History Characters / DragonAgeInquisitionAntagonists

* UnexpectedCharacter: Seeing another Archdemon outside of another Blight was not expected. [[spoiler: Another clue to the fact that she isn't really an Archdemon.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: Most of the companions consider him this, particularly [[spoiler: after he starts [[MotiveRant mouthing off about how the Venatori believe they can use the Blight for their own ends]].]]
-->'''Erimond''': [[spoiler: The Blight is not unstoppable or uncontrollable]]. It is simply a tool.
-->'''Varric''': ''Someone's'' certainly a tool.
-->'''Dorian''': No, Livius. ''You'' are the tool.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: If the Nightmare encounters Solas, his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to him will be in perfect elvish, which is odd because no one, not even the Dalish, know perfect elvish. Indeed, unlike the elvish spoken during Solas's personal quest, it won't be translated if the player is Dalish. [[spoiler:Solas being completely capable of understanding it hints that he's more than just an apostate.]] That of course, says nothing about the actual text: ''Dirth ma, harellan. Ma banal enasalin. Mar solas ena mar din.'' Translating it reveals that [[spoiler:Nightmare's title, ''harellan'', means "trickster." It's also the second syllable of Solas's true name, Fen'Harel.]]

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: It traps the Inquisitor in their own mind in an attempt to learn all about them so that it can the take their form, constructing little scenarios to test their responses and torment them for reactions. To fight back, the Herald has only their own will - and Cole.

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:After his future self's death, Dorian laments how far his master had fallen. When you sit in judgement of him, he is a broken man and just accepts whatever you dole out.]]

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Dorian relates that he and his old mentor had a bitter falling out when Dorian angrily told him to move on from his grief over the loss of his family. Apparently they didn't speak to each other for years after that, and when they finally did again, [[spoiler: it was only so Alexius could try and recruit Dorian for the Venatori]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: If the Nightmare encounters Solas, his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to him will be in perfect elvish, which is odd because no one, not even the Dalish, know perfect elvish. Indeed, unlike the elvish spoken during Solas's personal quest, it won't be translated if the player is Dalish. [[spoiler:Solas being completely capable of knowing it hints that he's more than just an apostate.]] That of course, says nothing about the actual text: Dirth ma, harellan. Ma banal enasalin. Mar solas ena mar din. Translating it reveals that [[spoiler:Nightmare's title, harellan, means trickster. And is the second syllable of Solas's true name, Fen'Harel.]]

-->'''Nightmare''': Did you think you mattered, [[spoiler:Hawke]]? Did you think anything you ever did mattered? You couldn't even save your city. How could you expect to strike down a god? [[spoiler:Anders/Fenris/Isabela/Merril/Sebastian]] is going to die, [[KickTheDog just like your family, and anyone you ever cared about]].

* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler:If the Inquisitor recruited the mages instead of the Templars, then the Inquisitor will never meet the demon in person except in it's disguise as Lucius. However, they can use the War Table to send the Bull's Chargers to kill it.]]

** When initially confronted at the Well of Sorrows, she actually offers the Inquisitor the chance to walk away.

* WideEyedIdealist; While Calpernia is ruthless, she's a true patriot truly believes in ending slavery and.

* WideEyedIdealist; While Calpernia is ruthless, she truly believes in ending slavery and is a true patriot.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Samson is willing to sack and enslave entire towns, but he does have some limits:

* FaceHeelTurn: While not exactly heroic, Samson was previously willing to help mages escape the Gallows and drew the line at getting involved with BloodMagic. The reason he was thrown out of the Templars was because he was caught carrying a love letter for a mage (who was made Tranquil for the offense). Now he's working for the Elder One.
* FantasticDrug: Shown to be a lyrium addict. His getting back in good graces with Meredith to become a Templar was basically just to feed his addiction. While Cullen eventually overcomes his own lyrium addiction ([[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or doesn't, depending on the Inquisitor's advice]]), Samson gets hooked on the red stuff--with terrifying consequences.

->''"Bow before your new God, and be spared."''

