Characters / Dragon Age II Mages

Dragon Age Character Index
Dragon Age II: The Hawke Estate | The Companions (Warriors | Mages | Rogues) | Non-Playable Characters
Dragon Age: Origins | Dragon Age: Inquisition

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Tropes relating to characters who appear in Dragon Age 2 as one of Hawke's mage companions.

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Anders & Justice

Appears in: Awakening | Dragon Age II

Voiced by: Greg Ellis (Dragon Age Origins - Awakening), Adam Howden (Dragon Age II) (English)^{Foreign VAs}Tammo Kaulbarsch (German); Jacek Bończyk (Polish)

In Dragon Age II, Anders has left the Grey Wardens and come to Kirkwall to use his healing magic to help refugees. Anders has also voluntarily let Justice possess him, but the union has twisted the once benevolent spirit.

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See more information about them in this page.

Merrill

Merrill

Merrill in 2

^{Merrill in Origins}

Appears in: Origins | Dragon Age II

Voiced by: Erin Matthews (Origins), Eve Myles (Dragon Age II) (English)^{Foreign VAs}Schaukje Könning (German)

"It's a Keeper's job to remember. Even the dangerous things."

A Dalish Elf, and First to Keeper Marethari's First of the Dalish Sabrae Clan. She is a temporary companion in the Dalish Elf Origin. She returns in Dragon Age II as a companion after leaving her clan for mysterious reasons.

