GreenEyedMonster he states his disapproval]] in the bluntest and most hypocritical ways imaginable during "Justice" in Act 3.
** In spite of the above example, he unusually doesn't act anywhere near as envious or nasty if Hawke romances Isabela, even if the player has Hawke and Isabela genuinely fall for each other rather than just say as FriendsWithBenefits, and doesn't question Hawke even once about their relationship in Act 3. This does get lampshaded in one party banter, but only if Hawke slept with Isabela but then romanced Merrill afterwards. Reasoning for this could be because he doesn't hate Isabela nor does she go against everything he stands for, unlike Merrill and Fenris.
---> '''Anders''': Hawke was a fool to let you move in. You'll only betray him/her. That's all your kind can do.\\
'''Merrill''': Why do you only do this to me? Are you jealous? You don't get upset about Hawke and Isabela.\\
'''Anders''': You can't really get jealous of someone for sleeping with Isabela. It's just... ''understood''.
* CruelMercy:
** [[spoiler: Letting him live after he blows up the Chantry.]]
** Or even worse, [[spoiler:convincing him to side with the Templars.]]
* CynicismCatalyst: He comes to Kirkwall in the first place to rescue Karl, his friend and ex-lover... only to learn Karl has already been [[FateWorseThanDeath made Tranquil]], and is being used to draw Anders and Hawke into an ambush by the Templars. After the fight, Anders gives him a MercyKill at his request. Anders is a lot grimmer after this.
* DarkIsEvil: He becomes [[spoiler:noticeably more ruthless in Act 3, when his outfit turns black.]]
* DarkMessiah:
** Has hordes of the poor and needy willing to risk their lives to protect him? Check. Dedicated his life to creating a better system for his people? Check. Willing to sacrifice everything, including his own life and the lives of others, to achieve this? [[SelfSacrificeScheme Oh so very much check.]] He even compares his situation to Andraste's once or twice, to Sebastian's disgust.
** [[spoiler:Averted if Hawke is in a Rivalry with him, though; he breaks down and sees himself not as a savior, but as just another monstrosity to be put down.]]
* DeadManWalking: By the third act, he's convinced that he is this. [[spoiler:It turns out this is because he knows he will most likely be executed after igniting the mage/Templar war.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: [[BerserkButton Just don't ask him about the Chantry]].
* DeathSeeker: In the end, he wishes death regardless of Hawke's attitude towards him, but for different reasons:
** on Rivalry path, it is due to his difficulty in keeping Justice under control.
** on Friendship path, he wants the people [[spoiler:whom he killed]] to receive justice as well.
* DemonicPossession: Originally, Anders allowed his friend Justice, who was a benign spirit, to possess him; but Anders' inherent anger at the injustices against mages perverted Justice into Vengeance. If Hawke has achieved full Rivalry with Anders, [[spoiler:Justice will take over his body to stop him from going back on blowing up the chantry after Hawke convinces him not to. Before the final battle, Anders will straight up say Justice possessed him to do what he did while on the Friendship path Anders will claim full responsibility for blowing up the Chantry. Anders isn't using Justice's possession of him as an excuse to escape culpability. He considers himself a monster and asks Hawke to kill him and in one path hints he plans to kill himself afterwards.]]
* DistressedDude: Should he be the hostage in "Best Served Cold," he's embarrassed that Hawke had to rescue him and quips that he's never thought of himself as a damsel in distress. On the other hand, see NightmareFetishist.
* DreadfulMusician: If he moves into the estate, Hawke notes that playing the lute isn't one of his many talents.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:After he destroys the Chantry, he acknowledges that it's Hawke's duty to judge him for it, and is unsurprised - and possibly appreciative - if Hawke chooses to kill him. Also, if his Rivalry is at maximum, and he's convinced to side with the Templars, he implies as well that he will kill himself after the battle is done.]]
* DrJerk: Variation. He's quite kind to his patients, to the point that they're willing to risk their lives for him. Everyone else who doesn't share his views, however, is open for jerkery and much worse.
* EnemyMine: With Fenris, and Merrill to a lesser extent by Act 2. [[spoiler:As time goes on and his paranoia increases, he starts treating ''everybody'' (aside from, possibly, Hawke and Varric) with suspicion.]]
* TheExtremistWasRight:
** The flavor text of the Magehunter shield in ''Inquisition'' tells of a previous misuse of the Right of Annulment. In 3:09 Towers, twenty-five years after the Right was first granted, the Circle of Magi in Antiva City was annulled to cover up the fact that its Knight-Captain was a serial killer who murdered over a hundred mages out of pure bigotry. While the Seekers eventually hunted him down and punished him, they assisted the Templars in covering up the incident, leaving the rest of the Circles completely ignorant of the truth, and there is no mention of them punishing the Knight-Commander for Annulling a Circle under false pretenses. Background chatter in the second game reveals that Meredith had gone over Elthina's head and petitioned the Divine for [[spoiler:the Right of Annulment for the Kirkwall Circle. By [[BatmanGambit provoking Meredith into jumping the gun instead of waiting for the Divine's permission.]], Anders prevented yet another silent [[DeadlyEuphemism annulment]] of mages, this time in Kirkwall.]]
** Anders's insistence that the Circle system must be destroyed through an open rebellion rather than peacefully reformed is validated in one of three endings of ''Inquisition'' [[spoiler: where Leliana is named Divine. After the mage-templar war, she dissolves the said system, granting the mages their freedom and creating widespread mage acceptance. The Circles stand in the other two endings, but with varying levels of reforms that most likely wouldn't have happened without the war, so the trope is either played straight, downplayed, or averted depending on player choices.]]
* EvilCostumeSwitch: "Evil" is a simplification, but he switches to a black, buttoned-up version of his outfit after his Act 3 personal quest.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Possibly subverted, as the player can [[spoiler:choose not to kill him.]]
* FallenHero: Anders mostly just wanted to look out for numero uno back in ''Awakening'', but he was also a fairly good-hearted guy happy to do the right thing. He hasn't ''quite'' become a villain, but it becomes readily apparent over time that he's slowly slipping into [[WellIntentionedExtremist good intentions, very bad methods]] territory.
* FateWorseThanDeath:
** He sees being made Tranquil as this, with plenty of corroboration from [[MercyKill Karl]].
** [[spoiler: And if the player makes him side with the Templars through the rivalry route.]]
* FightingFromTheInside: Anders must constantly push back the influence of Justice or become a true abomination and lose himself.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Fenris, who loathes mages. Both have similar backgrounds as members of oppressed populations and share an unreasonable hatred of anybody belonging to the same groups as their oppressors. They both enjoy taking the opportunity to somewhat pettily snipe at anybody who disagrees with their views, especially each other. They also both particularly despise blood magic. The only notable difference between them, aside from their opinions, is that Fenris [[spoiler: hasn't started a war yet.]]
** To Merrill. Even though he isn't a blood mage like she is, both of them dealt with potentially dangerous Fade spirits... [[spoiler: with terrible consequences for themselves and others]].
** To Aveline in that they are both devoted to their causes and have a lost love interest. The similarity increases if Aveline was the one to MercyKill Wesley.
* {{Foreshadowing}}
** Check out the banter between him and Justice (as well as Justice and Nathaniel) in ''Awakening''. Heads will explode.
** Anders generally has the strongest aversion to the Lyrium Idol out of all party members. [[spoiler: As the only Grey Warden in Hawke's team, this sets up the reveal in ''Inquisition'' that Red Lyrium is infected by the Blight, and thus would alert a Warden's senses.]]
* FreudianExcuse: Revealed to Hawke in brief rambling in his clinic. From a young age he was estranged from his home, terrorized and confined by Templars. If he had a sense of the injustice, it blurred with his lifelong grudge, begetting vengeance.
** A damaged journal found in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' that is implied to have been written by Anders suggests that his [[InitiationCeremony Harrowing]] was a particularly traumatic experience.
** ''The World of Thedas: Volume 2'' gives us more insight. Before his magic manifested, he was a carefree, cheerful young boy, beloved by his parents and very popular with the other children in his village; the discovery of his magic and his subsequent abduction by the Templars took all of that away from him, causing him to resent his new loss of freedom even more strongly. On top of this, while he ran away several times when he was young, there was a period of time where he made no effort to leave due to having found something in the Circle that made him happy and grounded: his relationship with Karl. He started running away again when Karl was moved to the Kirkwall Circle, trying and failing to make passage to Kirkwall to be with his lover again. It's easier to see how he came to feel that the Circle system took away not just his freedom, but his loved ones as well.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Most other party members don't like how he keeps talking about mages and Templars. Anders, for his part, agitates them by insulting or instigating fights with his fellow party members at every opportunity. The fact that he's possessed by a hostile Fade spirit doesn't help matters. By the time Act 3 rolls around, no one in the party can stand him. Not even [[NiceGuy Varric]]. [[spoiler: When asked for opinions on whether to execute him, only Merrill says anything in his defense, and she doesn't give any objections if you do decide to kill him[[note]]a ''very'' stark contrast from her reaction if Hawke gives Fenris, who treats her worse than Anders, back to Danarius to where she'll even give Rivalry points[[/note]], Isabela and Varric are neutral while Sebastian, Aveline and Fenris openly want to kill him.]]
* FridgeHorror:
