History Characters / DragonAgeOriginsPlayableCharactersTheWarden

* TheHero: In the job description for a Grey Warden, and during a Blight that goes double. You'll one-up even the great accomplishments of the other Wardens, ending the Fifth Blight so quickly and so effectively ''people outside Ferelden doubt there even '''was''' a Fifth Blight!'' The most common epithet the Warden is known by in post-game content is "the Hero of Ferelden."

[[WMG:[[center:[-'''[[Characters/DragonAge Dragon Age]] Character Index'''\\
''[[Characters/DragonAgeOrigins Dragon Age: Origins]]'': '''The Warden''' | The Companions ([[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsWarriors Warriors]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsMages Mages]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsRogues Rogues]]) | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharacters Non-Playable Characters]] ([[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharactersFereldanNobles Fereldan Nobles]]) | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsDLCCharacters DLC Characters]] \\
''[[Characters/DragonAgeII Dragon Age 2]]'' | ''[[Characters/DragonAgeInquisition Dragon Age: Inquisition]]'' -]]]]]

!!!'''Voiced by''':
!!! '''Human Male''' - Music/MarkHildreth (Wise), Ken Lally (Cocky), Creator/RobinSachs (Experienced), Creator/GideonEmery (Mystical), Desmond Askew (Suave), Timothy Watson (Violent)
!!!'''Human Female''' - Hellena Taylor (Wise), Fay Masterson (Cocky)*, Colette Whitaker (Experienced), Creator/EricaLuttrell (Mystical), Creator/KathSoucie (Sultry), Mika Simmons (Violent)
!!!'''Elven Male''' - Creator/MichaelJGough (Wise), Creator/DwightSchultz (Cocky), Creator/MarkMeer (Experienced), Creator/KeithFerguson (Mystical), Jesse Gervais (Suave), Creator/YuriLowenthal (Violent)
!!!'''Elven Female''' - Creator/AprilStewart (Wise), Creator/CorriEnglish (Cocky), April Banigan (Experienced), Kathryn Cressida (Mystical), Creator/KathSoucie (Sultry), Creator/CreeSummer (Violent)
!!!'''Dwarf Male''' - Creator/FredTatasciore (Wise), Creator/PeterJessop (Cocky), Creator/KeithFerguson (Experienced), Creator/KeithSzarabajka (Smart), Zach Hanks (Suave), John Rubinow (Violent)
!!!'''Dwarf Female''' - Creator/KimMaiGuest (Wise), Creator/CourtenayTaylor (Cocky), Creator/SeanaKofoed (Experienced), Shannon Blanchet (Smart), Wendy Braun (Sultry), Creator/JulianneBuescher (Violent)

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[[center:[-[[Characters/DragonAge Main Character Index]] > Dragon Age: Origins > '''The Warden''' | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsPlayableCharactersTheCompanions Companions]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharacters Non-Playable Characters]] ([[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharactersGreyWardens Grey Wardens]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharactersFereldanNobles Fereldan Nobles]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsNonPlayableCharactersOrzammar Orzammar]]) | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]] | [[Characters/DragonAgeOriginsDLCCharacters DLC Characters]] -]]]

** Additionally, every Warden has one degree of separation from every other "potential" Warden in the form of Dog. Canonically, Dog is/was the loyal companion of the Human Noble; however, in the other five origins, Dog imprints on the Warden in question after the Human Noble died during/after the trek to Ostagar with big brother Fergus. This is implied by the kennel master, who observes that Dog formerly belonged to a young noble who died.
* OneManArmy: The tales of the First Blight say that every Grey Warden is able to fight ten or twenty darkspawn at once. The Warden is TheDreaded because of this. Duncan states, if you ask about the danger of the Joining, that he wouldn't have recruited you unless he thought you could handle it, implying good Warden recruiters look specifically for people who have the rare fortitude that affords them a chance at surviving the ritual. While this doesn't directly translate into combat prowess, it certainly would help. All the potential Wardens were superlative badasses before they were recruited. To note, by the end of the game you will have taken down, in no particular order, at least a hundred darkspawn in the Deep Roads, an entire forest full of werewolves, every demon in the Circle Tower, an entire undead army[[labelnote:*]]While you did have help from the townswolf and some Redcliff knights, the player will need to put effort into ensuring everyone survives.[[/labelnote]], and if so you choose, an entire fortress full of armed soldiers and a couple of criminal gangs.