A mysterious being whom the Venatori serve. His true identity is Corypheus, the ancient magister-turned-primal-darkspawn from the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' DLC ''Legacy''. His desire is to enter the Fade physically and throw open the gates of the Black City in order to achieve godhood.\\\

->'''Voiced By''': David Sterne

->'''Voiced By''': Timothy Watson

->'''Voiced By''': David Schofield

->'''Voiced By''': Alexia Traverse-Healy

->'''Voiced By''': Timothy Watson

->'''Voiced By''': Creator/GideonEmery

->'''Voiced By''': Emily Lucienne

->'''Voiced By''': Steven Kelly

->'''Voiced By''': David Sterne

->'''Voiced By''': Timothy Watson

->'''Voiced By''': Alexia Traverse-Healy

->'''Voiced By''': Timothy Watson

->'''Voiced By''': Creator/GideonEmery

->'''Voiced By''': Emily Lucienne

->'''Voiced By''': Steven Kelly

[[/folder]]

A mysterious being whom the Venatori serve. His true identity is Corypheus, the ancient magister-turned-primal-darkspawn from the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' DLC ''Legacy''. His desire is to enter the Fade physically and throw open the gates of the Black City in order to achieve godhood.

->'''Voiced By:''' David Sterne

-->''Did you think you mattered, [[spoiler:Hawke]]? Did you think anything you ever did mattered? You couldn't even save your city. How could you expect to strike down a god? [[spoiler:Anders/Fenris/Isabela/Merril/Sebastian]] is going to die, [[KickTheDog just like your family, and anyone you ever cared about]].''

-->'' [[spoiler:Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir, the [[SarcasmMode brilliant commander]]. Pity the one time you tried to rule, you [[EpicFail failed so miserably]]. [[HumiliationConga You had to be beaten, humiliated]], lest you destroy your own country. You even doomed the Wardens by bringing the Inquisitor down on them.]] You destroy '''everything''' you touch.''

->'''Voiced By:''' Timothy Watson

->'''Voiced By:''' David Schofield

->'''Herald:''' ''Look at what you've done, Alexius! All this suffering, and for what?''\\
'''Alexius:''' ''For my country, for my son... but it means nothing now.''

-->'''Dorian:''' Once, he was a man to whom I compared all others. Sad, isn't it?

-->'''Dorian:''' I don't even want to think about what this will do to the fabric of the world. We didn't "travel" through time so much as punch a hole through it and toss it into the privy.

-->'''Alexius''': [[spoiler: Nothing works. I have tried countless times to go back before the Conclave explosion, before Felix's caravan was attacked by darkspawn, before the Venatori first arrived in Minrathous - without success. The Breach is the wellspring that makes this magic possible, and travel outside of its timeline is impossible. The Elder One's demand that I change the events of the Conclave can ''never'' be fulfilled.]]

->'''Voiced By:''' Alexia Traverse-Healy

-->'''Calpernia:''' I go [[spoiler:to confront my master. Then I will return to Tevinter, if there is anything left of me.]]

-->'''Inquisitor:''' I'm not certain if that's stupidly brave or bravely stupid.

-->'''Inquisitor:''' Someone who can smuggle artifacts to Tevinter and back is wasted on court diplomacy.

-->'''Denam:''' [[JustFollowingOrders We were also led falsely in the order]]. A false Lord Seeker, the other officers schemed step by step. Yet I'm the only one charged.
-->'''Servis:''' That's because the other officers were transformed into Red Templars. I read the reports.

[[folder: Gordian]]

->'''Voiced By:''' Timothy Watson

->'''Voiced By:''' Creator/GideonEmery

-->You little shit: \\
Three more giants. It would be two, if the last one hadn't died. This time don't herd it all the way from the Graves to Suledin Keep if it already has a ''fatal gut wound.'' And don't try to hide it either. Even if you hide it, the giant is still going to die.\\
In case all your lyrium licking has made you forgetful, they need to be intact. ''Intact.'' \\
That means no missing limbs either.

-->'''Cullen's war table notes:''' Do what is necessary to stop him, but for my sake, make it quick.

->'''Voiced By:''' Emily Lucienne

--->'''Florianne:''' Humor to fit your mental capacity. A woman falls down. The end.

