List of Dragon Age characters


This list of characters describes notable characters who appear in the video games ', ', and Dragon Age II. This list describes only player characters, important party companions, notable supporting characters, and major antagonists that appear in the games. Certain characters have names chosen by the player. These characters are designated the name they are addressed by in-game. In the case of party members, personal quests are also noted as these explore the characters' background.
For the protagonist of and characters who appear in Inquisition, refer to.

Setting

The various Dragon Age games, set in a world called Thedas, are story-driven, where the player usually assumes control of one primary character as the protagonist of the story. Player characters in the Dragon Age series are continually presented with choices for how to deal with major game events, and any decisions made usually influence the overarching narrative. While the player does retain control over forks in the narrative, the overarching narrative in each game follows a specified path, and the player's influence is confined to certain pre-ordained events in the game rather than the entire narrative itself.
The supporting characters of the Dragon Age series have motivations and agendas that carry the narrative progression with an exposition, climax, and resolution; the player character is important, but often not the focal point of the progression of events in the plot. While both player characters and other characters carry narrative progression, companion characters are a pivotal feature of the series, who help create a richer and engaging narrative experience through their actions as well as their reactions to the player character's actions and choices. Companions tend to have a very particular world view, and the nature of the player character's actions will have a positive or negative effect on their companions.
The Dragon Age series is notable for its varied depiction of LGBT characters, being one of the few video game franchises which feature a non-tokenistic portrayal of openly queer characters. The series feature the relationships of openly queer characters as important to the narrative, and also openly depict same-sex couples engaging in sexual activity, starting with Origins. Same-sex relationships in the series are largely free of stigmatization by society and are consistently nuanced in its depiction; for example, neither Leliana nor Zevran, the bisexual love interests in Origins, are portrayed with cliched stereotypes like the butch lesbian, the flamboyant gay man, or the, neither overtly masculine nor overtly feminine and vice versa. The same-sex relationships with Leliana and Zevran are depicted as stable and revolve around love as opposed to sex, and neither relationship leads to a tragic end unless the player sacrifices their Warden at the game's ending.

Player characters

The Warden

Race: Player's choice
Gender: Player's choice
Class: Player's choice
The player character and main protagonist of Origins, whose visage, hairstyle, voice, race, first name, origin, gender, and class are chosen by the player. There are six possible origin stories: Human Noble, Circle Mage, City Elf, Dalish Elf, Dwarf Noble and Dwarf Commoner. The player character's surname is dependent on the origin story chosen, which also affects how other characters within the game react to the player's actions. Regardless of origin, the player character is presented as an individual of exceptional strength, skill, and significance. Multiple characters, unique to each of the origin stories, will join the player character's party temporarily as part of the ongoing narrative.
After a brief trial depicted in their origin story, the player character is ultimately recruited to join the Grey Wardens, a mystical organisation of warriors created to fight the darkspawn, a race of evil, tainted creatures. The character is henceforth referred to simply as The Warden, and occasionally by surname in the games dialogue.
After the Warden's origin story is concluded, the narrative resumes a single strand for all players, where the Warden travels to Ostagar, the site of an upcoming major battle with the darkspawn. The Warden is guided by their recruiter [|Duncan], who sets in motion the Warden's initiation into their organisation. The Warden and two other candidates are tasked with travelling into the forest near Ostagar to procure some ancient Grey Warden treaties and vials of blood obtained by killing darkspawn. Duncan then conducts an initiation ritual called the Joining which involving the imbibing of darkspawn blood by the ritual candidates; only the Warden surviving the process to become a true Grey Warden.
The Warden would be directed to aid the war effort at the Battle of Ostagar, where the Ferelden army under the leadership of [|King Cailan Theirin] attempts to push back the darkspawn along with the Grey Wardens. The Warden lights a beacon to signal for reinforcements led by [|Teyrn Loghain], but [|Loghain] responds by ordering his forces to retreat and leaving the entire Ferelden and Grey Warden contingent led by Cailan to die on the battlefield. The Warden and Duncan's protege [|Alistair] are rescued by the Witch of the Wilds, Flemeth, becoming one of the few surviving Grey Wardens left in Ferelden. The Warden's goal for the rest of Origins is to utilize the treaties that compel the nations of Thedas to cooperate with their order to stop the fifth coming of the darkspawn Blight led by an [|Archdemon], a terrifying and deranged draconic monster who controls the darkspawn hordes. This involves traveling across Ferelden's lands to secure an alliance with the dwarves of Orzammar, the Dalish elves near the Brecilian Forest, and the Ferelden Circle of Magi, as well as rallying the support of the Ferelden nobility against Loghain and unite the kingdom under a new ruler against the darkspawn hordes.
After the Archdemon is slain, the Warden will gain renown as the "Hero of Ferelden" regardless of their final fate. While the Hero of Ferelden does not appear in Dragon Age II, the character has an effect in the storyline, and depending on origin will actually have connections to some of the party members: for example, the Human Circle Mage is a relative of [|Hawke], and the Dalish Elf is a member of [|Merrill's] clan.