** The ''City Elf’s'' mother was murdered by humans some time prior to the beginning of the story. Their father is still alive and well, and actually ''doesn't'' end up dying, but after the prologue he isn't seen again until very near the end of the story, because the Alienage is closed off and inaccessible for most of the game. If the player chooses to abandon Shianni to be raped by Vaughn in the prologue, [[IHaveNoSon he will completely disown the PC and refuse to speak to them ever again]].

* WidowedAtTheWedding: The female City Elf's wedding is interrupted when she is kidnapped at the alter, and her betrothed dies in the rescue effort.

** The City Elf can show this toward their cousins Tabris and Soris, as the three were raised together as siblings after the other two lost their parents and were taken in by their uncle. In Shianni's case, this is shown by Tabris making Vaughn and his goons pay for what they did to her, and for Soris this shows itself by attempting to hide his involvement in the former.

* BigBrotherInstinct: While technically the younger of the two, a Dwarf Commoner can display this towards their sister, Rica. Waking up in a cell, killing the crime boss you used to work for, joining the Grey Wardens... In all these scenes, you can show that you care about your sister's well-being first.

* BlessedWithSuck[=/=]CursedWithAwesome: Congratulations! You've been selected as a Grey Warden recruit -- the highest honor to which you could ever aspire! It means any birthright or title you had is now forfeit. But wait, you have yet to become a Grey Warden - first you have to [[spoiler:drink darkspawn blood, which will often kill you right away. If it doesn't, congratulations on becoming a Grey Warden! You can now sense the darkspawn and destroy archdemons at the low cost of obliterating your soul if you try the latter. Of course, they can sense ''you'' just as easily as you sense them. Oh, and you have about thirty years to live until the taint starts turning you into a darkspawn, at which point the Grey Warden instruction troubleshooting manual tells you to go on a suicide run against the darkspawn hordes. Oh, and good luck ever having children, especially if the other parent is also a Grey Warden.]]

* TheCameo: If they're alive, the Inquisitor will write to the Hero of Ferelden for help. The Hero will apologize they can't help directly, but do send vital information about what's going on.

* CelibateHero [=and/or=] ReallyGetsAround: As with the hero[=/=]anti-hero status, the Warden can be anywhere in between these two. The Warden can have a foursome with Zevran, Leliana, and Pirate Queen Isabela. And then taking the edge off by sleeping with male hookers, female hookers, nugs, a transvestite ''dwarf'', or having some rather unusual things done to you using some rather [[NoodleImplements interesting tools]]. The tragic turn in the Human Noble's origin prologue can happen in the afterglow of a tryst with the son or servant girl of a visiting vassal noble.

* EmpoweredBadassNormal: As a warrior, you can gain access to the slightly mystical Templar and reaver specializations, and even more in the expansion. Avernus' blood draughts also give a warrior or rogue upgraded abilities.

* ForWantOfANail: The Warden surviving the Joining is a pretty crucial nail. If the Warden survives the Joining, the story plays out as normal. If the Warden doesn't survive the Joining, [[spoiler: Ferelden loses to the Blight]]. This is illustrated by the DLC ''The Darkspawn Chronicles'', in which the Warden does not survive the Joining and Alistair has to run the show.

* HeadTurningBeauty: Everyone wants the Warden. Seriously. No matter how long you spend beating your character with the Ugly Stick in Character Creation, he or she (especially she, and especially if she's a human) will constantly be referred to as drop-dead gorgeous.

* MistakenForGay: Possibly for a female Warden. Gossips in ''Witch Hunt'' seem to think that the female Warden is gay/bisexual and something happened between her and Isabela, even if no such encounter took place and the Warden was played as completely straight or asexual.