** He gets an InUniverse one. For much of the game, he talks about how Justice used to be as though he were a paragon of virtue. After losing control of Justice [[spoiler:and almost/killing a young girl]], Merrill explains to him that there has ''never'' been a "good" spirit and that they are ''all'' dangerous. That he is totally silent after learning this says it all. Again, if Hawke is on a Rival path, he finally comes to terms with it after [[spoiler:blowing up the Chantry]].
** It gets worse at the beginning of Act 3. Anders confides that even he's scared that lately he's started experiencing blackouts, which previously had only happened when Justice took over, when Anders lost control. This implies that [[SplitPersonalityTakeover Justice is now manifesting at will, and now seeks to control Anders]].
* GayOption: For male Hawkes.
* GetOut: Hawke can do this as a CruelMercy after blowing up the Chantry. [[spoiler: If Hawke sides with the mages after doing this, Anders shows up at the Gallows, asking if he can help them fight. Hawke can refuse and tell him to leave again, at which point Anders ''finally'' gets the hint he is no longer welcome, bids Hawke good luck, and leaves permanently.]]
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Whenever he starts losing himself to Justice, his eyes glow blue.
* GoodVictimsBadVictims: He's obsessed with helping mages until they turn out to blood mages--then their plight is their own fault. It even gets to the point that he tends to excuse all mage violence against Templars as "self-defense," but if a maleficar uses blood magic for the same reason he condemns it as actions that makes "good mages" like himself look bad. He also draws a clear line in the sand between mages communing with "good spirits" like he did (Justice), and "bad" demons like Merrill did (Audacity).
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Nicknamed "Blondie" by Varric, but the trope is continually zigzagged; he's grim and understands that change for mages will come slowly, if at all, though he does get a few kind moments in from time to time. By Act 3, [[AvertedTrope very little of his kind-healer-fighting-against-his-darker-side persona remains.]]
* HeadbuttingHeroes:
** He and Sebastian clash quite a bit.
** He goes back and forth between having this vibe and a VitriolicBestBuds one with Aveline, depending on the day and topic of discussion. Aveline might have gotten along better with him if some of their first conversations didn't involve her calling him [[DamnedByFaintPraise better than she would have expected]] [[YouAreACreditToYourRace from someone like him]] (though she then clarifies that [[DiscriminateAndSwitch she was talking about the refugees in Darktown]]) and later asking him for tips on how to take down apostates. [[DisproportionateRetribution He returns the favor tenfold]] with some nasty comments about [[DudeNotFunny Aveline's sex life and making fun of her dead husband.]]
* HearingVoices: The rest of the party occasionally refer to Justice as a voice in Anders' head, though it's a bit more complicated than that. [[spoiler:If he comes along for ''Legacy'', he eventually starts hearing Corypheus' voice in his head as well and briefly is forced under his control.]]
* HeroicBSOD: When Justice [[spoiler:(almost) kills a mage girl they had just saved from being made Tranquil]], he realizes his control is slipping. While Hawke may help him through this (or not), the codex says he abandons the cause of mages for a few years in regret.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Though we never see it, and he never tells Hawke outright so they won't have to lie to Aveline, over the course of the game it is heavily implied that Anders has been doing things such as breaking into the Gallows, fighting Templars to rescue mages, helping apostates flee the cities, and other such dramatic actions. Not that Hawke's other companions have dull lives, but most aren't quite as fraught as his seems.
* HeroWorshipper: Points out that Mage Hawke has done much to help the plight of mages in the city and could easily be the leader the Underground so desperately needs. Hawke's stubborn refusal to get into politics eventually forces Anders to implement his own "solution" to the problem.
* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: [[spoiler:First hint something's wrong during "Justice". He keeps glancing around nervously and sometimes just trails off or switches tracks in the middle of a sentence.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Eventually [[spoiler: blows up the Chantry, with the Grand Cleric and more than a hundred people inside so that a compromise cannot be reached and the mages and Templars will ''have'' to fight a war. Not to mention turning Justice possessing him into Vengeance to use the phrase more literally.]]
-->'''Anders''': [[spoiler: I removed the chance of compromise, because there is no compromise!]]
* HotBlooded: Deconstructed. His passion for mage liberation is what [[spoiler:kicks off the Mage-Templar war.]]
* HumanoidAbomination: He has been possessed by the Spirit of Justice, who becomes a Demon of Vengeance. If he's a Rival, [[ItsAllMyFault he blames it on himself]] more than usual.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Oh, where do we even start?
** He criticizes Merrill about her obsession with [[spoiler:the eluvian]] and her casual views on Fade spirits. She will in turn point out his own obsession with the Circle and how he willingly let a "good" spirit into his body. Anders is self-aware of this, and at one point wonders if this makes him unqualified to help mages.
** If Hawke romances Fenris, Anders claims that Fenris has "let one bad experience colour his entire world" and that he deserves Hawke's heart instead for being more "open-minded". This is despite how Anders disrespects Fenris for not sharing his pro-mage stance, which Fenris calls him out on if he is in the party.
** Anders also disapproves of Hawke romancing Merrill, alleging that she'll eventually turn on Hawke in favor of her demons. She calls him out on this if present for the conversation. [[spoiler:The hypocrisy of this hits critical mass when you realize that he says this during a quest where he's tricking Hawke into helping him blow up the Chantry. Though to Anders' credit he seems aware of this, and opines that he doesn't deserve Hawke's love anyway if in a romance.]]
** Despite Anders being vehement about how wrong it is to enslave mages, he is the only companion to approve if Hawke [[spoiler:sells Fenris back to Danarius]]. This is actually a fairly apt reflection of the "Night Terrors" quest, where Fenris will normally disapprove of Hawke making a deal with the sloth demon but approves if Anders is in the party ''just'' because it pisses off his rival.
** Anders believes that all mages' opinions should be heard... unless they actually enjoy being in the Circle [[spoiler: (like Bethany does if she joins).]]
** While more downplayed than the above, relating back to his hypocrisy in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' he can suggest in party banter that elves should band together to help mages since they too are oppressed by the Chantry, yet Anders himself offers no help to elves.
* HypocriteHasAPoint
** Despite his frequent hypocrisy on the matter, many of Anders's points about the Circle of Magi and its flaws are shown to be correct.
** While Merrill rightly calls out Anders for screwing up far worse than she has when dealing with spirits, he's not wrong about the dangers of the path she's on, as the incident with the pride demon in Feynriel's nightmare shows that Merrill is not nearly in control as she thinks.
* HypocriticalHumour: There's a ''lot'' of this if the player looks closely. In ''Mark of the Assassin,'' there is a scene where Anders gets so exasperated with Fenris, he straight up begs him to shut up about how all mages are evil for ''one'' minute. The whole conversation is a brilliant jab at his own obsession with mage freedom.
-->'''Anders''': Qunari give me the creeps. ''No one'' is that dedicated to some abstract ideal.
* IAmAMonster: He starts invoking this trope in Act 2, ''especially'' if Hawke fails to [[spoiler:stop him from killing Ella]]. By the time Act 3 rolls around, [[spoiler:he's pretty much resigned himself to being a monster]]. Though how much guilt he explicitly shows depends on whether Hawke has followed his rivalry path. If rivalry is not completed, Anders only seems to feel that [[spoiler:blowing up the Chantry]] is an unfortunate necessity and only seems willing to let Hawke [[spoiler:kill him so he can become a martyr for the Mage cause, even telling Hawke to hurry up and kill him at one point. ]] However, if Anders' rivalry path is followed, [[spoiler:he is genuinely horrified at what he's done and wants Hawke to kill him out of legitimate guilt. He is so shaken by what he's done that he'll even side with the Templars, something non-rivalry Anders will flat out refuse to do.]]