The Warden-Commander

Race: Player's choice
Gender: Player's choice
Class: Player's choice
The Warden-Commander is the Commander of the Grey in Ferelden, the ruler of Vigil's Keep and the arling of Amaranthine, and the player-controlled protagonist of the expansion for Origins, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. The Warden-Commander can be either a Warden imported from Origins, now known as the Hero of Ferelden, with any origin story and decision making from that game intact. Six months after the conclusion of the Fifth Blight, the Hero of Ferelden has been promoted to Commander of the Grey and assigned as Ferelden's new Warden-Commander. In the alternative, if the Warden of Origins has sacrificed themselves to slay the Archdemon or if the player starts a new game without importing an existing character, a new Grey Warden from Orlais will be made Ferelden's new Warden-Commander as part of the narrative. An Orlesian Warden-Commander will start at Level 18, and the people of Amaranthine will treat an Orlesian Warden-Commander with suspicion, as opposed to respect towards the Hero of Ferelden.
The Warden-Commander is also the player-controlled protagonist of the standalone downloadable content packs, ' and ', and are assisted by party companions who are exclusive to the aforementioned DLC content packs.

Hurlock Vanguard

A player-controlled Hurlock Vanguard is the protagonist of the Origins DLC, . The Darkspawn Chronicles takes a look at an alternate history in the Dragon Age universe, allowing the player to see what might have happened if the Warden had died during the Joining ceremony, and the assembled forces marched under Alistair's command instead. The player-controlled Hurlock Vanguard is summoned by the Archdemon to lead the darkspawn to victory at The Battle of Denerim, and receives directives through the Archdemon's whispers. The Hurlock Vanguard has the power to enthrall, or forcibly recruit, its fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Various darkspawn creatures that may be enthralled to serve as the Vanguard's companions include Genlocks, Hurlocks, Shrieks, spellcasting Emissaries, and Ogres.

Leliana

Leliana is the protagonist of the Origins DLC , a prequel to the main campaign for Origins which details her complicated past. She is a former bard from the Orlesian Empire, where bards are musicians who often undertake work on the side as assassins and spies for their patrons. Leliana appearance in the Dragon Age series is based on a model named Alleykatze.
Following the events of [|Leliana's] Song, Leliana is encountered early on in Origins as an optional party member. She had settled down in the Ferelden village of Lothering as a lay sister of the Andrastrian Chantry, and after breaking up a brawl at the local tavern, she insists on joining the Ferelden Wardens after receiving what she believes was a vision from the Maker, the deity venerated by the Chantry. She is bisexual, and thus a possible romance option for both male and female player characters. Leliana is highly religious and believes in doing the right thing. This means if the player-controlled Warden chooses to commit a morally reprehensible act like defiling the fabled Urn of Sacred Ashes, she may attack the Warden and dies in the attempt, though Leliana continues to appear in the Dragon Age series regardless of her fate in Origins. Leliana's personal quest involves dealing with Marjolaine, her old mentor and lover.
She appears in Dragon Age II, now going by the alias of Sister Nightingale, during Sebastian's personal quest to investigate the growing tensions between the Circle of Magi and the Templar Order in Kirkwall. It is revealed that she is the Left Hand of the Divine, the supreme leader of the Chantry, and conducts espionage and clandestine operations on the Divine's behalf. By the end of Dragon Age II, she is also revealed to be Cassandra Pentaghast's ally and a co-founder of the reformed Inquisition in their search for the Warden and Hawke. She is also searching for the Warden-Commander from Origins, who has disappeared by the events of Dragon Age II.
Leliana appears in the novel Dragon Age: Asunder as an agent of Divine Justinia V in Orlais, seeking a solution to the ongoing Mage-Templar War following the events of Dragon Age II. She assists several of the major characters during the course of the novel as they struggle to determine the future of mages in Thedas. She attends and sings at Wynne's funeral near the end of the book. Leliana also appears Dragon Age: The Masked Empire, where she meets the Orlesian Empress Celene I one month before the events of Asunder to discuss the Divine's solution for the Mage-Templar War.
Leliana is well received and popular as a companion character in Origins. Corin Bae from TheGamer.com credits her experience of replaying Origins in 2017, in particular the romantic subplot with Leliana, for aiding her to come to terms with her traumatic personal experiences. She believes that the greatest thing she took away from experiencing Leliana's story, is "the willingness to let myself want".