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• Action Girl: Merrill's every bit as actiony as the other ladies; see Beware the Nice Ones below.
• Admiring the Abomination: In Legacy, she's fascinated by an altar to Dumat and decides she wants a pet Deepstalker.
• Affectionate Nickname: "Daisy" from Varric and "Kitten" from Isabela.
• All-Loving Hero:
  • Merrill is extremely kind and cordial to everyone she meets. Despite her people's animosity against humans, she's kind to every human she meets, save one instance if Hawke refuses to give her an artifact that belongs to her people. Despite some unintentionally haughty comments about city elves to Fenris early on, she's sweet to everyone in the alienage. And should she move in with Hawke Varric claims she annoys the neighbors by cooing over their vicious attack dogs. Besides that, she talks to Anders about kittens in her market, her personal quests involve her working tirelessly for years on end to revive an ancient elven artifact she believes will help her people, and after the events of Dragon Age II, she dedicates her life to helping Kirkwall's elven refugees.
  • Of all companions, she's also the most openly compassionate regarding the plight of mages, elves, and non-elves alike; not favoring or scorning any one group based on whether or not she's personally a part of it (read: Anders to mages and Fenris to slaves). She also never hesitates to offer a kind word or support for Anders and Fenris, despite how consistently vicious they are to her.
• All of the Other Reindeer:
  • She is shunned by both her clan and a good half of the party for being a blood mage. Granted, keeping the eluvian that tainted Tamlen and (potentially) the Dalish Warden doesn't help things.
  • Even before that, Merrill hints that the only people in the clan to whom she was truly close were Mahariel, Tamlen, and the Keeper. Being the First alienated her from her peers; additionally, she was born into a different clan (which is why she has a different accent) and was given to Keeper Marethari's clan because of her magic, so she didn't know the other clan members from birth the way they knew each other. That being said though, the brief time she shows up in the first game shows that she nevertheless has a cordial enough relationship with her clan members, at least before she started dabbling into blood magic.
• Ambiguous Situation: Given some revelations about the nature of demons and spirits in Dragon Age: Inquisition, was the "spirit" Merrill learned blood magic from really a Pride Demon trying to possess her by manipulating her Pride? Or was it a Spirit of Wisdom offering knowledge (since she came to it seeking answers to help her people, and was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt), but the rest of her Clan (particularly Marethari) refusing to see it as anything but a demon out to possess Merrill was what corrupted it into being a demon in the first place? After all, as Solas points out, spirits reflect the emotions and expectations of a mortal, and a mortal expecting to see a demon turns it into one). However, the "spirit" is never shown on-screen before Marethari is possessed, so no one may ever know.
• Apologizes a Lot: She gives an apology every three sentences.
• Ascended Extra: She was a temporary companion for half of the hour-long Dalish Origin, there to give the player a mage temporarily. By the developers' own admission, she did not appear long enough to have a personality. In Dragon Age II, she returns as a full companion.
• Badass Adorable: You wouldn't think a klutzy, naïve elf could also be a blood mage.
• Badass Bookworm: While not so much in the traditional bookworm sense (the Dalish rely more on oral traditions), she is noted as an extremely talented mage and historian.
• Bad Powers, Good People: She's sweet, optimistic, and means harm to no one. She's also a practicing blood mage and a demon summoner. This is the cause of most of her problems with others in-game. This also ties into Merrill's Fatal Flaw. Merrill knows that she would never use her blood magic for nefarious purposes, so she automatically expects everyone else to know that too, and doesn't understand why they are not willing to ignore the art's long and ugly history to give her the benefit of the doubt.
• Beneath Notice: After arriving in Kirkwall, she finds most Templars don't look twice at her - she's just another elf.
• Berserk Button: The easiest way to gain rivalry points from her is to vilify — or even simply express (oftentimes justified) caution towards — blood magic and demons in any way, whether or not she is involved.
• Betty and Veronica: Is the kind and sweet Betty in all possible love triangle configurations aside from one where she is against Sebastian due to her blood mage status.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Merrill is extremely nice, kind, and adorable. She is also a practicing blood mage, a demon summoner, the only mage in the party who has no healing spells, and access to at least half a dozen spell trees full of hideous death in flavors ranging from 'mass human flambe' to 'torn apart by Eldritch tentacles' to 'I will punch you in the soul!'
  Merrill: May the Creators have mercy on you, I certainly won't!
• Black Mage: Her repertoire is all killing or mezzing, no buffing or healing.
• Black Magician Girl: She is a Genki Girl who is as adorable as she is naive, but she also dabbles in Blood Magic and deals with demons. Her magic repertoire is strictly damage-dealing, and her two main specialty powers are called "Blood of the First" and "Wrath of the Elvhen." Unusually, however, she's an adult and a potential Love Interest.
• Blatant Lies: By the DLC, she's telling the other party members about Dalish culture purely to be snarky.
• Blood Magic: She's a practitioner of the art, which she does in an attempt to fix an eluvian. In battle, her specialization is almost the same as mage Hawke's own Blood Magic tree.
• Blunt Metaphors Trauma: She is often guilty of the trope.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Merrill's conflict with Marethari. Marethari has a point that Evil Is Not a Toy, Merrill cannot completely control the consequences of her research, and she is taking a colossal risk in dabbling with the eluvian, demons, and blood magic. Merrill counters that she only used blood magic to power a ritual that would cleanse the shard of its darkspawn taint that made it fatal, and she otherwise never contacts the spirit (or demon) for any other purpose. She calls Marethari out for treating her like a naive child and not trusting that she knows what she's doing. It's up to Hawke who to side with, which influences whether they pursue a Friendship or Rivalry path with Merrill.