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: Despite quickly developing a crush on Hawke, Anders makes it clear if Hawke romances him that he feels unworthy of their affection.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: A non-rivalry Anders has this attitude about [[spoiler:blowing up the Chantry. He is fully convinced he did the right thing and will refuse to help Hawke side with the Templars no matter what.]] Averted with rivalry Anders who is [[spoiler:completely horrified by what he's done.]]
* AnIcePerson: One of his starting spells is Winter's Grasp. It also makes for an interesting take on his character given that in ''Awakening'', he was first seen using ''[[PlayingWithFire fire]]'' magic.
* InsecureLoveInterest: While almost all the party members in this game have serious self-worth issues, Anders is probably the most vocal about it if Hawke tries to romance him, repeatedly telling them that he has nothing to offer and that Hawke should be free to have a normal life with someone else. If Hawke is not a mage, ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies also comes up, since Meredith starts declaring that anyone who shelters an apostate will face a death penalty.
* ItsNotYouItsMe: He all but invokes this by name the first time Hawke tries to flirt with him, saying that there was a time when they could have had something, but he's no longer the same man he once was. (And yet, if Hawke ''doesn't'' flirt with him the first time it's possible, it causes a bit of rivalry.)
-->'''Anders''': I'll break your heart -- and that might kill me as surely as the Templars.
* IveComeTooFar: No matter how many times he screws up or fails to convince people of his cause, Anders just keeps pursuing his cause further and further, believing it's too late to stop now.
* JacobMarleyWarning: After "Dissent," he tries to invoke this with Merrill. She points out that she at least understands the dangers better than he did before merging with Justice.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Anders can be ''very'' petty and hypocritical. But in the end, all he wants is to help people, and he's willing to go to grand lengths to do so. Unfortunately, he's not stable enough to always know how best to help people.
** An apt demonstration? After Merrill's Act 3 personal quest, [[spoiler:which gets her {{mentor|s}}[=/=][[ParentalSubstitute surrogate mother figure]] killed to save her from the demon in the Eluvian,]] he starts out lambasting her for the consequences of it, which he thinks [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot could have been easily avoided]], before telling her to [[TheAtoner make up for her mistakes]], reminding her that most blood mages don't get a second chance.
** There's also the fact that when he isn't running around with Hawke or helping the Mage Underground, he spends his free time attending poor people for free in his clinic in Darktown.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Anders may harp on and on ([[RuleOfThree and on]]) about the cause of mages' freedom beyond a reasonable degree, but the game shows several times that his arguments are not baseless. Many Templars do abuse their authority; some of the apostates the party meets are just ordinary people who want to be left alone or take care of their families; he mentions how mages who get pregnant at the Circle have their babies taken away from them by the Chantry (which happened to Wynne); and the Rite of Tranquility is used by Templars to silence the dissenters or even for sexual abuse (as shown with Ser Alrik) and is revealed to be a horrific experience both by his friend and former lover, Karl and especially by Pharamond in ''Literature/{{Asunder}}.''
-->'''Anders''': The people fear what we can do, but to use that fear to bludgeon us into submission is ''wrong!'' And they do it with our blessing!
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: In the beginning of the game, as far as mages are concerned; while he firmly advocates their freedom and rejects turning them over to the Templars, Anders is actually quite reasonable. He outright condemns blood magic and demons, allows murder only as a last resort, and is perfectly willing to work with reasonable men like Thrask. By Act 3, that persona is all but gone, and he refuses to accept anything less than total freedom for all mages, no exceptions. [[spoiler: Thus, "no compromise" when he blows up the Chantry.]]
* KarmaHoudini: The decision to have [[spoiler:him killed for the destruction of the Chantry rests with the player, so this trope can be played straight or subverted. But even if the player does decide to kill him, he gets the war he wanted. If he lives, Sebastian vows to make sure Anders will face justice someday.]] [[spoiler:WordOfGod subverts this, though, saying he wants to die for what he's done, so that the people he's killed will get justice in kind.]]
* KickTheDog: Several times.
** If he and Aveline are in the party, one banter has him making some very nasty comments on her and Wesley's sex life.
** If the player brings him along for Merrill's second companion quest, he'll flat-out say to her that [[spoiler:she should have died instead of Keeper Marethari. Ouch.]] It is mitigated somewhat in a conversation following the event where Anders encourages Merrill to not waste the second chance given to her.
** [[spoiler:Approving of selling Fenris back to Danarius.]] The rest of the party unanimously disapprove.
** If Anders is brought along in the quest [[spoiler:"All That Remains," perhaps more out of thoughtlessness than anything else, he may say, "I wonder if we'll find more than just a sack of bones this time." ''He says this while standing right next to a very distraught Hawke, who's desperately running around trying to find their mother after she's been kidnapped by a deranged serial killer.'']] Definitely ''not'' the thing you should say, Anders.
** He claims that Fenris is really just jealous of mages when the party finds out [[spoiler: Fenris's sister is a mage.]] It was a low blow considering Fenris had hoped to [[spoiler: reunite with his sister only for her to betray him to Danarius.]] Besides horrible and cruel timing, he fails to take a moment to consider that Fenris wouldn't have even known that [[spoiler:Varania is a mage]].
* KindheartedCatLover: Sadly, Anders had his cat Ser Pounce-A-Lot confiscated by the Grey Wardens after it nearly got him killed by accident. He's still very fond of cats, and puts out milk for the local strays. He even has banter with Merrill in which he wistfully longs for a tabby cat of his own. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted when Anders [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps off the slippery slope]], though it's worth noting that he doesn't ''have'' his cat anymore by that time.]]
* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler: Becomes one, ironically, ''towards'' the Templars over the course of the game.]]
* LightIsNotGood: Despite his [[spoiler: black outfit, he is a healer mage, which invokes more light than dark]].
* LoveAtFirstSight: If Anders is romanced, after his first night with Hawke in Act 2, he tells them that he's "lain awake every night for the past three years, aching for you." Since it's been three years since they met, this trope is fairly strongly implied. There are other hints that Anders may be in love with Hawke the whole time even if he's not romanced.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Inverted; if his romance is pursued, his Act 3 codex entry explicitly states that he views Hawke as the one thing in his life keeping him sane. [[spoiler: Not that it makes a difference in the end.]]
* MageBornOfMuggles: Anders was born to two perfectly normal parents. Being rejected by his father and forcibly separated from his mother when his magic manifested informs a lot of Anders's neuroses.
* ManifestoMakingMalcontent: In Act 2, he starts writing a manifesto calling for the abolition of the Circles of Magi and spreading it around Kirkwall (but mainly around Hawke's mansion). In Act 3, he stops working on it, and instead [[spoiler:becomes a BombThrowingAnarchist]].
* ManipulativeBastard: Anders lies to [[spoiler: Hawke and co. to get them to help him gather reagents to blow up the Chantry, telling them it's for a potion to rid him of Justice. It especially stings if Hawke is in a relationship with him.]]
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Starts off entirely open about his pro-mage agenda. [[spoiler: Eventually, he becomes less than honest and uses Hawke for his own purposes. It very much seems, however, that he regrets doing this if nothing else.]]
* MiseryPoker: Frequently dismisses the suffering of other groups (particularly slaves and elves) by stating or implying that Circle mages have it worse. This is also the root of his mutual rivalry with Fenris: Fenris often dismisses the plight of Southern Thedas mages on the grounds that he believes Tevinter slaves suffer worse under Tevinter magisters, while Anders frequently dismisses the plight of slaves like Fenris on the grounds that he believes Southern Thedas mages have it worse under the Templars. Their fighting can get vicious and personal about it.
* MoodSwinger: Stated in the codex to suffer from manic and depressive phases as of Act 3. His dialogue throughout the game tends to reflect this, ranging from calm and caring, to cheerful and snarky, to obsessively focused on his goals, to self-righteously grandiose, to self-loathing and miserable, to vengeful and bloodthirsty, with alarming speed.