* OneManArmy: The tales of the First Blight say that every Grey Warden is able to fight ten or twenty darkspawn at once. The Warden is TheDreaded because of this. Duncan states, if you ask about the danger of the Joining, that he wouldn't have recruited you unless he thought you could handle it, implying good Warden recruiters look specifically for people who have the rare fortitude that affords them a chance at surviving the ritual. While this doesn't directly translate into combat prowess, it certainly would help. All the potential Wardens were superlative badasses before they were recruited. To note, by the end of the game you will have taken down, in no particular order, at least a hundred darkspawn in the Deep Roads, an entire forest full of werewolves, every demon in the Circle Tower, an entire undead army[[labelnote:*]]While you did have help from the townswolf and some Redcliff knights, the player will need to put effort into ensuring everyone survives.[[/labelnote]], and if so you choose, an entire fortress full of armed soldiers and a couple of criminal gangs.

* RagsToRiches: [[spoiler:A City Elf can become the Denerim Alienage's first-ever bann; a Dwarf Commoner will be named Paragon and their family will live in Orzammar's Royal Palace if Bhelen is king; and any origin can succeed Loghain as Teyrn of Gwaren.]] In the Human and Dwarf Noble's cases, it's riches to rags and back again. [[spoiler: For the Human Noble, it's especially so you become queen by marrying Alistair or prince-consort by marrying Anora.]]

* WarriorPrince: Or Princess; this applies to the Human and Dwarf Nobles. The Dwarf Noble is the daughter of the dwarven king, and thus rightfully a princess; the Human Noble's father rules what the codex states is actually a {{principality}} within Ferelden, though the Couslands don't refer to themselves by princely titles. And a female Warden from any background ends the game by becoming Warden-Commander of Ferelden, which also makes her Arlessa of Amaranthine.

** If romanced, it adds an interesting subtext to the fact that one of his first acts as Warden-Commander was to send scouts to watch over the Korcari Wilds for a year. While officially it's because they were hunting down the last darkspawn stragglers on the surface, it's mentioned the scouts were ''also'' given Morrigan's description and told to closely watch Flemeth's hut on the off-chance she might return.[[note]]Althougth, given who used to live there, there's also the implication that the scouts were there to watch over the hut in case Flemeth decided to return for some reason. Especially with the fact that the Warden send the scouts to keep an eye on Flemeth's hut, even if they didn't romance Morrigan.[[/note]]

* CurbStompBattle: Among all the PlayerCharacters, the Warden is the more proclive to this and his/her reputation of TheDreaded is mainly for this reason. The best examples is the Mage Tower's one (Gregoir, the templar in charge here, mentions that the demons and abominations are ''all'' dead) and the Carta headquarters' one (this one is even mentioned in the codex from the sequels, saying that the Warden pretty much decimated the entire branch in Orzammar).

** If romanced, it adds an interesting subtext to the fact that one of his first acts as Warden-Commander was to send scouts to watch over the Korcari Wilds for a year. While officially it's because they were hunting down the last darkspawn stragglers on the surface, it's mentioned the scouts were ''also'' given Morrigan's description and told to closely watch Flemeth's hut on the off-chance she might return.

** Dialogue with Wynne implies that the Human Noble is known as "[[LastOfHisKind the last of the Couslands]]." Which is about the same as above, [[spoiler:because Fergus is still alive.]]

!!!'''Human Female''' - Hellena Taylor (Wise), Colette Whitaker (Experienced), Creator/EricaLuttrell (Mystical), Creator/KathSoucie (Sultry), Mika Simmons (Violent)

!!!'''Elven Female''' - Creator/AprilStewart (Wise), Corri English (Cocky), April Banigan (Experienced), Kathryn Cressida (Mystical), Creator/KathSoucie (Sultry), Creator/CreeSummer (Violent)

** Dialogue with Wynne implies that the Human Noble is known as "[[LastOfHisKind the last of the Couslands]]."
*** Which is about the same as above, [[spoiler:because Fergus is still alive.]]

* TenMinuteRetirement: Between ''Origins'' and ''Awakening''.
* HundredPercentAdorationRating: You can achieve this with any member of your party - it helps a lot when you're trying to romance one of them. You can even achieve it with ''every single one of them at the same time'', though most of them will be a strictly platonic adoration.

** In addition of becoming the Hero of Ferelden, the Dwarf Warden (both Noble and Commoner) will be declared by the Orzammar Assembly as a '''Paragon'''.

** In addition of becoming the Hero of Ferelden, the Dwarf Warden (both Noble and Commoner) would be declared by the Orzammar Assembly as a '''Paragon'''.