Hawke

Class: Player's choice
Gender: Player's choice
Hawke is the family name of the main protagonist of Dragon Age II, a human who lived in the village of Lothering during the Blight in Ferelden. Hawke's father Malcolm was an apostate mage who died three years before the beginning of the game, while their mother [|Leandra] is a former noblewoman from Kirkwall. Hawke has two younger twin siblings, [|Carver] and [|Bethany], who are mutually exclusive potential companions in Dragon Age.
The plot of Dragon Age II is a character-driven narrative which is more concerned with examining the interior worlds of distinct personalities instead of an epic, save-the-world storyline seen in other RPG games. Hawke's story, chronicling their rise from an impoverished Ferelden refugee of the Fifth Blight to become the Champion of the city-state of Kirkwall in the Free Marches, unfolds within a smaller chunk of the world of Thedas compared to the Warden's story in Origins. The player will get to see Hawke's relationships with their mother, siblings, lovers and other characters develop over a period of years.
During character creation, the player decides Hawke's gender, appearance, given name, and later in the game, personality, combat specialization, and political affiliation. Unlike the Warden from the first game, Hawke's origin story is fixed and differs only slightly as a result of the class chosen. If played as a warrior or rogue, Hawke would have been part of King Cailan's army at Ostagar alongside Carver. If played as a mage, Hawke is an apostate mage who, like Malcolm and Bethany, has managed to evade the Chantry and it's templars while growing up in Lothering. Hawke, along with their surviving family members and Aveline Vallen, were rescued from the darkspawn hordes by Flemeth, who helped them to arrange for travel to Kirkwall; in return, Hawke has to travel to Sundermount at some point in time to deliver an amulet to [|Marethari] of the Sabrae clan.
The player is given paraphrased dialogue options of fully voiced dialogue via a radial command menu called the "dialogue wheel", which will be expanded on when clicked. Over the course of Dragon Age II, Hawke can exhibit one of three personalities based on the dialogue choices that the player favours. The tone of Hawke's voice will be decided by their personality type whenever the character is not directly controlled by the player, which will happen during cut-scenes and also during conversations between the player's dialogue choices. Allison Stalberg notes that a Hawke player character with a sarcastic personality has access to a big range of hilarious dialog options.
Dragon Age II implements a friendship-rivalry continuum for Hawke's relationships with his or her companions. Kristin Bezio, in her essay titled Friends and Rivals: Loyalty, Ethics, and Leadership in Bioware's Dragon Age II describes it as a system of evaluative continua by which Hawke's actions are assessed. These continua are specific to each companion, and often contradicts those of other companions, requiring the player to make gameplay decisions that may have the potential to cause conflicting and sometimes severe consequences. Unlike the approval-disapproval meters for companions in Origins, incurring rivalry points with a companion does not lead to the character leaving the party or turning on Hawke, although it is still possible for companions to leave the party as a result of certain decisions made by the player character throughout the game's narrative. A companion who is on a rivalry path with Hawke gets unique gameplay bonuses that cannot be obtained if they are on a friendship path, and vice versa. Krig Ligman from Pop Matters quoted former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider on the subject, who had explained that the friendship-rivalry meter is expressive, not something that a player needs to fill up in order to be playing the game correctly.
With the exception of Sebastian Vael, who is the sole heterosexual love interest, all other potential love interests in Dragon Age II are bisexual and available for either a male or female Hawke. Gaider admitted that making a romance available for both genders is far less costly than creating an entirely new one.