* MoralityPet: By Act 3, [[spoiler:Varric and (possibly) Hawke have become this for him, as he is much more distant, if not hostile, toward the rest of the party at that point. He even admits to a romanced Hawke that they are [[MoralityChain one of the few things he thinks are keeping him sane.]]]]
* MrFanservice: He falls under TroubledButCute for some, but even aesthetically he comes across as a rugged, handsome man. The Blooming Rose has apparently offered him a job enough times that it becomes an annoyance for him.
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: After he [[spoiler:blows up the Chantry, if you spare him, Sebastian immediately abandons you]].
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: If the player chooses to [[spoiler:kill him after he blows up the Chantry.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** He is overwhelmed at the end of "Dissent" in Act 2 after [[spoiler:he's lost control and Vengeance attacked Ella]], which is nine times worse if [[spoiler:Ella actually ends up dead.]]
** He regrets [[spoiler:blowing up the Chantry]]:
*** If Hawke is on a Rivalry path with him, after completing "Justice," Hawke can convince Anders to undo whatever it was he was doing in the Chantry at the end of the quest, with Anders becoming horrified at the prospect of actually succeeding and running off to stop it before it is too late. [[spoiler: Since the Chantry explosion still happens, it seems that Justice sabotaged this attempt. After the explosion, he expresses regret ''much'' more blatantly than on the Friendship path, and even states that Justice may have become a demon from the moment they merged. However, he's also much quicker to pin all the blame on "Vengeance", insisting that he had no control over the situation.]] However, he remains just as willing to [[spoiler: pay for what happened with his life]].
*** If Hawke is on a Friendship path with him, he's more understated about his regret and isn't as visibly upset, but he doesn't shift responsibility, fully admits to his own role in what happened and calmly states that [[spoiler:if Hawke were to execute him, Justice would be freed as a result.]]
* MyGreatestFailure
** Allowing Justice to possess him, which turned one of his closest friends into a demon. [[spoiler: Though this may not be his fault...]]
** During one of his companion quests, he loses control of Justice and [[spoiler: threatens (possibly kills) an innocent girl.]]
* NecessarilyEvil: He recognizes that [[spoiler: blowing up the Chantry]] is a horrible thing to do, and does seem to feel guilty about it, but he honestly believes it's for the best. [[spoiler:Subverted if he's in a Rivalry with Hawke; he becomes convinced that he's evil by the end.]]
* NeverGetsDrunk: Justice doesn't let him get drunk anymore, making him a type 3. He still visits the Hanged Man occasionally, as it's the only place in town he can get a decent drink.
* NightmareFetishist: If romanced, he mentions in ''Mark of The Assassin'' that one of his sexual fantasies is being rescued by Hawke right before he's to undergo the Rite of Tranquility, and then expressing his gratitude in a myriad creative ways.
* NoCanonForTheWicked: Like all mages in ''Awakening'', he can be specialized as a Blood Mage. There's even a special branch of dialogue devoted to discussing that fact. In this game, however, he possesses no such powers, and takes an extremely dim view of Merrill's involvement in blood magic.
* NoPlaceForMeThere: [[spoiler:He fully expects to be killed for the things he has done to free the mages.]]
* NotAsYouKnowThem: Thanks to the fusion with Justice. If he's happy, some of the old Anders will resurface for a time.
* NotGoodWithRejection: After finishing his first personal quest, Anders starts to flirt with Hawke. Hawke either has to flirt back or refuse his advances; choosing the latter causes him to react in a quite huffy manner, and it nets a fairly high amount of rivalry points. This is not the case with the other love interests, who won't hold it against Hawke if the player rejects their advances as no loss of approval occurs.
* ObviouslyEvil: Well, "evil" may be debatable, but [[spoiler:during Act 3, Anders changes outfits into one that is completely black. It's pretty big foreshadowing that something is up with him, especially since he is the only companion who makes such a major outfit change (aside from Aveline's 2 outfit changes that show her joining the city guard then later become captain of it). And indeed, Anders blows up Kirkwall's chantry in an act of terrorism.]]
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: According to WordOfGod, Anders is a nickname because [[http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/304/index/6511895/3#6639653 his family is from the Anderfels]].
* OutlawCouple: If Hawke romances Anders, spares his life after [[spoiler: he blows up the Chantry, and commits to him before the FinalBattle, the two of them will go on the run together, since he is now the most wanted man in Thedas.]]
* PermaStubble: He gets some light beard trimming along his jaw and on his chin.
* PetTheDog:
** His treatment of the refugees, as well as the others forced to live in Darktown, to the point where they are willing to risk their lives for him.
** Alhough he always treats Aveline with suspicion due to the City Guards working with Templars on occasion, he is relatively lighthearted and supportive of her attempts to woo Donnic in Act 2.
** At the end of [[WhamEpisode "All That Remains,"]] if he goes to comfort Hawke and they yell at him [[spoiler: for what an insane blood mage did to their mother]], he only tells Hawke that if it helps, they should take their anger out on him. Also, despite his own distaste for blood magic, he doesn't gain rivalry points if Hawke allows Gascard to perform a blood ritual to find Hawke's mother, understanding how severe the situation is for Hawke.
** He's actually quite compassionate with Merrill when [[spoiler:he tells her that he [[PlotlineDeath can't heal]] [[TooDumbToLive Pol]]]]. Of course, this is immediately subverted by the [[KickTheDog vicious way he chews her out]] ''[[{{Jerkass}} the entire trek back to camp]]''.
** If Anders is romanced and moves in with Hawke, Bodahn comments on how nice it is having Anders around; both Bodahn and Sandal take quite a liking to him.
--->'''Bodahn''': It's been quite pleasant having Master Anders staying here, messere.\\
'''Sandal''': ''(happily)'' He's funny!\\
'''Bodahn''': And he finds my boy's enchanting quite intriguing. That's the word he used! It's too bad he seems so... [[WellIntentionedExtremist intent]] on whatever it is he works on.
* PowerPerversionPotential: A conversation with Isabela reveals that he uses magic for sexual applications. "Were you the runaway mage who could do that electricity thing? That was ''nice''."
* PowersViaPossession: By inviting the spirit of Justice in and corrupting him, Anders gains access to the "Vengeance" mode that provides increased damage output, reduced spell cooldowns and LifeDrain ability at the cost of increased damage intake and inability to be healed by conventional means.
* PrinciplesZealot: While not as bad about it as the Qunari (he compromises in [[WhamEpisode "All That Remains"]] due to the serious circumstances), [[spoiler:due to a glitch, he was the only party member who could not be convinced to side against his faction. This was fixed in a later patch.]]
* ProperlyParanoid:
** Whether the player agrees with his solution or not, he's not wrong about the kind of abuses going on in the Gallows (or other Circles). [[spoiler: There's also dialogue overheard from Templars that implies that Meredith was going to invoke the Rite of Annulment on the Kirkwall Circle anyway, which would have caused all the mages to be killed without any attention being drawn to it. The next game reveals that it wouldn't have been the first time that happened.]]
** Zigzagged with [[spoiler:"The Tranquil Solution,"]] which he panics over in Act 2, only to find out that the Divine rejected it. He is surprised and wonders if there is [[HopeSpot hope for negotiation after all]]... but he's not entirely convinced it isn't a threat, and there are other Templar characters (such as Cullen) who aren't entirely opposed to the idea.
--->'''Sebastian''': The Chantry would never follow through with such a thing.\\
'''Anders''': Yet.
* RedemptionFailure: After "Dissent", [[spoiler: he distances himself from the mage underground and tries to find a way to control Justice or undo their merger. By Act 3, everyone he knows outside the party has been killed or forced into hiding, and he's only protected by his proximity to Hawke.]]
* {{Retcon}}: If Anders died in ''Awakening'', it turns out the corpse Nathaniel found was badly burnt and they just assumed it was him.
* RootingForTheEmpire: An InUniverse example. Almost every character the player comes across since ''Origins'' have described Tevinter as, if not evil, at least a dangerous place to be in given that there, mages have ''absolute'' freedom -- which is why Anders sees Tevinter as an ideal place. Additionally, the only gift Hawke can give to him is a Tevinter Chantry amulet.
* RunningGag:
** Hawke manages to find bits of Anders' manifesto ''everywhere''.
** He's ''terrible'' at card games, and everyone in the party knows it. [[spoiler:In ''Mark of the Assassin,'' he proudly announces that he actually beat Isabela. With supernatural help, but hey, she was cheating too!]]
* SanitySlippage:
