History YMMV / PillarsOfEternity

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Durance. Some players find him to be an interesting and morally-complicated individual with a very sordid past that ties in well with the main plot of the game. Others see him as a thoroughly unpleasant and downright repulsive human being who's leaped well past the MoralEventHorizon. The fact that his personal quest is structured differently than everyone else's (requiring you to either put him in your party and talk to him over the course of the game or else just sit in your castle and sleep whenever he tells you he's done talking if you don't want to use him) doesn't help.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Your dealings with Gordy, the boy in Defiance Bay that wants the dagger, can be this. If you've already found the secret he tells you about, he offers another one - namely that his dad [[YourCheatingHeart often visits the Salty Mast]]. A possible response is to tell him that ''his father doesn't love him or his mom'', resulting in the kid breaking down into tears. Then, spotting him later shows that his dad is confronting him about the dagger, thinking he'd stolen it - the player can cheerfully deny having purchased the dagger for him, resulting in Gordy getting punished.

* FanPreferredCouple: Eder is easily the most popular companion of the series, winning every Obsidian companion poll by a wide margin. When ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire'' added romances, naturally most fans wanted to romance him, only to be crushed when he wasn't available. Cue Eder romance mods within weeks of the game's release.

** This game is basically ''Literature/AlsoSprachZarathustra: The Game''. The overarching plot is that [[spoiler:the ancient Engwithans used animancy to create the "gods" so that folk would have something to believe in that would give their lives order and meaning]]. They also [[spoiler:used animancy to grant a form of immortality to Thaos]] so that he could make sure that the lie would never be uncovered. [[spoiler:Iovara]], however, discovered the secret and tried to reveal it to the world, believing that people would still be good, and that life would still have meaning, even if the truth were exposed. This was, in essence, Nietzsche's view of religion: a handful of ancient visionary heroes had created religion to give humanity something to believe in that would give our lives order and meaning. Without that, humanity would slowly go extinct unless a new visionary hero could somehow create values that people would live and die for without any belief in a higher power.

* TheWoobie: Aloth's entire life was a never-ending ball of pure suck before he met the Watcher. It can still be even that, if [[spoiler:the Watcher opts to be cruel to him and/or reject him at a critical moment, causing him to commit suicide.]]

* EsotericHappyEnding: Waidwen's Legacy has been going on for fifteen years at the game's start. Backing the goddess Hylea returns the missing souls to these children, and the game treats this as a problem only for those who thought killing the soulless children was a mercy. This ignores teenagers with the minds of infants.
* FanPreferredCouple: Eder is easily the most popular companion of the series, winning every Obsidian companion poll by a wide margin. When ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire'' added romances, naturally most fans wanted to romance him. Once the game was released, most fans still felt that way. Cue Eder romance mods within weeks of the game's release.

* TheWoobie: Aloth's entire life was basically a ball of pure suck before he met the Watcher. It can still be even that, if [[spoiler:the Watcher opts to be cruel to him and/or reject him at a critical moment, causing him to commit suicide.]]

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Adaryc Cendamyr from ''The White March -- Part II'' expansion has proven to be a quite popular character. That he is literally a kindred spirit of the Watcher -- that is, being a Watcher himself -- along with the fact that he can potentially become one of the Watcher's most friendly inclined allies outside outside of the companions, has endeared him to many a player.

** The Wailing Banshee lighthouse is especially brutal compared to the other dungeons in the second act, as it too is filled with Shadows and Shades. Thankfully the level is optional and any player can avoid fighting the nightmarishly-hard Banshee on the top floor through non-lethal means.