• Break the Cutie:
  • The game (and certain party members) seem very determined to punish her for her optimism and naivete in the face of a Crapsack World. Though she has a few moments where she breaks down, for the most part she always bounces back.
  • She's not so plucky in Act 3's "A New Path", especially if Hawke doesn't make precisely the correct choice. In the worst-case scenario, her entire clan she worked to restore to their former glory will end up dead. Even in the best case scenario, she'll be slightly more brittle for the rest of the game.
• Buffy Speak: Sometimes. For example, she calls Carver's fighting style "swording" and Carver himself a "sworder" because she really doesn't know what style he uses.
• Byronic Hero: Second only to Anders in her tragic character arc. She is clever, emotional and willing to use forbidden magic and be shunned by everyone in order to restore the mirror and help her people. And like Anders, she is very proud and refuses to listen to warnings, feeling she is already taking enough precautions and has everything under control.
• Cannot Spit It Out: If pursuing the friendly or flirty paths with her, it's implied Merrill develops a crush on Hawke seemingly from the moment they first meet. However, Hawke must literally spell it out for Merrill that they actually feel the same way before they can begin a relationship.
• Cassandra Truth:
  • Merrill spends most of the game believing that the eluvian is an important relic from her people's past, and can help restore their former glory. Most characters (including potentially Hawke) dismiss her as a naïve idiot messing with knowledge and powers too great for her to understand or control. Dragon Age: Inquisition reveals that the eluvians are indeed instrumental to the elves' future, and when the Inquisitor and Morrigan enter the Crossroads filled with every eluvian ever made, Merrill's ramshackle restored eluvian is among them, though as yet unactivated.
  • To a lesser extent, Merrill spends most of the game claiming that spirits aren't all demons out to possess people, and while all spirits should be treated with a degree of caution, they can also offer valuable knowledge and should be given the benefit of the doubt. For this opinion, most people In-Universe end up deriding her and believe her to be a naïve and childlike idiot. However, Dragon Age: Inquisition reveals that most spirits indeed reflect the emotions and expectations of mortals around them. A mortal who expects to see a demon twists it into a demon since the spirit has no choice but to reflect those expectations. So, in that sense, Merrill wasn't far off the mark.
• Chandelier Swing: If she moves in with Hawke, she's suspect number one (besides Sandal) when Hawke finds handprints on the chandelier.
• Character Death: If Hawke sides with the templars during the final battle, has a full rivalry with Anders (meaning he can be persuaded to turn against the mages), did not complete all of Merrill's personal quests, and does not choose the "Join me" option when confronting her, Merrill will turn against Hawke and will be killed.
• Character Development:
  • If a full rival and her final personal quest is complete, she finally admits she was wrong to use blood magic and blames herself for not listening and thus causing Marethari to sacrifice herself for her. As a rival she also grows a bit more serious in conversations with Hawke and isn't as easily flustered as she was previously.
  • She also gets character development if she's a full friend instead of rival, but the development is in the opposite direction: she realizes that her people are just as flawed as they insist everyone else to be, that in spite of her good intentions she will not always be able to help those who do not even want her asssistance, and that there are better things for her to do with her time than endlessly worry about what her people thought of her. She spends the rest of the game slightly happier, not feeling that she is alone in the world and that she cannot make decisions by herself.
• Characterization Marches On: In the first game, she comes across as having a straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense demeanor as opposed to her Cloud Cuckoolander tendencies in this game. Her trauma from the incident with the mirror and subsequent obsession with discovering its secrets is commonly adopted as an explanation by fans.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Subverted. She is hinted to have a crush on Hawke since their first meeting, just like how Anders is all but outright confirmed to fall for Hawke since their first encounter in Act 1. However, Merrill doesn't feel resentful or even bothered if Hawke ends up with any of their three other love interests, and is even more than supportive of their relationship.
• Cloudcuckoolander:
  • Merrill wonders how Qunari scratch their heads. She wonders if they rub their horns on trees like Halla^note AKA Fantasy Deer do. This is but one of many random thoughts that come out of her mouth.
  • Merrill knows how deep the harbor waters are because she fell in them.
  • Should her romance path be completed, she will move in with Hawke in Hightown. Her codex states that she stuns the neighbors by walking barefoot, picking flowers out of people's gardens, and cooing at the nobles' guard dogs, among other adorable antics.
  • If she moves in, Hawke seems to have the sneaking suspicion she's the one who's been swinging on the chandelier in the Estate (which leads to a curious incident involving a broken wardrobe for which she apologizes in Legacy).
  • Likewise, if she moves in, Merrill names all of the falcon sculptures around the estate. Apparently, the one on the north side is called "Finnegan", while the one near the fireplace window has been dubbed "Messere Pointy-Face".
  • Her greatest desire is to own a baby Griffon, despite the fact that they have been extinct in Thedas for over 200 years. She'd call it Feathers.
  • If importing a save with the Dalish Warden, she mentions that Duncan was the first human she'd ever seen with facial hair. She admits she initially thought his beard was a squirrel that had grabbed him by the chin.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Velanna from Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. Both were the Firsts of their clans, and were eventually exiled due to their altercations with the Keeper. What differs is that in said altercations, Velanna was driven by her temper and Merrill by her pride. Velanna is unpleasant to both humans and non-humans alike but doesn't refute any valid criticisms of her behavior, and Merrill is kind to everyone she meets but gets defensive whenever she's called out on her actions. Velanna believes that it's better to carve a new future for the Dalish than reclaim the past; whereas Merrill believes that recovering the elves' history is the only way to save her clan, and only grows out of it when her plans cost her the life of others.