** Compare his behavior in Act 1 to his behavior in Act 3.
** If brought along for ''Legacy'', [[spoiler: Corypheus' voice starts sounding in his head, which pushes him almost to the point of a complete breakdown. At one point he is forced under Corypheus' control, and the party has to fight him to get him to snap out of it.]]
* SelfDeprecation: There are times where he makes it plain he knows ''exactly'' [[PrinciplesZealot how]] [[ByronicHero he]] [[JerkAss comes across]], especially if Hawke is romancing him and ''even more so'' if they are Rivals. Sometimes he takes lighthearted jabs at his own behavior, but other times it's a bit [[IAmAMonster more serious]].
-->'''Anders''': Orlesian.\\
'''Varric''': Fop. Um... Party.\\
'''Anders''': Crash!\\
'''Varric''': Seriously, Blondie? No one ever invites you anywhere?\\
'''Anders''': ''(softly)'' Would you?
* ShootTheDog:
** His friend [[spoiler: and lover]] Karl begs Anders to kill him rather than continue living as a Tranquil, when a Justice outburst momentarily reconnects Karl to Fade energies.
** He invokes this on himself [[spoiler: after blowing up the Chantry in Act 3.]]
* SingleIssueWonk: The plight of mages, especially those oppressed by the Chantry and Templars. Quickly became notorious for this in-universe and out. See TheFriendNobodyLikes for more details.
-->'''Carver''': I don't hate you because you're a mage. I hate you because you won't shut up about it. Oppression this, Templars that.
* SkepticismFailure: He believes that the Magisters Sidereal (the seven Tevinter Magisters who supposedly broke into the Gold City) are Chantry propaganda meant to justify anti-mage policies, calling them "magic boogeymen". If he's brought along in ''Legacy'', he gets in a boss fight with one, [[spoiler:not to mention the Architect, who Anders met in ''Awakening'' and who is very likely a Magister Sidereal himself.]]
* SplitPersonality: Between his own mind and Justice.
* SquishyWizard: He's a mage, and not a blood mage, so he'll likely have very little constitution. His vengeance talent increases his damage in exchange for damage resistance, thus making him even more of this, as well as a GlassCannon.
* SuicideByCop: After Anders [[spoiler:commits his crime in Act 3]], he doesn't try to run and is sitting lumpily on a crate instead, avaiting [[spoiler:Hawke's]] judgement. [[spoiler:He believes he deserves death, either to prevent Vengeance from wreaking more havoc (on a Rivalry path) or so that those he's just killed may have ''their'' justice (on a Friendship path)]]. The trope is then played straight or averted [[spoiler:depending on the player's choices.]]
* ThatManIsDead: Whatever name Anders's parents gave him is long forgotten. When he was first taken to the Circle Anders refused to speak, even to give is name. One of the few things anyone knew about him is that his father was originally from the Anderfels, so he was referred to as "that Anders boy". Eventually that shortened to "Anders" and just became his name.
* TokenEvilTeammate: If the player chooses to [[spoiler:spare him and keep him in Hawke's party in Act 3]]. Depending on the player's views, he can be this the entire game.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Sort of. He starts out like a more cynical version of his ''Awakening'' persona in Act 1, but he ends up getting gradually nastier as the acts go on, though he never loses sight of his long-term goals.
* TragicHero: His intentions are good -- very good, in fact -- but his own methods for enacting them are not so noble and he occasionally shoots himself in the foot. Eventually he gets what he wants... but the cost of it is immense, and the general consensus is that it was not worth everything that happened, in the interim ''and'' afterwards.
* TragicKeepsake: When the templars forcibly took him to the Circle, the only personal possession he was allowed to keep was a pillow hand-embroidered by his mother. Before he goes on his quest [[spoiler:to blow up the Chantry]], he offers the pillow to Varric, saying that the latter has been his good friend.
* TragicMistake: Unusually, it takes place between games at the midpoint of his story (so far). He genuinely wanted to help Justice, but neither of them were remotely prepared for the actual consequences of the merger.
* TroubledButCute: He has a few moments of this.
* {{Ubermensch}}: His goals regarding the Mages are transformative, to say the least, and he breaks a lot of eggs to get there, knowing full well he will probably be either killed or hated for his actions. Nevertheless, in his mind, society ''has'' to change or he will make it change.
* TheUnfettered: His self-restraint gradually erodes over the course of the game until he [[spoiler:tears down the existing dynamic between the Chantry, the Templars, and the Circle to force them into conflict]], and it seems Justice helped him get there.
* WasItAllALie: A romanced Hawke will ask this of him after [[spoiler: he blows up the Chantry]]. The answer is that no, his love was not a lie.
* WelcomeBackTraitor:
** Can be either played straight or subverted. If Hawke [[spoiler:tells him to run after he blows up the Chantry]], he will still return to them in the Gallows. Naturally, what happens after that is up to the player.
** In ''Inquisition'', Varric also notes that many of the mages in Kirkwall and its surrounding territory had this reaction upon seeing him. [[spoiler: Turns out, some people aren't so happy when you put their lives at risk to purposely start a war.]] It got to the point Anders basically just left them alone because they wanted ''nothing'' to do with him.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Anders's goal of wanting mages to have more freedoms and rights is good, but his methods after he was pushed to his breaking point and the consequences of his actions are problematic. [[spoiler:Blowing up the Chantry killed hundreds in Kirkwall]] and made [[spoiler:the mage rebellion]] and mages in general much more feared. Other characters point this out, and many mages [[spoiler:denounce Anders' actions]] to the point that he's not welcome amongst them [[spoiler:if he's alive]].
* WhatTheHellHero: Gives a big one to Hawke if they choose to [[spoiler:let a demon possess Feynriel, and strikes down Justice when he objects.]] If he's in a romance with Hawke at this point, some fast talking will have to be done, or he'll break it off at once.
** Hawke can demand an explanation for [[spoiler:blowing up the Chantry at the start of the endgame.]]
** If Hakwe supports the Templars, especially if they are a mage, he will call them out on it and say that they should use their influence and money to help mages in Kirkwall.
* WillingChanneler: After the events of the ''Awakening,'' Anders allowed his friend Justice, a spirit of the Fade possess himself so that Justice could remain in the physical world after the dead body the latter's been inhabiting started to crumble. This backfires by the time of ''Dragon Age II'', when Anders's hatred of Templars has twisted the spirit of Justice into a force of Vengeance.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Justice's influence hasn't particularly been good for his host's mental state.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs:
** As part of his decline, by Act 3 he's become paranoid of anyone who does not explicitly share his views on granting mages immediate freedom. He gets very hostile towards even pro-mage Hawke if they suggest that some of his methods are too extreme, and treats everyone not firmly supporting his ideas as an enemy. [[spoiler:Particularly Fenris, even approving of selling him back into slavery to get him out of the way. Anders goes so far as to blow up the Kirkwall Chantry alongside the only political figure capable of pacifying both Templars and mages, just to ensure that everybody would have to pick a side.]]
** This is downplayed in the Rivalry path, however, where Anders begins to have serious self-doubts and will outright agree with Hawke that he's taking things too far. Though elements are most certainly present (RE: Fenris).
* AWizardDidIt: Invoked. "A wizard did it" is his sarcastic reply if he's in the party when Hawke gives the Deep Roads maps to Bartrand. The reality is that he stole them - which actually makes it ''[[FromACertainPointOfView technically]]'' true.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Becomes this by the end of the game. After a time growing up in the Mages Circle (a life stuck in a tower, bound to do whatever [[TheChurch the Chantry]] asked of him), he escaped from the [[MageKiller Templars]]... seven times. On the last time, he joined the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Grey Wardens to escape more permanently.]] It's all downhill for him after that, unfortunately. His time there under the Warden-Commander is implied to be good; but once they leave, the Orlesian Grey Wardens who run Amaranthine in their absence consider him a wuss, and mock him enough that he bails. Then he lets a wayward Spirit of Justice (once a friend of his) into his body. The sheer dark magic of [[spoiler: Kirkwall, in addition to Anders' own resentment and anger,]] corrupts Justice into a Demon of Vengeance. By the time ''Dragon Age II'' begins, he's constantly fighting for control over the influence of Justice. In the final act, though, [[DemonicPossession he can't fight Justice off anymore,]] and destroys the local branch of the Chantry. Talk about a TraumaCongaLine. Ultimately, his fate is left up to [[PlayerCharacter Hawke.]]
* YouAreWhatYouHate: Grows increasingly more militant and preachy about the mage cause throughout the game. His companions [[TheFriendNobodyLikes don't miss a beat in letting him know the irony.]]
* YouRemindMeOfX: He remarks to Hawke at one point that "I had a friend like you once. Got in all kinds of trouble, dragged me along." It's suggested, though never stated, that this friend was the Warden-Commander. Gains an extra layer if it is Warden-Commander Amell, who is Hawke's second cousin.
[[/folder]]