* MagnificentBastard: [[BigBad Thaos Ix Arkannon]], the immortal grandmaster of the Leaden Key. Millenia ago, Thaos led an Inquisition that tortured and executed anyone who refused to worship Thaos's gods. When one heretic named Iovara led a rebellion against Thaos, he convinced a close acquaintance of Iovara, to lead her into a trap so she could be tortured and executed. Thaos later formed the Leaden Key, a secret society dedicated to hiding the gods' secrets. Thaos manipulated the entire world for millenia, with only a handful of people being aware that he exists. When the animancers in the Dyrwood come close to learning the gods' secrets, Thaos resolves to discredit and ban animancy. He uses soul manipulating machines to cause nearly all children in the Dyrwood to be [[TheSoulless Hollowborn]], making it appear to be divine retribution for the death of the god Eothas. He prepares to feed the stolen souls to the godess Woedica, so she can use the new power to hide the gods' secrets. He sabotages high profile animancy experiments, in one case causing a zombie outbreak in a major city. Eventually, Duc Aevar, ruler of the Dyrwood holds a hearing to discuss banning animancy. [[PlayerCharacter The Watcher]] takes the opportunity to expose Thaos and the Leaden Key. However, Thaos possesses an animancer into murdering Aevar, causing horrific anti-animancy riots to break out. This [[MultipleEndings usually]] ends with [[TheBadGuyWins animancy banned in the Dyrwood]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Adaryc Cendamyr from ''The White March -- Part II'' expansion has proven to be a quite popular character. That he is literally a kindred spirit of the Watcher -- that is, being a Watcher himself -- along with the fact that he can potentially become one of the Watcher's most friendly inclined allies outside outside of the companions, has endeared him to many a player.
* EsotericHappyEnding: Waidwen's Legacy has been going on for fifteen years at the game's start. Backing the goddess Hylea returns the missing souls to these children, and the game treats this as a problem only for those who thought killing the soulless children was a mercy. This ignores teenagers with the minds of infants.
* FanPreferredCouple: Eder is easily the most popular companion of the series, winning every Obsidian companion poll by a wide margin. When ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire'' added romances, naturally most fans wanted to romance him. Once the game was released, most fans still felt that way. Cue Eder romance mods within weeks of the game's release.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In Aloth's personal quest, a sanitarium consultant cheerfully asks Aloth to slip into a soul-measuring machine that looks like a rusty medieval torture device. Naturally, Aloth declines. This is hilarious until one reads [[https://eternity.obsidian.net/media/stories Aloth's short story]], [[AllThereInTheManual which reveals]] [[spoiler:that while at the academy some classmates illegally acquired one and tried to test it on him. He narrowly avoided being the test subject, while the one who did became a drooling vegetable.]] No wonder he doesn't want to get anywhere near that thing.

* FanPreferredCouple: Eder is easily the most popular companion of the series, winning every Obsidian companion poll by a wide margin. When ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityII'' added romances, naturally most fans wanted to romance him. Once the game was released, most fans still felt that way. Cue Eder romance mods within weeks of the game's release.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Adaryc Cendamyr from ''The White March -- Part II'' expansion has proven to be a quite popular character. That he is literally a kindred spirit of the Watcher -- that is, being a Watcher himself -- along with the fact that he can potentially become one of the Watcher's most friendly inclined allies outside outside of the companions, has endeared him to many a player.
* EsotericHappyEnding: Waidwen's Legacy has been going on for fifteen years at the game's start. Backing the goddess Hylea returns the missing souls to these children, and the game treats this as a problem only for those who thought killing the soulless children was a mercy. This ignores teenagers with the minds of infants.
* FanPreferredCouple: Eder is easily the most popular companion of the series, winning every Obsidian companion poll by a wide margin. When ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity2Deadfire'' added romances, naturally most fans wanted to romance him. Once the game was released, most fans still felt that way. Cue Eder romance mods within weeks of the game's release.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In Aloth's personal quest, a sanitarium consultant cheerfully asks Aloth to slip into a soul-measuring machine that looks like a rusty medieval torture device. Naturally, Aloth declines. This is hilarious until one reads [[https://eternity.obsidian.net/media/stories Aloth's short story]], [[AllThereInTheManual which reveals]] [[spoiler:that while at the academy some classmates illegally acquired one and tried to test it on him. He narrowly avoided being the test subject, while the one who did became a drooling vegetable.]] No wonder he doesn't want to get anywhere near that thing.

** Also the Cipher spell ''Amplified Wave''. It's a level 6 spell, so you'll get it only very late but boy is it ever powerful. It's targetted on a friendly and inflicts an ''enormous'' foe-only AoE, dealing a substantial amount of crush damage and knocking prone. Encounters that would have been challenging like Banshees and Shades become an absolute joke as they'll be knocked down for basically the whole time. And this being a Cipher spell you can cast it every encounter multiple times if you wish, there's no limit on daily usage.

* FanPreferredCouple: Eder is easily the most popular companion of the series, winning every Obsidian companion poll by a wide margin. When ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity2'' added romances, naturally most fans wanted to romance him. Once the game was released, most fans still felt that way. Cue Eder romance mods within weeks of the game's release.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Eothas. Did he really set out to become a conqueror? [[spoiler: Or was his invasion of the Dyrwood a desperate gambit on his part to end the plan of Woedica?]] (The answer is revealed in ''PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire''.)