• Covert Pervert:
  • She reacts with glee at the possibility of finally hearing anything "dirty," especially Isabela's stories.
  • In Act 3, she mentions that she misses having all the Qunari around; they didn't smile much, but they were easy on the eyes.
  • When speaking to party members in the final battle, and regardless of whether or not she was romanced, it's possible to get this exchange:
    Merrill: Does all this feel like a dream to you, too?
    Hawke: In a moment, I'll look down and see I have no pants on.
    Merrill: [giggles] The Champion of Kirkwall, going to battle naked. (Beat, then dreamily) Why can't I ever have that dream?
  • Legacy also reveals that a romanced Merrill has been reading Anders's grimoire in the hope of finding "dirty spells" to "make things more exciting" between her and Hawke. An Act 1 conversation between Anders and Isabela reveals that Anders does, in fact, use magic during sex. If Merrill overheard that or had it relayed to her by Isabela, she has a reason to be looking through his spellbook.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: If it isn't destroyed, when the Inquisitor visits the Crossroads in Dragon Age: Inquisition, her distinctly cracked ramshackle-looking eluvian is there among all the others, implying that at some point she got it working in at least some capacity. Although it's likely that she still lacks the key required to activate it, there's nothing to stop it from being activated in the future.
• Cultural Rebel: Develops a crush on Hawke seemingly at their first meeting, much to her chagrin. During her romance, she laments that to give in to her attraction to Hawke would be seen as betraying her people, who are trying to safeguard the elven bloodline from extinction.
• Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: Her desire to know more about her people's history and the exact circumstances behind Tamlen's death through fixing the eluvian is what causes most of her problems. While she takes caution, she's still tinkering with an ancient magical artifact that could attract trouble that she may not be able to keep under control. In her final personal quest, apparitions of various Dalish elves call her out on this trope, particularly Tamlen — whose death he brought on himself due to his interest in the eluvian.
  Tamlen: Curiosity... is a dangerous thing, Merrill. It will never let you rest. Never.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: According to the short stories about the love interests, Merrill has an issue with watching where she is going. She also gets lost frequently.
• Dark Is Not Evil:
  • She believes this of blood magic, and of demons. Though she is quick to point out to Anders that just because she isn't adverse to using them doesn't mean she isn't fully aware of how dangerous they can be.
  • Also applies to Merrill herself. She's initially clad in very dark clothing and in possession of a bevy of offensive spells, and of course there's the whole Blood Magic thing. But she's far and away the nicest person to join Hawke's party, and while her actions may be... questionable, she certainly isn't malicious in her intent.
• Deadpan Snarker: Even though she doesn't always pick up on others' sarcasm, Merrill is still surprisingly good at dishing out her own at certain times.
  Ilen: How has your time been amongst the shemlen?
  Merrill: It's been nothing but roses and rainbows, Master Ilen. The Alienage is lovely in the spring. The collapsing shacks and the drunken brutes are offset nicely by the knee-deep mud.
• Death Seeker: She's carrying around a lot of guilt about the Dalish origin, has questionable self-esteem at best, and her personal quests involve taking near-suicidal risks to try and salvage something good from the eluvian. If she isn't actively trying to sacrifice herself, she's not far from it.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Merrill's writer Mary Kirby admitted on Twitter that the idea behind Merrill was to deconstruct the "selfless waif willing to sacrifice herself for those around her." Merrill's dabbling in dangerous magic and knowledge causes herself and others unnecessary danger and grief, her belief that she alone can control the outcome of her actions is shown to be an inherently proud and selfish mentality rather than giving and selfless, and that expecting others to stand back and allow her to endanger herself can result in those close to her getting killed, like Marethari's, because most people wouldn't just stand back and watch someone they love dearly die.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Merrill is the one Dalish Mage in a party of mostly Andrastian humans (or Cultural Rebel dwarf Varric and elf Fenris) who all share pretty uniform Andrastian human worldviews. In particular, Merrill's belief that most spirits should be given the benefit of the doubt (if treated with caution), that blood magic is no more evil than any other magic, and that ancient knowledge is worth pursing clash greatly with the rest of her party, if not most characters in the game.
• Demonization: In-universe, Marethari went out of her way to make the Clan hate and fear Merrill for researching the eluvian and learning blood magic from a spirit (in order to force her to stop), to the point that most of them openly despise or are outright terrified of her, treating her as little more than a demon wearing an elf's face. Their treatment saddens Merrill, but she's determined to help them anyway.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: If asked why she's nervous during her initial introduction:
  Merrill: I've never met a human before. Dalish mothers frighten their children with stories about you, you know. (Beat) Not you, personally, of course. I'm sure they don't have any tales about you. Or not scary ones, at least. (Beat) Not that you're not notable enough to have a story... I'll just shut up now.
• Ditzy Genius: Besides being a potent mage, Merrill is the first known person in Thedosian history to successfully reverse-engineer an Eluvian and professes some very radical ideas about blood magic and the nature of spirits which turn out to be highly prescient. She also can't leave her house without getting lost and has a naivete in interpersonal matters which often works against her. These traits lead others to patronize and disparage her for her ambitious goals in spite of her competence.
