Character hub- UNFINISHED

Why did I make this page? (toggle)

My favourite thing, by far, about this game, is all the characters and companions in it. Before playing this I never would've thought this style of game would be for me, turn based combat has never really been my thing, and I've always predominantly been a nintendo player. However, after seeing fan edits of characters like Karlach I thought I'd give it go- I now have over 200 hours on the game! And the biggest reason for this? The characters. This page is somewhat of a mini wiki, and mainly a place for me to talk about my opinions on these characters.

Warning: there will be character quest spoilers and canon typical topics such as abuse

Full Name: Astarion Ancunin

Age: 239

Race: High elf

Class: Rogue

Background: Charlatan

My thoughts: Astarion is one of my favourite companions, I know other people consider him "overrated" or a bit of a "basic" picking, however I think that people like that don't seem to understand that these characters are popular for a reason. Out of all the characters, Astarions backstory is what resonated with me the most. I had never cried at a videogame before going into the Szarr mansion for his subplot. The scene where Astarion, after 200 years of being abused, finally kills Cazador, is one of the most moving and most emotionally impactful scenes I have seen in a video game.

Full Name: Wyll Ravengard

Age: 24

Race: Human

Class: Fiend Warlock

Background: Folk hero

My thoughts: I will never understand people's obsessions with calling Gale "underrated" when WYLL EXISTS!! Gale is the most picked origin character and you're calling him underrated? Wyll is unfortunately one of the most neglected characters by Larian, with hours less content compared to other companions. His character has so much potential, we see a man who is, in a lot of ways, the epitome of a typical hero; he is selfless, kindhearted and brave. Then we see his class, a Fiend Warlock, ("servants of chaotic and destructive beings such as demons or devils and traded their souls to these dark forces in exchange for power"), something that goes against everything his character is. It's from here that his character subquest kicks off- we learn why he sold his soul to Mizora, we learn about his father and how he was only 17 when he was exiled. Even with an arching plot, and so much about him that has potential, we're left with seriously lacking content. He even lacks the autonomy the other characters are gifted, in the most important decision his character can make, to save his soul or save his father, we are the ones given the choice. All of the other characters are given the ability to make the crucial choices themselves. Autonomy is such a crucial theme of BG3 and yet, his is taken away completely.

Full Name: Gale Dekarios

Age: Unconfirmed (30s)

Race: Human

Class: Wizard

Background: Sage

My thoughts: Gale is another character who resonates a lot with me, especially as an autistic person. A lot of people find him annoying: he talks a lot, is preoccupied by the power he used to hold, and eats your beloved magical objects. However, all of this is exactly why I like him. He's annoying? Me too! He talks too much? I'm literally sitting her rambling about a fictional character! He reads to me as autistic coded (which I won't go too much into here... I'll save that for another day). I know other people completely disagree with this, but the joy in (media) coding is that it's interpretation is often completely subjective. Now, moving onto another topic- I heard someone say that the reason people like Astarion and yet don't like Gale is because of the way they've reacted to the abuse they've suffered. While Astarion hates his abuser, Gale has a completely different mindset when it comes to his. Mystra, who holds a huge power imbalance over Gale, and who in my opinion, is implied to have groomed Gale from a young age, still has Gale's favour. In early acts Gale still seeks her forgiveness, he's even willing to blow himself up for it if you let him. A lot of people, to an extent understandbly, don't understand why he would be so desperate for her forgiveness. They don't understand why a victim would ever not hate their abuser, and so they hate him instead. They don't understand this for what it is- an increadibly realistic reaction to years of manipulation.

Full Name: Lae'zel of crèche K'liir (Githyanki title)

Age: Unconfirmed (20s)

Race: Githyanki

Class: Fighter

Background: Soldier

My thoughts: Out of all the characters Lae'zel has one of my favourite arcs (unascended). She is often written off as just being "mean" and "violent", with a lack of understanding towards her upbringing and how it has shaped her.