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: In Aloth's personal quest, a sanitarium consultant cheerfully asks Aloth to slip into a soul-measuring machine that looks like a rusty medieval torture device. Naturally, Aloth firmly declines. This is hilarious until one reads [[https://eternity.obsidian.net/media/stories Aloth's short story]], [[AllThereInTheManual which reveals]] [[spoiler:that while at the academy some classmates illegally acquired one and tried to test it on him. He narrowly avoided being the test subject, while the one who did became a drooling vegetable.]] No wonder he doesn't want to get anywhere near that thing.

* TheWoobie: Aloth is this to a number of fans since his life was basically a ball of pure suck before he met the Watcher. It can still be even that, if [[spoiler:the Watcher opts to be cruel to him and/or reject him at a critical moment, causing him to wander off to effectively commit suicide.]]

* HesJustHiding: The game makes it clear that Eothas was nuked and destroyed. Indeed, [[spoiler:he is the only god you can't speak with during act 3 and 4; even the ones who refuse you at Teir Evron, Wael and Woedica, prove themselves quite alive at other times]]. Many believe that he somehow survived, that he is bidding his time, or that his resurrection just takes a while. Some little details also reinforce the possibility that he is not quite dead, since [[spoiler:the candles in his temple never stopped burning]] and he is actually the ''second'' god to be killed while in Eora, and Abydon ''did'' come back eventually (if somewhat diminished). Also, the Watcher can be a priest of Eothas, and still cast spells; while [[AllThereInTheManual spells are explicitly cast from intense belief in a god's philosophies rather than directly derived from gods]], it's ambiguous whether or not it's possible to be a priest without ''any'' god to at least provide the "spark". Eventually ''PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire'' confirms that Eothas is indeed still ''very'' alive.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Eothas. Did he really set out to become a conqueror? [[spoiler: Or was his invasion of the Dyrwood a desperate gambit on his part to end the plan of Woedica?]]

* HesJustHiding: The game makes it clear that Eothas was nuked and destroyed. Indeed, [[spoiler:he is the only god you can't speak with during act 3 and 4; even the ones who refuse you at Teir Evron, Wael and Woedica, prove themselves quite alive at other times]]. Many believe that he somehow survived, that he is bidding his time, or that his resurrection just takes a while. Some little details also reinforce the possibility that he is not quite dead, since [[spoiler:the candles in his temple never stopped burning]] and he is actually the ''second'' god to be killed while in Eora, and Abydon ''did'' come back eventually (if somewhat diminished). Also, the Watcher can be a priest of Eothas, and still cast spells; while [[AllThereInTheManual spells are explicitly cast from intense belief in a god's philosophies rather than directly derived from gods]], it's ambiguous whether or not it's possible to be a priest without ''any'' god to at least provide the "spark". Needless to say, the premise of the sequel confirms that Eothas is indeed still alive.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Durance. Some players find him to be an interesting and morally-complicated individual with a very storied past that ties in well with the main plot of the game. Others see him as a thoroughly unpleasant and downright repulsive human being who's leaped well past the MoralEventHorizon. The fact that his personal quest is structured differently than everyone else's (requiring you to either put him in your party and talk to him over the course of the game or else just sit in your castle and sleep whenever he tells you he's done talking if you don't want to use him) doesn't help.

* TheWoobie: Aloth is this to a number of fans since his life was basically a ball of pure suck before he met the Watcher. It can still be even that, if [[spoiler:The Watcher opts to be cruel to him and/or reject him at a critical moment, causing him to wander off to effectively commit suicide.]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Durance. Some players find him to be an interesting and morally-complicated individual with a very storied past that ties in well with the main plot of the game. Others see him as a thoroughly unpleasant and downright repulsive human being who's leaped well past the MoralEventHorizon.

** This game is basically ''[[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Thus Spake Zarathustra]]'': the game. The overarching plot is that [[spoiler:the ancient Engwithans used animancy to create the "gods" so that folk would have something to believe in that would give their lives order and meaning]]. They also [[spoiler:used animancy to grant a form of immortality to Thaos]] so that he could make sure that the lie would never be uncovered. [[spoiler:Iovara]], however, discovered the secret and tried to reveal it to the world, believing that people would still be good, and that life would still have meaning, even if the truth were exposed. This was, in essence, Nietzsche's view of religion: a handful of ancient visionary heroes had created religion to give humanity something to believe in that would give our lives order and meaning. Without that, humanity would slowly go extinct unless a new visionary hero could somehow create values that people would live and die for without any belief in a higher power.