• Does Not Understand Sarcasm: Only really applies early on, when she's not used to humans - she can be quite sarcastic herself, in fact. But she's always pretty bad at catching innuendo.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Unlike the rest of the Hawke's group, as a member of the Dalish, Merrill knows far better than to do or say anything that might offend Asha'bellanar. During their meeting, she alone remains bowed respectfully and stays that way for some time before Flemeth finally tells her that she is allowed to stand up properly.
• The Dreaded: To her own clan. So much so that a former friend runs away from her straight to a Varterral at the sight of her.
• Dumbass Has a Point: More like "Genius Ditz Has a Point". Merrill often points out that Marethari treats her like a child, and refuses to believe that Merrill might know what she's talking about regarding the eluvian or trust that Merrill is exercising due caution in restoring the eluvian with minimal risk to herself and others. For example, Marethari refused to believe the eluvian was safe to handle due to Tamlen and possibly Mahariel dying from it even after Merrill purged the darkspawn taint that made it dangerous. Also, while Merrill took precautions in case she was possessed, Marethari refused to believe that Merrill could possibly avoid possession and lets the demon possess her instead.
• Enemy Mine: A bit one-sided given her generally friendly nature, but she gets this from both Anders and Fenris for her insistence on using blood magic and demons. Even Sebastian, though he's much nicer to her, regards her as a potential threat and considers turning her and Anders over to the Templars in a conversation with Fenris.
• Entendre Failure: "I miss a lot of dirty things, and sometimes I wouldn't mind hearing them."
• The Exile: Subverted: Hawke's first assumption is that Merrill wants to join the party because she was exiled, but she left of her own volition. Played straight if her Act 3 quest ends with her clan surviving.
• Facial Markings: Like all adult Dalish elves, Merrill wears Vallaslin on her face. Though many of the designs were changed due to Inquisition's better graphics, Merril's markings in both of her appearances most closely resemble the design associated with Dirthamen, the Keeper of Secrets. This describes Merril's character quite nicely.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Surprisingly averted, given most Dalish attitudes towards humans. Merrill is sweet to everyone regardless of whether they are humans, elves, or dwarves. She does seem to hold the view that the Dalish are superior (which, given the attitudes she grew up around, is nearly inevitable), which annoys Fenris especially, but even that is not explicit and seems to wane as she lives longer in Kirkwall.
  • However, she will pull out racial insults if Hawke is in a rivalry with her, such as if they refuse to give her the arulin'holm to help her repair the mirror in Act 2, likely because Hawke just hammered home every stereotype she heard growing up.
    Merrill: You're keeping a priceless heirloom of my clan? You have no right! You're not even Dalish! I can't believe you! Why did I trust you? You're just a shemlen like all the others!
  • She also calls Feynriel "[that] half-breed" in a surprisingly nasty manner upon starting the quest "Night Terrors," but that's most likely because she feels betrayed, as she thinks Keeper Marethari wouldn't be willing to go such lengths to save her, a member of the clan.
• Fatal Flaw: Merrill's is that she doesn't understand that her actions have consequences that she cannot completely control, and that those consequences may not stop with her - she's aware that she runs the risk of becoming an abomination, and on some occasions she even makes sure to have someone on hand to kill her if that should happen, but she rarely seems to consider the potential collateral damage if she were to become possessed or let a demon loose on the world, and can't remotely grasp that others such as Hawke and Marethari would rather put themselves at risk than let her die. Yet, because she believes she fully understands and accepts the risks of what she's doing, she refuses to listen to warnings or criticism. Unsurprisingly, the Demon she summoned to help her fix the eluvian, as well as the Demon that causes her to temporarily turn on Hawke whilst they are in the Fade, in both instances are revealed to be Pride Demons.
• First-Episode Twist: Finding out that the seemingly-innocent elf was a blood mage who has dealt with demons is a bit of a surprise, even if the player is finding this out within fifteen minutes of when Hawke first meets her.
• Fish out of Water: Not that she fit in that well with the Dalish, either.
• Fluffy Tamer:
  • She really wants a pet griffon, and regards the fact that they're extinct as a minor inconvenience.
  • When she first sees Deepstalkers - which look like this - she calls them sweethearts and decides she wants one on the spot.
• Foreshadowing:
  • While she has very little screentime in the first game, she does appear to be extremely interested in using the eluvian mirror to find information. This plays a big part in her companion quests in Dragon Age II.
  • Even back in Origins Merrill was too quick to ignore warnings about how dangerous Mahariel and Tamlen's illness was, despite knowing nothing about it. In the second game, her refusal to acknowledge warnings about her blood magic and dealings with demons causes her a lot of problems.
  • If Hawke brings her along on the "Night Terrors" quest, then she will fall to Wryme's temptation due to having the highest priority out of any of the tempted party members (followed by Fenris and then Varric). This foreshadows Merrill's Fatal Flaw, and the fact that she's more out of her depth when it comes to demons than she thinks she is.
• Forgets to Eat: The codex mentions that Varric has to leave food on her doorstep when she gets really fixated on the eluvian.
• Gay Option: Can be romanced by either gender.
• Girl Next Door: According to the developers in the second Dev Diary.
  • Evokes the Big Brother Instinct to life-threatening extremes, even in those who should know better. Even Carver shows uncommon tenderness toward her. Fenris is the only one without a smidgen of pity for her.
• Girl with Psycho Weapon: Borderline. She uses the same staves as any other mage character, but has access to Blood Magic and other spell trees that are brutal enough on their own.