Recurring companions

Dog

Mabari war hounds, a powerful breed of dog which play an essential role in the Fereldan military, make recurring appearances in the Dragon Age series. These trained hounds are able to break lines of pikemen, pull knights off of horses, and, when in a pack, are capable of stirring panic in the most hardened of soldiers.
"Dog" is the default name for the Warden's mabari companion in Origins. Dog always has a maximum approval rating, is unconditionally loyal, and does not leave the Warden under any circumstances. If the player character is a Human Noble, Dog joins the player character's party in their origin story during a small side quest. If the player character is not a Human Noble, or if they did not complete the side quest during the Human Noble origin, then the player character has a chance to acquire a different Dog through another side quest at Ostagar. The offers a second chance to recruit Dog.
Dog is a warrior, and capable of equipping unique collars and warpaints that serve as substitutes for weapons and armor. He also has a set of dog-specific skills to learn. He has no personal quest; however, having him "mark his territory" at certain landmarks in different areas affords him a "Mabari Dominance" buff, augmenting his strength, willpower and constitution attributes while remaining in that area. He also has the unique ability to fetch random items when asked to do so.
A Mabari war hound is also featured as a companion of the Warden-Commander in the Witch Hunt DLC. It may be the same Dog the player character recruited during Origins, or a different one. Codex entries will reflect this for each version respectively.
A male Mabari war hound appears as the Hawke family dog if the Black Emporium DLC pack for Dragon Age II is installed. "Dog" is also his default name, though he is different from the Mabari companions in Origins. He may be summoned as a non-playable ally who follows the party, akin to a ranger-specialised rogue summoning animals in Origins.

Oghren

Oghren is a dwarf from House Branka and was once a promising member of the Warrior Caste. He is the ex-husband of the only living Paragon as of Origins, Branka, and meets the Warden in Orzammar, one of only two remaining dwarven cities at the time the story of Origins takes place. Oghren joins the Warden's party as they are about to embark for the darkspawn-infested Deep Roads, a series of paths and crossroads connected to a network of now-abandoned thaigs or dwarven cities in a search for the Anvil of the Void. [|Oghren's] personal quest involves a past relationship with a female dwarf, Felsi, who eventually moved to the surface world and is currently employed at the Spoiled Princess tavern near Lake Calenhad.
Oghren returns in Origins – Awakening as a party member. After the events of Origins, he had settled down with Felsi and had a child with her. Eventually, he made his way to Vigil's Keep in order to join the Grey Wardens, only to find it overrun with darkspawn. Felsi may eventually arrive at Vigil's Keep and get into an argument with Oghren for abandoning his family.

[|Anders]

Anders is a wise-cracking human apostate mage who has escaped the Circle of Magi multiple times, only to be captured and brought back by the templars each time. When the Warden-Commander arrives during the assault on Vigil's Keep in the beginning of Origins - Awakening, Anders is encountered fending off darkspawn on his own, with several templars lying dead around him. At the conclusion of the siege, the Warden-Commander conscripts him into the Grey Wardens in order to save him from the templars. Anders leaves the Grey Wardens prior to the events of Dragon Age II, and agreed to host the spirit of [|Justice] to help mages fight for freedom from the Chantry. Hawke first meets Anders at his clinic in Kirkwall's Darktown. He convinces Hawke to help rescue his friend Karl from the templars in return for maps of the Deep Roads, but finds that he has been rendered Tranquil, effectively a form of lobotomy which renders the victim unable to feel any emotions. It is then revealed that the spirit of Justice now manifests itself as a spirit of Vengeance, an unintentional side effect of Anders' anger and hatred towards the templars. As a result, Anders struggles to maintain control of his own body and mind, and is eventually driven to become a terrorist in the name of mage rights. During the climax of Act III, Anders destroys the Kirkwall Chantry, killing the Grand Cleric and several others. Hawke has the option of personally executing Anders for his crime, banishing him, or ordering him to fight and make amends. Each companion will react to how Hawke chooses to deal with Anders in their own way, positive or negative.
Anders uses magic in combat and his specialization is a variation of Spirit Healer; he has the ability to heal wounded allies and revive fallen allies in battle. In Dragon Age II, Anders gains the ability channels the power of Vengeance to boost his own destructive power.