!!'''The Spirit of Justice'''
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' | ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''
!!!'''Voiced by''': Adam Leadbeater (''Dragon Age Origins - Awakening''), Adam Leadbeater and Creator/AdamHowden (''Dragon Age II'') (English); Holger Löwenberg (German); Robert Tondera (Polish)
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Tropes In ''Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dao_justice.jpg]]
\\

->''"I have no name, only a virtue to which I aspire."''
\\

A benevolent Fade Spirit trapped in the corpse of a Grey Warden named Kristoff who joins the Warden’s party during the events of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening''.
----
* BerserkButton: Suggesting that he's no different from demons. [[spoiler: This carries over to ''Dragon Age II'', and can lead to him murdering an innocent young mage unless Hawke stops him.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Starting off as disdainful of the material world and more dutiful than anything else, Justice can eventually come to learn that the world is beautiful in its own way and be a true KnightInShiningArmor protecting that for which he has come to care.
* ChasteHero: He has no clue as to why Oghren keeps asking him about his memories of Kristoff's marriage. It's a human desire, and benevolent spirits really don't go in for that.
* DarkIsNotEvil: His flesh is decaying and he wears the dark colored Armor of the Sentinel in his trailer.
* DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm: Comes with being LiteralMinded.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: His eventual transformation into Vengeance and connection to Anders in ''Dragon Age II'' is heavily foreshadowed in his dialogue, with Anders, Nathaniel, and the Warden-Commander. At several points, the Warden-Commander can even outright ask him if he desires vengeance for Kristoff.
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: He states upfront that he doesn't understand what makes spirits become demons, and hopes he never finds out.
* HappyEndingOverride: Nearly all of his endings have him [[spoiler:leaving Kristoff's body and presumably returning to the Fade]], but he always reappears merged with Anders in the next game.
* HonorBeforeReason: As a sort of embodiment of justice, he believes that wrongdoers should be dealt with accordingly, even if it may not be the most pragmatic decision:
** [[spoiler:Unless he's talked down, he'll turn against the Warden-Commander should the latter decide to ally with the Architect.]]
** [[spoiler: After seeing the injustices mages face, he ends up causing his new host, Anders, to blow up the Kirkwall Chantry in ''Dragon Age II'', and in doing so, ignite a '''world war''' between the mages and Templars throughout Thedas.]]
* HumanoidAbomination: A benevolent one, but still an alien entity that doesn't understand human attitudes occupying the shape of a human.
* KnightInShiningArmor: His true form and personality, though he starts off seeing it more as an obligation.
* LargeHam: In his spirit form. Considering the Spirit of Valor encountered in the Mage Origin, this may be common to all benevolent Fade spirits.
* LiteralMinded: It takes him a while to understand that Sigrun's death is symbolic.
* MagicKnight: His default specialization, Spirit Warrior.
* MotiveDecay: InUniverse. His quest for Justice becomes one of Vengeance between games.
* PossessingADeadBody: Justice is a spirit who was involuntarily expelled from the Fade and trapped in the body of the Grey Warden Kristoff. The body slowly decays, which drives Justice to seek a new host after the events of ''Awakening''.
* ShoutOut: [[VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment He's not the first embodiment of justice trapped in physical form after the physical form has died and begun to wither.]] He's just a lot nicer about it.
* WarriorPoet: "A world so full of beauty that beauty goes overlooked."
* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Justice finds himself envious of the love between Kristoff and his widow Aura, but also associates such feelings with Desire Demons.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes In ''Dragon Age II'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/da2_justice.png]]
\\