->'''Voiced By:''' Steven Kelly

* ManInWhite: Dresses in white, much like Dorian, in early shots. He wears red in the actual game, but his men dress in pale colors.

* ManInWhite: Unlike most Venatori.

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: It traps the Inquisitor in their own mind in an attempt to learn all about them that it can before taking their form, constructing little scenarios to test their responses and torment them for reactions. To fight back, the Herald has only their own will - and Cole.

-->'''Samson''': Templars have ''always'' been used! How many were left to rot like me, after the Chantry burned away their minds?

* DotingParent: To Felix, his only child.

* PetTheDog: He's on the receiving end of this if [[spoiler:an Inquisitor with the Arcane Knowledge perk recruits him as an agent to study magic. Leliana will sometimes show him little kindnesses, as indicated by his message to the Inquisitor following a war table operation. "Your spymaster said she might let me stroll around without my shackles if they please you, but sing no false praise on my account."]]

* AntiVillain: She follows Corypheus because she truly believes he is the path to a better world; a revived Tevinter, freedom for slaves, the defeat of the Qunari. [[spoiler: If convinced that he means only to enslave ''her'' and rule himself, she will turn on him.]]

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: She appears to commit suicide shortly after her boss fight to deny the Inquisitor the satisfaction of killing her.]]

* [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Men]]: It's unknown how Calpernia regards all of the Venatori, but she is seen treating the freed slaves that work for her with kindness. Her codex remarks she is "fair to her followers," and letters between herself and her spies show that they hold her in a very high regard. Further, when it's revealed that [[spoiler: Corypheus plans to bind her to his will]] and she leaves, some Venatori agents leave with her -- showing that whatever devotion they have to their would-be God pales in comparison to their devotion to her.

* VillainHasAPoint: He's not wrong when he points out [[spoiler: Clarel was far too quick to take his claims about the Calling at face value and start with the blood magic and sacrifices, rather than investigate]].

* NotHimself: [[spoiler:When you go to meet him to discuss alliance with the Templars, he's been replaced by an Envy Demon. You meet the real one in Cassandra's quest.]]

* NotBrainwashed: [[spoiler:Cullen is disgusted to learn that Samson is immune to Red Lyrium's mind-altering effects and thus he committed all of the Red Templars' atrocities of his own free will.]]

* UndergroundRailroad: Not part of the more organized efforts by certain Kirkwall residents to sneak mages out of the city, as far as we know, but he does give information or safe passage to some of the young people who have recently discovered their powers and are trying to flee before the Templars find them. For a price, of course. Surprisingly, his lack of affiliation with the mage underground that Anders champions is probably the only reason he survives to Act 3.

* YourDaysAreNumbered: His overuse of red lyrium means that he only has a few years to live.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Cullen knew and got along with Carroll; in fact, he asks Leliana to use her spies to find him, and make sure he was safe. When that doesn't happen, he asks the Inquisitor to make killing him quick "for my sake."

* BigBrotherWorship: Implied but in fact subverted. Her codex entry would suggest this, since it's written by a courtier who advises someone that their quickest way to gain an audience with Grand Duke Gaspard is to first ingratiate themselves with his sister. He also, upon first seeing her at the ball, greets her as "my dear sister" and the two can be seen walking and talking quietly together later in the quest. Reading supplemental material about Gaspard in ''The World of Thedas'' shows that he genuinely loves and dotes on Florianne. Despite their apparent closeness, however, she was still planning on FramingTheGuiltyParty - see below.

* DumbMuscle: Sky-Watcher and Chief Movran the Under (his own ''father'') both think he's an idiot.

* UngratefulBastard: She grumbles a bit if sentenced to work as an Inqusition Scribe.

[[/folder]]
----

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: He will offer to use his contacts for the service of the Inquisition. You can choose to accept them, or use his background as a smuggler instead, or kill him.

[[folder: The Elder One]]

[[folder: The Archdemon]]

[[folder: Magister Gereon Alexius]]

[[folder: Lady Calpernia]]

[[folder: Magister Livius Erimond]]

[[folder: Enchanter Crassius Servis]]

[[folder: Lord Seeker Lucius Corin]]

[[folder: Knight-Captain Denam]]

[[folder: Knight-Captain Carroll]]

[[folder: Grand Duchess Florianne de Chalons]]

[[folder: Hand of Korth]]

[[folder: Freemen of the Dales]]

* DeathSeeker: Dorian suspects that [[spoiler:future!]]Alexius wanted to die so he could be reunited with Felix. [[spoiler: Also in the main timeline, where he protests any decision that doesn't involve his execution.]]