* BrokenBase: A [[OfficialFanSubmittedContent backer-submitted]] poem about a man who was DrivenToSuicide after discovering that the woman he slept with [[UnsettlingGenderReveal was actually a man]] due to getting pissed drunk the night before was changed after getting the backer's approval and edit. Some applaud the developers for being sensitive towards transgender fans and removing a poem based in a stereotype often used to attack trans people, while others see this as an example of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad, with people like TotalBiscuit pointing out that this is a CrapsackWorld where such a thing is common anyway. This was further complicated with the revised poem being a TakeThat from the user to the people who complained, which only led to more arguments in the fanbase. It's worth noting that right now, one of the more popular mods in the game is bringing the original limerick back. %% As this is a sensitive topic, please observe the Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement when elaborating.

* BrokenBase: A [[OfficialFanSubmittedContent backer-submitted]] poem about a man who was DrivenToSuicide after discovering that the woman he slept with [[UnsettlingGenderReveal was actually a man]] due to getting pissed drunk the night before was changed after getting the backer's approval and edit. Some applaud the developers for being sensitive towards transgender fans, others see this as an example of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad, with people like TotalBiscuit pointing out that this is a CrapsackWorld where such a thing is common anyway. This was further complicated with the revised poem being a TakeThat from the user to the people who complained, which only led to more arguments in the fanbase. It's worth noting that right now, one of the more popular mods in the game is bringing the original limerick back. %% As this is a sensitive topic, please observe the Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement when elaborating.

* ScrappyMechanic: When managing the player's fortress, some events (tax raising, length of companions offscreen adventures, and various random events) are related to a special ingame clock refered as "turns" instead of using the normal calendar; one turn passes each time the party completes a quest. While it forces to move in the game instead of allowing to exploit the system to gain free gains (i.e. rest somewhere for an indeterminate time and amass infinite money and resources generated form the keep), linking this feature to quest completion has some bad consequences. You can gain several turns in a row then none for a long time, depending on how fast you complete quests, and it eventually is stopped when you completed all the quests. Also, to benefit most from the keep, you need to rush to Caed Nua with a low level party[[note]]and at this point, there's only four plot companions available, though you already can recruit custom companions[[/note]] while completing as little quests as possible, which is especially counterintuitive because Caed Nua's dungeon is filled with DemonicSpiders.

* HesJustHiding: The game makes it clear that Eothas was nuked and destroyed. Indeed, [[spoiler:he is the only god you can't speak with during act 3 and 4; even the ones who refuse you at Teir Evron, Wael and Woedica, prove themselves quite alive at other times]]. Many believe that he somehow survived, that he is bidding his time, or that his resurrection just takes a while. Some little details also reinforce the possibility that he is not quite dead, since [[spoiler:the candles in his temple never stopped burning]] and he is actually the ''second'' god to be killed while in Eora, and Abydon ''did'' come back eventually (if somewhat diminished). Also, the Watcher can be a priest of Eothas, and still cast spells; while [[AllThereInTheManual spells are explicitly cast from intense belief in a god's philosophies rather than directly derived from gods]], it's ambiguous whether or not it's possible to be a priest without ''any'' god to at least provide the "spark".
** Needless to say, the premise of the sequel confirms that Eothas is indeed still alive.

* ScrappyMechanic: When managing the player's fortress, some events (tax raising, length of companions offscreen adventures, and various random events) are related to a special ingame clock refered as "turns" instead of using the normal calendar; one turn passes each time the party completes a quest. While it forces to move in the game instead of allowing to exploit the system to gain free gains (i.e. rest somewhere for an indeterminate time and amass infinite money and resources generated form the keep), linking this feature to quest completion has some bad consequences. You can gain several turns in a row then none for a long time, depending on how fast you complete quests, and it eventually is stopped when you completed all the quests. Also, to benefit most from the keep, you need to rush to Caed Nua with a low level party[[note]]and at this point, there's only four plot companions available, though you already can recruit custom companions[[note]] while completing as little quests as possible, which is especially counterintuitive because Caed Nua's dungeon is filled with DemonicSpiders.