->''"YOU WILL NEVER TAKE ANOTHER MAGE AS YOU TOOK HIM!"''

\\
After the end of the Darkspawn threat Anders became Justice's new human host in a joint effort to free mages from the Circle. But Anders' anger at this injustice corrupted the spirit; by the time Hawke meets them, he has become Vengeance.

----
* AmbiguouslyEvil: Did he become a KnightTemplar but remain a spirit, or does he fall from grace and become a true demon? Anders' opinion changes depending on whether he's a Friend or a Rival, and it's up to the player to figure this out on their own as well.
* AndIMustScream: Anders talks about the terrifying sensation of being trapped inside his own body and unable to do or say anything after Justice briefly became the dominant personality during "Night Terrors," then remarks sadly that Justice must feel like that ''all the time.'' No wonder he's become a grouch.
* BerserkButton: Shares them with Anders, plus a bonus berserk - ''[[CallBack don't call him]] [[HarsherInHindsight a demon.]]''
* BeyondRedemption: Anders will consider Justice (and by extension himself) as such in Act 2 if he [[spoiler:isn't restrained and ends up murdering a young girl]]. Even if Hawke ''does'' stop him, it still [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone shocks him to the core]]. Justice, on the other hand, is ''much'' quicker to throw this label around.
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Much of his morality can be seen as this. Add in some of the BlueAndOrangeMorality inherent with Fade spirits and you have an entity with an unbending idea of what it thinks is right but with zero concept of compassion or compromise.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Justice does not understand time (time doesn't matter in the Fade) and doesn't truly understand things like "mercy" or "forgiveness." Thus he is driven by the unyielding desire to constantly lash out at the injustices Anders perceives, regardless of who it ultimately hurts, and always ''immediately'', never after some time to cool off.
* BreakTheHaughty: Justice's transformation into Vengeance. Could also count as BreakTheCutie, personality-wise, seeing as he was an [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]], [[TokenGoodTeammate good]], [[WarriorPoet poetic]] spirit before becoming twisted by hate.
* TheCorruptible: The big problem with his fusion of Anders. Justice on his own was a KnightInShiningArmor, but the addition of Anders' rage against injustices spilled over to him too... and conversely, after Justice was corrupted, his inflexible nature corrupted ''Anders'', preventing him from ever having a HeelRealization that stuck.
* EnemyWithin: For Anders.
* FallenHero: The difference between Vengeance and a true demon is practically non-existent.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''Awakening'', Anders and Justice had a conversation about the differences between spirits and demons and whether Justice could become a demon.
** Another conversation between Justice and Nathaniel about what would happen to Justice after the decay of Kristoff's body ends with him considering the idea of possessing a ''willing'' living human host...
** The Warden can even ask Justice if he desires revenge for what happened to Kristoff and tell him that there is a thin line between avenging a wrong and outright vengeance.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: While various party members have their own opinions on Anders, [[spoiler: at least until [[TookALevelInJerkass Act 3]]]], everyone seems very vocal in their clear dislike of Justice. Justice apparently returns the sentiment, even toward Hawke, the ''only'' person who might be willing to listen to Anders' lectures. Anders mentions that Justice feels (especially if romanced) that his obsession with and hero-worship towards them is distracting him from the cause.
* GuestStarPartyMember: During the sidequest "Night Terrors," Justice takes control of Anders and fights alongside Hawke.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Inverted. While Justice originally encouraged Anders to seek freedom for all mages, Anders wanted revenge more than justice, and Justice was corrupted.
* {{Hypocrite}}: When accused by a terrified mage of being a demon, due to his possession of Anders, he goes into a blind rage and attacks her for the insult. If Hawke fails to calm him, Justice will murder a mage he was supposed to be ''saving'' from corrupt Templars.
* KnightTemplar: He still seeks to protect the weak and punish the wicked, but Anders' anger has made him completely merciless.
* LargeHam: As hammy as before.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Anders blames himself for Justice's corruption. [[spoiler: The Enigma of Kirkwall texts imply, however, that the Tevinter blood magic under Kirkwall may have been at the very least partly responsible, in addition to his own anger and resentment. And let's not forget about what's ''under'' Kirkwall...]]
* NotAsYouKnowThem: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Anders' repressed bitterness has turned Justice from "inflexible but good-hearted" to a trigger-happy KnightTemplar with a heavy amount of BlackAndWhiteInsanity who only manifests outside the Fade when he's completely enraged and Anders loses control. However, during the "Night Terrors", when he is in the Fade and not ticked off, Justice acts much more like his old self - just with a harsher view of right and wrong.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Pretty much embodies this.
* SplitPersonalityMerge: If Anders is a Friend to Hawke, during their last conversation before [[spoiler:the Chantry explosion]] Justice doesn't manifest and Anders says that ''he'' hoped to find a better way, but Justice and Vengeance are too intertwined and he can't tell one from the other. After [[spoiler:the explosion]] he insists that the decision was his own as he and Justice are one now. By then, he speaks about Justice in the past tense.
* SplitPersonalityTakeover:
** Before the endgame, Anders constantly fights to keep Justice under control - but occasionally Justice comes out. When he does, Anders' eyes glow blue and he shifts into VoiceOfTheLegion. The outcome of this fight (takeover or merge) in endgame depends on Anders' relationship with Hawke.
** If Anders is a Rival to Hawke, during their last conversation before [[spoiler:the Chantry explosion]] Justice takes over and demands that Hawke leave, saying "Anders has no need of you". A moment later, Anders does not remember what he was saying and reveals he's been suffering blackouts. He tells Hawke that he tried his best to control Vengeance and asks not to blame him for failing. After [[spoiler:the explosion]] Anders outright states that Vengeance took him over. He does not trust himself to control Vengeance any longer and begs Hawke [[spoiler:to kill him before there is nothing left of him]].
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: For Anders.
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Speaks with both the [[EvilSoundsDeep booming]], [[PowerEchoes echoing]] voice of Justice, and Anders' voice underneath it. If the player listens closely, there are times where their tone of voice differs, hinting at the personality conflict.
* VolcanicVeins: It makes Anders' veins (and [[GlowingEyesOfDoom eyes]]) glow blue.
* WhatTheHellHero: Justice won't turn on Hawke in the Fade unless the player agrees to let a demon possess Feynriel.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: Justice is significantly less discerning about who qualifies as ally or enemy than he used to be.
[[/folder]]
----

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: InUniverse. By the time of ''Inquisition'', just about every single character has VERY strong opinions on Anders and his actions, ranging from people seeing him as a [[AntiHero brave freedom fighter]] to a monster. Depending on their relationship, Hawke can agree with any of these portrayals or argue that none of them properly capture Anders' complexities.