[[center: [- [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisition Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionLeaders Leaders]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionWarriors Warriors]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionMages Mages]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionRogues Rogues]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionStaff Staff]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionAgents Agents]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionTrainers Trainers]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionMultiplayer Multiplayer]] | '''Antagonists''' | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionNonPlayableCharacters Non-Playable Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeInquisitionDLC DLC Characters]]]]-]

* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler:If the Inquisitor recruited the mages instead of the Templars, then the Inquisitor will never meet the demon in person. However, they can use the War Table to send the Bull's Chargers to kill it.]]

->''"Hey, remember that war we talked about? Full of little baddies I can stick with little arrows? '''That's not a bleeding archdemon, is it?!'''"''

* BigBrotherWorship: Implied but in fact subverted. Her codex entry would suggest this, since it's written by a courtier who advises someone that their quickest way to gain an audience with Grand Duke Gaspard is to first ingratiate themselves with his sister. He also, upon first seeing her at the ball, greets her as "my dear sister" and the two can be seen walking and talking quietly together later in the quest. Despite their apparent closeness, however, she was still planning on FramingTheGuiltyParty - see below.

* GracefulLoser: If you manage to take her in alive, she'll acknowledge the Inquisitor as having outplayed her in The Game fair and square and will accept any fate they bestow upon her.

* SlasherSmile: He's rendered so that his face always has a slight smirk, along with cold, intense eyes.

* ObviouslyEvil: A smirking Magister who mysteriously shows up when the Wardens are desperate, claiming to be able to save them with human sacrifice and blood magic. He isn't exactly *wrong* when he calls Clarel stupid for trusting him.

* HateSink: Alexius, Calpernia, Samson, and even ''Corypheus'' have some redeeming/sympathetic traits. According to Cole, though, Erimond is "an arsehole."

* MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler: He manipulated Warden-Commander Clarel and the Wardens into thinking their Calling was coming early, and that he could help end the Blights forever.]] If the Inquisitor accuses him of brainwashing the [[spoiler: Wardens]], he replies that he didn't have to.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:If the Inquisitor decides to have him made Tranquil, he finally loses any sense of smugness.]]

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: He was simply hired to investigate and signed on for a paycheck. He has no delusion of grandeur or personal grudge with the Inquisitor at all.

* NotHimself: [[spoiler:When you go to meet him to discuss alliance with the Templars, he's been replaced by an Envy Demon. You can meet the real one in Cassandra's quest.]]

* DyingAsYourself: Toyed with. [[spoiler: He knew full well what the red lyrium would do to his men, but believed that years of exposure to the regular substance from the Chantry had already ruined them, and he wanted his men to go out fighting for a worthy cause rather than rotting in the throes of lyrium addiction]].

* EvilCounterpart: To Cullen. Both are burnt-out former Templars with lyrium issues, who deeply care about their soldiers. They were actually bunkmates back in Kirkwall, and if Hawke encouraged it in Act 3 of the previous game, Cullen even helped Samson get reinstated as a Templar. They also have somewhat similar views on how the Chantry has always taken the Templars for granted, but Samson is markedly angrier about it. The prime difference between the two is how quickly Knight-Commander Meredith's authority abuse disillusioned them: Samson was kicked out as [[DisproportionateRetribution punishment]] for passing love letters between a mage and a Templar, and lived on the streets as a junkie (thus making it very abrupt), while Cullen's disillusionment came from Meredith's own overwhelming paranoia and bloodlust.

* PetTheDog: Numerous moments, putting him squarely in [[AntiVillain anti-villain]] territory:

* OnlySaneMan: Maliphant, the rogue in the Villa Meurel, is the only one who wants to work together, even if [[TeethClenchedTeamwork the rest of the team can't stand each other.]] The rest of the team are quite happy to see the others fall.