• Good Bad Girl: Sort of. Shows no signs of actually being sexually active (aside from Hawke, potentially), but she's also clearly interested in sex. To that end, she tries to get Isabela to teach her how to do a Supermodel Strut and even looks through Anders's book of spells in hopes of finding some dirty spells to spice up her bed time with Hawke.
  Isabela: So... did you get naked?
  Merrill: Isabela!
  Isabela: Look at that blush! That good, huh?!
• Green Thumb: She possesses a mix of Keeper magic and her own experimentation with blood magic.
• Happily Adopted: By Keeper Marethari, as per the Dalish tradition of moving magically-gifted children between the clans to distribute them evenly amongst clans that need them, but by the start of the game their relationship has gotten strained due to the blood magic and demon summoning.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • A small one happens if Hawke brings her along on the "Night Terrors" quest, where she gives in to a Pride Demon's mind control and briefly turns on the party. She's pretty shaken up afterwards if Hawke visits her home.
• Hero-Worshipper: Has more than a little of this when it involves Hawke (unless they're in a rivalry with her), and is certainly the reason behind her implied immediate crush on them, at least at first.
• Hidden Depths: Despite sometimes affecting a blithe Pollyanna persona, those who spend enough time with Merrill will find that she's actually quite resentful about the way others view and treat her, and that she really doesn't appreciate being treated like a naïve child who's in over her head. Becoming her rival is the best way to bring out this side of her, especially when Hawke withholds the arulin'holm from her in Act 2.
• Hikikomori: Borderline; between Acts 2 and 3, she's gotten so obsessed with finishing the Eluvian that she's forgetting to eat and often doesn't leave the house for days at a time. Varric comes by each week to convince her to take a break and come outside to make sure things don't get worse.
• I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Despite growing a crush on Hawke immediately, she evidently did not expect Hawke to reciprocate as Merrill consistently fails to notice Hawke's advances. This is especially evident for a female Hawke, whom Merrill seems surprised (but not worried) at falling for.
• The Ingenue:
  • For all her cheerful innocence, she's also sometimes naive about the risks of blood magic and demons.
    Merrill: There's nothing inherently evil about blood magic. It's magic, like any other.
    Anders: (disgusted) Are you really that stupid?
  • Though she later points out to Anders that he's screwed up worse on this account than she has.
    Merrill: Are you all right?
    Anders: I nearly killed an innocent girl. How could I be all right?
    Merrill: I'm sorry.
    Anders: You're sorry? For me? This could be you! You could be the next monster threatening helpless girls!
    Merrill: Anders... there's no such thing as a good spirit. There never was. All spirits are dangerous. I understood that. I'm sorry that you didn't.
• Innocently Insensitive: Her attempt to connect with Fenris in party banter by pointing out how the Dalish sometimes take in runaway elven slaves, though said slaves have probably never seen a Dalish before, has her come across as unintentionally haughty. Fenris doesn't cut her any slack for it, naturally.
• Insecure Love Interest: Believes herself to be undeserving of Hawke's love in a romance. Especially true for a female Hawke, whom Merrill will call "beautiful and clever".
• Insistent Terminology: She never refers to demons as "demons," just "spirits," and insists the two are not so different. She's not wrong, as at least one codex from a Circle Mage says this is the proper means of identification.
• I've Come Too Far: Part of the reason why she is reluctant to give up on her quest of fixing the mirror is because she has sacrificed so much already that she may as well see it through to the end, regardless of whether her mission will succeed or fail. She even says the trope nearly word for word in party banter with some of her companions in "A New Path" when they warn her that things may not end well.
• Laugh of Love:
  • She will sometimes giggle if romanced by a male Hawke.
  • A strange inversion can happen if Fenris is romanced by Hawke; she'll giggle, before pointing out that she can tell Fenris is in love.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Very much the Light to Isabela's Dark.
• Literal-Minded: Some of her Comically Missing the Point moments involve this, possibly either because of her social awkwardness or because such expressions aren't commonly used among the Dalish.
  Arishok: They say we were careless with our trap, that this is our fault. But even without the saar-qamek, there would have been death. This elf was determined to lay blame at our feet.
  Merrill: But your feet didn't do anything wrong! Did they?
• Medium Awareness: Most of her Party Banter in the third and final act consists of her worrying about what she sees as an upcoming end to the party's adventures together.
• Morality Pet: To Isabela, as the woman is always friendly towards Merrill and never makes any attempt to mock or steal anything from her.
  Merrill: Why is it that you always win at cards?
  Isabela: [chuckles] Because I cheat, Kitten.
  [Beat]
  Isabela: This trinket... it's elven, isn't it? From your clan? Don't bet anything you're not prepared to lose. Here... [Isabela hands the trinket back] have it back.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • If the rivalry path is pursued, after her Act 3 quest, Merrill will destroy the mirror, believing that her obsession with it is what caused the death of Marethari and/or her clan. This is subverted at the end of her friendship path, however, as she will instead lament their lack of understanding.
  • Whether Hawke is her rival or not, this is her reaction after the Keeper reveals how the demon tricked her and she is forced to kill her. That said, given that the information on what was planned was coming from a trapped demon sundered from the Fade and now in full possession of a host, it's really questionable how reliable it is. When the player understands that demons tend to seek out powerful hosts in positions of authority, both of which the Keeper had, it seems more likely that Audacity was just using the different views between the two of them to further drive a wedge so he could get to his real target, Marethari.