* PowerPerversionPotential: A conversation with Isabela reveals that he uses magic for sexual applications. "Were you the runaway mage who could do that electricity thing? That was ''nice''."

* LightIsNotGood: However, despite his [[spoiler: black outfit, he is a healer mage, which invokes more light than dark]].

* MyGreatestFailure
** Allowing Justice to possess him, which turned one of his closest friends into a demon. [[spoiler: Though this may not be his fault...]]
** During one of his companion quests, he loses control of Justice and [[spoiler: threatens (possibly kills) an innocent girl.]]

* FallenHero: Anders mostly just wanted to look out for numero uno back in ''Awakening'', but he was also a fairly good-hearted guy happy to do the right thing. He hasn't ''quite'' become a villain, but it becomes readily apparent over time that he's slowly slipping into [[WellIntentionedExtremist good intentions, very bad methods]] territory.

* HurtingHero: He's not a very happy person, to say the least.

!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/GregEllis (''Dragon Age Origins - Awakening''), Creator/AdamHowden (''Dragon Age II'') (English); Tammo Kaulbarsch (German)

!!!'''Voiced by''': Adam Leadbeater (''Dragon Age Origins - Awakening''), Adam Leadbeater and Creator/AdamHowden (''Dragon Age II'') (English); Holger Löwenberg (German)

!!!'''Voiced by''': Adam Leadbeater (''Dragon Age Origins - Awakening''), Adam Leadbeater and Creator/AdamHowden (''Dragon Age II'')

!!!'''Voiced by''': Creator/GregEllis (''Dragon Age Origins - Awakening''), Creator/AdamHowden (''Dragon Age II'')

!!!'''First Appearance''': ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening''

!!!'''First Appearance''': ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening''

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: For Anders.

* SplitPersonalityMerge: If Anders is a Friend to Hawke, during their last conversation before [[spoiler:the Chantry explosion]] Justice doesn't manifest and Anders says that ''he'' hoped to find a better way, but Justice and Vengeance are too intertwined and he can't tell one from the other. After [[spoiler:the explosion]] he insists that the decision was his own as he and Justice are one now. By then, he speaks about Justice in the past tense.

* WhatHaveIDone: Anders blames himself for Justice's corruption. [[spoiler: The Enigma of Kirkwall texts imply, however, that the Tevinter blood magic under Kirkwall may have been at the very least partly responsible, in addition to his own anger and resentment. And let's not forget about what's ''under'' Kirkwall...]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Displays quite a few bipolar symptoms (the Codex even explicitly mentions manic and depressive phases), though this may be a side effect of the possession. WordOfGod is a inconsistent - one writer says he's bipolar, but another says he wasn't written as mentally ill.

* FormallyNamedPet: Ser Pounce-a-Lot and Mr. Wiggums, although the latter got the name from an elf mage who liked [[NiceHat hats with cat ears]].

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Most other party members don't like how he keeps talking about mages and Templars. Anders, for his part, agitates them by insulting or instigating fights with his fellow party members at every opportunity. The fact that he's possessed by a hostile Fade spirit doesn't help matters. [[UpToEleven By the time Act 3 rolls around]], no one in the party can stand him. Not even [[NiceGuy Varric]]. [[spoiler: When asked for opinions on whether to execute him, only Merrill says anything in his defense, and she doesn't give any objections if you do decide to kill him[[note]]a ''very'' stark contrast from her reaction if Hawke gives Fenris, who treats her worse than Anders, back to Danarius to where she'll even give Rivalry points[[/note]], Isabela and Varric are neutral while Sebastian, Aveline and Fenris openly want to kill him.]]

* {{Foil}}: To Cole in ''Inquisition''. One is a spirit of Justice turned Vengeance, while the other is a spirit of Compassion. However, Justice is corrupted by Anders' own need to avenge wronged mages, while Cole either becomes more pure of purpose in being compassionate, or transitions into being truly human.

** The flavor text of the Magehunter shield in ''Inquisition'' tells of a previous misuse of the Right of Annulment. In 3:09 Towers, twenty-five years after the Right was first granted, the Circle of Magi in Antiva City was annulled to cover up the fact that its Knight-Captain was a serial killer who murdered over a hundred mages out of pure bigotry. While the Seekers eventually hunted him down and punished him, they assisted the Templars in covering up the incident, leaving the rest of the Circles completely ignorant of the truth, and there is no mention of them punishing the Knight-Commander for Annulling a Circle under false pretenses. Background chatter in the second game reveals that Meredith had gone over Elthina's head and petitioned the Divine for [[spoiler:the Right of Annulment]] for the Kirkwall Circle. By [[BatmanGambit provoking Meredith into jumping the gun instead of waiting for the Divine's permission.]], Anders prevented yet another silent [[DeadlyEuphemism annulment]] of mages, this time in Kirkwall.
** Anders's insistance that the Circle system must be destroyed through an open rebellion rather than peacefully reformed is validated in one of three endings of ''Inquisition'' [[spoiler: where Leliana is named Divine. After the mage-templar war, she dissolves the said system, granting the mages their freedom and creating widespread mage acceptance. The Circles stand in the other two endings, so the trope is either played straight or averted depending on player choices.]]

& ObviouslyEvil: Well, "evil" may be debatable, but [[spoiler:during Act 3, Anders changes outfits into one that is completely black. It's pretty big foreshadowing that something is up with him, especially since he is the only companion who makes such a major outfit change (aside from Aveline's 2 outfit changes that show her joining the city guard then later become captain of it). And indeed, Ander's blows up Kirkwall's chantry in an act of terrorism.]]

** In spite of the above example, he unusually doesn't act anywhere near as envious or nasty if Hawke romances Isabela, even if the player has Hawke and Isabela genuinely fall for each other rather than just say as FriendsWithBenefits, and doesn't question Hawke even once about their relationship in Act 3. This does get lampshaded in one party banter, but only if Hawke slept with Isabela but then romanced Merrill afterwards.

** In spite of the above example, he doesn't act anywhere near as envious or nasty if Hawke romances Isabela, even if the player has Hawke and Isabela genuinely fall for each other rather than just say as FriendsWithBenefits, and doesn't question Hawke even once about their relationship in Act 3. This does get lampshaded in one party banter, but only if Hawke slept with Isabela but then romanced Merrill afterwards.

'''Anders''': You can't really get jealous of someone for sleeping with Isabela. It's just... ''understood''. She's like a side dish. She comes with the meal.

* HypocriteHasAPoint: Despite his frequent hypocrisy on the matter, many of Anders's points about the Circle of Magi and its flaws are shown to be correct.

* YouRemindMeOfX: He remarks to Hawke at one point that "I had a friend like you once. Got in all kinds of trouble, dragged me along." It's suggested, though never stated, that this friend was the Warden-Commander.