Justice

Justice is a Fade spirit who accidentally possessed the body of the dead Grey Warden, Kristoff in Origins – Awakening. He is presented as a benevolent spirit that aspires to justice as its only attribute, knowing and caring little for the world outside the fade beyond viewing everyone who does inhabit it with condescending pity. He opposes the Baroness of the Blackmarsh, a now-deserted marshland along the northeastern shores of the city of Amaranthine. If the Warden-Commander recruits him, he begins to experience Kristoff's memories, and after a particularly distressing visit from the wife of the late Kristoff, he starts questioning his identity. The Warden-Commander may choose to help Justice track down Kristoff's wife to seek closure.
In Act I of Dragon Age II, Hawke and Anders are ambushed by templars after meeting Anders' associate Karl, and Justice manifests his power by lashing out through Anders. Karl, who had been rendered Tranquil by the templars, briefly reverts to his true self as a result of the spirit's manifestation of power, and begs Anders to end his life. Anders would later reveal that in the time between Origins - Awakening and the beginning of Dragon Age II, he allowed Justice to possess him so they could work together to fight the injustice faced by the mages of Thedas. However, Anders' bubbling anger against the Chantry-sanctioned Templars, and the oppression of the Circle transforms Justice's personality, and the spirit is now known as Vengeance. Henceforth, the spirit of Vengeance may manifest through Anders at various points throughout Dragon Age II's narrative, even threatening to harm innocent bystanders who are themselves mages on one occasion. In Act III, Anders claims that he has discovered the formula of a potion that could cure him from Vengeance, and attempts to mislead Hawke into collecting ingredients for a bomb that he would later place in the Chantry. The spirit's final fate is unknown should Hawke choose to execute Anders during the climax of Act III.

[|Merrill]

Merrill is the "First", or apprentice, to the Keeper of the Dalish Sabrae clan, Marethari. She first appears in the Dalish Elf origin story in Dragon Age: Origins, at a time when her clan was traveling through Ferelden. She joins the Dalish player character's party as a temporary companion. Shortly after Duncan recruits the Dalish player character, Merrill and her clan traveled north of Ferelden to escape the Blight and settled at Sundermount, a mountain peak to the north of Kirkwall. Merrill joins Hawke's party when Marethari, whom Hawke was dealing with due to a debt owed to Flemeth, requests that Hawke escort her to Kirkwall. Merrill's obsession with restoring an ancient magical mirror known as an Eluvian, believing it to be an artifact which could help the Dalish regains their lost history and culture, and her use of blood magic to do so have caused a rift between her and her clan, resulting in her desire to leave. Merrill's personal quest will involve her asking Hawke for favours to assist her with restoring the Eluvian.
Merrill is a potential love interest for Hawke. Merrill uses magic in combat, and her specialization is "Dalish Pariah", a combination of nature magic and blood magic. Merrill is ignorant of the world beyond her rich knowledge and expertise of Dalish history and magic.