• Never My Fault: Merrill disapproves anytime Hawke implies that the situation with her clan is her fault instead of blaming them and the Keeper for not accepting her help. This blame extends to Hawke if they withhold the arulin'holm from her. She will finally take responsibility however, if Hawke has a full rivalry with her. However, after certain revelations in Inquisition about the nature of eluvians and an offhanded comment from Word of God about the situation, it is very debatable just how much of what happened was really her fault. It's also worth noting that Marethari was determined to ensure that Merrill's research would go south even as she warned Merrill that her research would bring forth terrible consequences, in which case Merrill has a point. It's up to the player to decide whether they agree or not.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Merrill daydreams about owning a pet griffon or deepstalker, thinks Quentin's Stalker Shrine is pretty (before meeting the man himself, obviously), and is genuinely fascinated by the Altar of Dumat.
• No Sense of Direction:
  • Her codex reveals that she somehow found herself in the cupboards of the Chantry, a dog track in Darktown, and the Viscount's bathroom in her attempts to walk home. Kirkwall is supposed to be more maze-like than the game represents, but no one else in Hawke's crew has this happen to them.
  • While on Sundermount, she mentions that she gets lost a lot on the mountain. Yes, she got lost on a path that only goes one way.
• No Social Skills: She has next to no understanding of life outside the Dalish.
• "Not So Different" Remark: In a sense. If she's Hawke's love interest, in Anders' final quest, the latter can needle Hawke about their relationship with Merrill with regards to the pact Merrill had made with a spirit/demon. If Merrill is brought along in the quest, she doesn't hesitate to call out Anders for being the pot calling the kettle black — which proves to be more correct than she would ever expect since romanced or not, there is no way for Hawke to convince Anders to abandon his cause.
  Anders: I know it isn't my place to criticize, but... are you sure about Merrill? She acts sweet, but she'll never choose you over her demon.
  Hawke: Merrill loves me.
  Merrill: (angrily) What right to you have to question us? Is your Justice any different?
  Anders: Yes.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: There's room for interpretation on if she's doing this when talking to those outside the Dalish and how much.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • Merrill develops a crush on Hawke seemingly at their first meeting, but seems to not notice if Hawke actually flirts and returns the affections, up until Hawke has to just directly tell her.
  • She also has this in regard to Carver when he attempts to flirt with her, although her aforementioned crush on his older sibling may be what stops her noticing this. On the other hand, an exchange in Mark of the Assassin suggests that she might just put on an oblivious act, presumably to not hurt Carver's feelings:
    Carver: Okay, we're lost together. Both of us, not that we're "together" together.
    Merrill: If we have to be lost somewhere, at least it's a nice hallway! Very well built, not at all likely to collapse.
    Carver: Right, well, back to rescuing... wait. You're doing that on purpose!
    Merrill: [giggles]
• Of Corsets Sexy: Is seen with one in her romance scene, which seems to be the customary undergarment for female elves. Notably, she's the only romance option in the game who's shown undressed in their romance scene.
• Pride: Merrill's fatal flaw is that she's convinced that she had complete control over her deal with the demon, and understood fully the threat it posed because she'd studied them. It turned out that Merrill would have eventually been tricked into being possessed if it were not for Marethari.
  • In the quest where Hawke accompanies Merrill to the top of Sundermount to honor Flemeth's deal, Flemeth warns Merrill to be careful as "no path is darker than when one's eyes are shut", which refers to Merrill's Selective Obliviousness.
  • Additionally, in the middle of fighting the possessed Keeper, the demon can potentially call Merrill out on her vanity, which was hinted at in the quest "Night Terrors" where she was prompted to turn against Hawke after she was tempted with illusions of being praised by her clan as their savior.
  • She accuses her clanmates of being "ignorant" and "mired in fear", even though it can be seen in Origins that Marethari had also expressed interest in the mirror and the knowledge it could offer, but she stated that their history and lore is not worth the lives of anyone in the clan; and her clan does honor and practice the elven traditions, but they simply have good reason to resent the eluvian. This hints that while Merrill genuinely wants to repair the eluvian to gain closure on Tamlen and/or Mahariel's deaths, she also wants to prove to her clan that she was right and they were wrong about everything — a motive commonly associated with pride.
  • It is also used to deconstruct the idea of Bad Powers, Good People. While it's true that Merrill would never use her blood magic for nefarious purposes, this doesn't change the fact that the art itself has a very long history of being used for evil. Merrill repeatedly shows that she expects everyone to overlook that history purely because she knows that she wouldn't use it that way.
• Rags to Royalty: If romanced, Hawke asks her to move in with them to their estate in Hightown.
• Rescue Romance: If the rivalry path is taken, she falls for Hawke as they try to save her from herself.
• The Rich Have White Stuff: After Hawke has successfully romanced her, Merrill switches from her scarf and earth-tone clothes to a white robe with silvery chainmail and shoulder plates. The whole outfit makes it quite clear that being the significant other of a rich noble has its perks.
• Selective Obliviousness: Her attitude towards demons and blood magic crosses over into this frequently. She states, (and even demonstrates), that she understands the risks... yet is surprised when people ask/demand that she stop, and doesn't seem to understand why others might view her as dangerous. That said, the next game does show that she isn't entirely wrong as her eluvian eventually becomes functional, even if it hasn't been activated yet, and Solas confirms her statement that some spirits are safe to work with, so as long as they don't absorb the negative emotions or expectations of mortals.
• Shipper on Deck: She fully supports Aveline/Donnic, as well as Hawke with any one of the other love interests (especially Isabela).