''Dragon Age: Origins'' companions

Alistair

Alistair is a young warrior with a wry and irreverent sense of humor, who was initiated into the Grey Wardens by Duncan prior to the player character's own recruitment. Prior to joining the Wardens, Alistair trained with the Chantry to become a templar, the military branch of the Chantry trained to hunt apostate mages and supervise the Circle mages under their watch. As such, he is hesitant to trust blood mages or any mages who operate outside of the Circle. He is a mandatory companion in Origins, and only leaves the party if the Warden allows Loghain to undergo the Joining ritual to become a Grey Warden during the Landsmeet. Alistair is a romance option for female characters, and depending on the choices and origin of the Warden, they can potentially become the King and Queen of Ferelden. The Warden has the opportunity to motivate Alistair, helping him develop his potential as a leader figure, and grow as an individual into becoming mature enough to accept the call to be king should the Warden support him as heir to the Ferelden throne.
Depending on the player's choices during the events of , Alistair may make cameo appearances in subsequent installments of the Dragon Age series. He is also a major protagonist in the digital comic series The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep, whose plot follows BioWare's own canon in which Alistair is king of Ferelden.

Morrigan

Morrigan is a shapeshifting apostate mage, raised and taught by her mother, Flemeth, in the wilds of Ferelden. Morrigan joins the Warden's party early in the game shortly after Flemeth's rescue from the battle at Ostagar. She is a romance option for male player characters. Near the end of the game before the slaying of the Archdemon. She reveals that a Grey Warden need not die in order to slay the Archdemon as long as the Warden, Alistair, or Loghain if he has replaced Alistair, impregnates Morrigan with a child who will then carry the soul of the Old God upon the Archdemon's death, and thus spare the life of the Grey Warden who dealt the final death blow. If the Warden refuses to sleep with Morrigan, or is female and does not ask Alistair or Loghain to do the deed, she will become infuriated and leaves the party permanently. Morrigan appears as the central focus of the Witch Hunt DLC pack; the Warden-Commander tracks Morrigan down two years after the Blight's end.

Sten

Sten is a hornless Qunari warrior and an optional companion. He is found imprisoned in a cage at Lothering for murdering a family of farmers. The Warden may choose to persuade the Revered Mother of the Lothering Chantry to release the Qunari into their custody, thus freeing Sten. If the Warden's lockpicking skill is high enough, the cage door lock may be picked, allowing him to join without the Revered Mother's permission. If the Warden chooses not to free Sten, the Warden will not be able to recruit him once they complete at least one major quest in the main questline, as Lothering will be overrun by the Blight after the Warden does so. Sten's personal quest involves a search for his lost sword, Asala. It is revealed that he was the only survivor of his scouting party, and had panicked when he found his sword missing, and murdered the family that had rescued him in grief.
In the digital comic Dragon Age: Those Who Speak, which follows Bioware's canon where Alistair is king of Ferelden and that Hawke killed the Arishok in Dragon Age II, Sten is revealed to be the new Arishok.

Wynne

Wynne is a Senior Enchanter of the Ferelden Circle of Magi and a powerful spirit healer. The Warden may first meet Wynne at the army camp at Ostagar, near the mage tents. She survives the Battle of Ostagar and is later encountered at Kinloch Hold, where the Circle of Magi is based, as an optional companion. If the Warden is accompanied by Morrigan while recruiting her in the Circle Tower, Wynne may attack the Warden, depending on how the Warden responds to Morrigan when she expresses disgust for the Circle. Following the liberation of the Circle Tower from demons and abominations, Wynne will offer to continue traveling with the Warden to help end the Fifth Blight. Wynne is a firm believer in all that is righteous and does not tolerate any morally objectionable actions, especially those involving blood magic or the indiscriminate killing of innocents; she may attack the Warden or leave the party if the Warden commits any such actions. Wynne's personal quests involve two events that will trigger after the Warden speaks to Wynne about her tiring easily and needing rest. The Warden will eventually have the opportunity to obtain an ability upgrade for Wynne, and help her reconcile with her former apprentice.
Wynne makes an appearance in Origins – Awakening as a quest giver if she survives the events of Origins. She also makes her final appearance as a major character in the novel Dragon Age: Asunder, which takes places several months before Cassandra Pentaghast's interrogation of Varric in Kirkwall.