• Shutting Up Now: Tends to talk her way into a hole, and ends her dialogue like this.
  Merrill: I'll try not to hit anyone. On our side, I mean. I'm babbling again. Let's go.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: She and Hawke come close to this in Varric's opinion.
  Varric: It's almost too adorable. Well, except for the evil blood magic thing.
• Skilled, but Naive: She's the most powerful offensive mage outside of possibly Hawke, but she's got so little life experience that half the party has to watch out for her.
• Small Name, Big Ego: On a much smaller scale than most examples. She thinks that because she's studied the risks when it comes to making pacts with demons, she can work with the demon she learned blood magic from without any negative effects. She couldn't be any more wrong. With that said, Merrill does indeed take precautions to avoid being possessed, and brings Hawke along for a Mercy Kill in case the worst case scenario happens. Besides that, Marethari, who refuses to believe that Merrill could possibly avoid being possessed, chooses to let the demon possess her behind Merrill's back, which causes all of Merrill's efforts to go belly-up.
• Stop Being Stereotypical:
  • Anders hates blood mages for giving mages in general a bad name, which is one of the reasons he's constantly berating Merrill.
  • Fenris is less vicious about it, but often admonishes Merrill for acting too smug and superior, or like a tree-hugging hippie — which is how most people see the Dalish.
• Stupid Sacrifice: Merrill’s story arc writer Mary Kirby stated that Marethari’s “sacrifice” and Merrill’s various sacrifices were an example of how some women’s instinct to willingly sacrifice and suffer for the sake of their loved ones, becomes vicious and toxic. In Merrill's case, she absolutely refuses to consider that her clan would rather have a living Merrill than an active Eluvian, and that they felt that even with her precautions, the risk to the clan was too great to bother with.
• Survivor Guilt: There's no way she could have saved Tamlen or Mahariel, but that doesn't stop her seeing their faces in crowds years later. In Act 3, she admits to Sebastian that she thinks she should have died instead of Marethari. Throughout the last third of the game, she's much more likely to get snippy and sometimes sounds like she's on the verge of tears. It's nine times worse if her whole clan ended up dead as well.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Although Merrill's attempts to repair the eluvian and help her clan ultimately end in disaster, Hawke suggests that she still can help the elves in the alienage, something that she takes into consideration and eventually begins doing after the events of the endgame. In Inquisiton, Varric mentions that she's doing a good job protecting them and keeping them away from danger.
• Tough Love: The only way to get Merrill to understand how her actions affect others and break the eluvian is to have a full rivalry with her.
• We ARE Struggling Together: In party banter, there is one conversation where she invokes the trope to come visit the alienage or help their people. Fenris is not amused.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Initially, her venture into cleansing the shard had her approach the Keeper so they could pool their healing magic together, as in the first game the Keeper's unamplified magic was enough to weaken Mahariel's taint. When the Keeper refused, and seeing that she had no lyrium to work with, Merrill turned to a spirit trapped inside a statue and sundered from the Fade, asking it to teach her the basics of blood magic, in order to have the means to cleanse the shard and reclaim some of her people's history. She does not come into contact with the spirit again and builds her own eluvian from scratch, but is still using blood magic which many consider a dangerous road. She is aware that these actions might harm herself, but her inability to comprehend that most other people will try to sabotage her at every turn as well sometimes crosses over into denial.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: If she is not romanced, her ultimate fate after the Inquisition DLC Trespasser is a question mark. The epilogue notes that elves across Thedas begin to disappear, but it's not yet known if she is one of them.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • She (potentially) has a nice long yell at Hawke if they refuse to give her the arulin'holm to help her repair the mirror in Act 2.
  • If she is romanced and is brought along on Anders' final quest, Anders can make a snide comment about her romance with Hawke, to which she angrily calls him out on.
  • On the other hand, she is often on the receiving end of the trope.
    • Anders and Fenris both give her these for her blood magic and demon dealing.
      Fenris: So a demon called out to you, and you answered. Brilliant.
    • If Hawke takes Merrill and Fenris around in their party, then Fenris will rip into Merrill every chance he can get about how she's wasting her freedom and taking unnecessary risks to "chase ghosts." By Act 2, Merrill eventually has enough and calls Fenris out on also taking unnecessary risks to chase ghosts from his own past.
    • After witnessing the Keeper sacrifice her life to save Merrill from being possessed by a demon, Anders will proclaim that to be the most selfless, heroic thing he'd ever seen - then angrily snort it's a pity it was wasted on Merrill. This will be one time Fenris states that he completely agrees with Anders.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Merrill speaks with a distinctly Welsh accent, while the rest of the Sabrae clan have Irish accents. It's later mentioned that she was born to a different clan in Nevarra and, after it was discovered she was a mage, sent to Marethari for training.
• You Can't Go Home Again: She essentially gets kicked out of her clan for practicing blood magic. Also, unless the player make exactly the right choice during her Act 3 companion quest, they'll attack, and she'll have to help Hawke kill them. But regardless of how her final personal quest ends, she is for all intents and purposes, exiled from her clan permanently.
• Zombie Advocate: For spirits and blood mages in general. An easy way to gain rivalry points from her involves either refusing offers from demons, telling her not to trust demons, or decrying blood magic. Her largest rivalry gain, and in fact the largest potential gain in the game, comes from destroying all the evil tomes and the Fell Grimoire in the quest "Forbidden Knowledge" for a grand total of 60 rivalry points.

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