Zevran

Zevran is an Antivan city elf and member of the Antivan Crows, a guild of thieves and assassins notorious in all of Thedas. Zevran and his men were hired with the intention of killing any Grey Warden survivors of Ostagar; he will be encountered during a random event in which the Antivan Crows have set up a trap for the Wardens. He will be the sole survivor of the failed attempt to assassinate the Warden, forcing the Warden to either kill him, let him go or recruit him. Zevran's personality is practical to the point of ruthlessness, and will generally approve if the Warden does whatever it takes to gain the strongest possible allies against the Blight. While Zevran has no personal quest, there will be a point before the Landsmeet where the Warden meets Taliesin, an Antivan Crow and former friend of Zevran. Depending on Zevran's approval rating and relationship with the Warden, he may remain loyal to the Warden or defect and ally with Taliesin. Zevran is bisexual, and thus a possible romance option for both male and female Warden.
Provided he survived the events of Dragon Age: Origins, Zevran appears in Dragon Age II during a quest in Act III, where he is being hunted down by his former comrades from the Antivan Crows. The Warden can either turn him in to the Crows or help him fight them. He will also sneak himself into the battle to assist against [|Meredith], provided Hawke assisted him in the earlier quest and if [|Isabela] or Varric are in the active party.

''Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening'' companions

Nathaniel Howe

The son of the late [|Rendon Howe], traitor to Teyrn Bryce Cousland of Highever and the Grey Wardens. He is skilled in archery, and knows how to bypass traps and pick locks. Nathaniel is found in the dungeons of Vigil's Keep following the initial darkspawn attack, awaiting the Warden's judgment. He snuck into the Keep, which was part of his family's former arling, with the intention of assassinating the Warden-Commander. However, once inside, he had a change of heart and decided only to try steal back some of his family's belongings. The Warden-Commander may decide to have him executed, let him go, or conscript him into the Grey Wardens. If released, he later tracks down the Warden-Commander and asks to join the Grey Wardens.
He initially blames the Grey Wardens for his father's death and his family's fall from grace, claiming that his father was merely on the wrong side of the war. During the events of Origins, he was away at the Free Marches, and has lost contact with most of his surviving family members. He learns that his sister still lives and is now living in the city of Amaranthine. If he finds his sister she will confront him about his blind love for their father. She explains that their father brought things down on himself and his family, and that he was a lying, traitorous murderer all along. After meeting with Delilah, he no longer blames the Grey Wardens for the downfall of his family and his father's death.
Depending on the choices made at the end of Origins - Awakening, he may appear in Dragon Age II. His sister, Delilah, is encountered in Kirkwall during Act III. She is worried that her brother has perished along with the other Grey Wardens in the primeval thaig that Hawke and Varric had re-discovered in Act I. If Delilah's quest is completed, Nathaniel may appear as an ally in the final battle against Meredith.

Sigrun

Sigrun is a Legionnaire Scount and member of the Legion of the Dead, an independent branch of the dwarven army that answers directly to the monarchy of Orzammar and sworn to fight the Darkspawn to the death. The Warden-Commander finds her in the thaig Kal'Hirol, which is accessible via a giant chasm which had opened up in the ground, caused by the Blight or other darkspawn activity. Her entire squad was killed during their investigation of the darkspawn incursion in this thaig, but she ran away and survived, which she repeatedly expresses guilt over throughout the game, as the Legionaries are considered already dead and therefore should not value their lives anymore. The Warden-Commander may offer to accompany her into the thaig and help defeat their common enemy. After the Warden kills the Broodmothers breeding beneath the thaig, the Warden-Commander may choose to let her be on her way, or offer her a place in the Grey Wardens. She will accept after some minimal encouragement, and survives the Joining, which must be initiated by talking to [|Seneschal Varel] at Vigil's Keep. Once her approval rating is high enough, her personal quest is triggered in Amaranthine where she bumps into someone from her roguish past.

Velanna

Velanna is a Dalish Keeper who is the sole survivor of a small group of Dalish dissidents that had been wiped out by the darkspawn. The Warden-Commander encounters Velanna in the Wending Wood, where she is behind the mysterious attacks on the human-run caravans passing through the area. It is revealed that she was manipulated by the darkspawn into believing that it was humans who attacked her tribe and kidnapped her sister, not the darkspawn themselves. The Warden-Commander later confronts her at her camp, with the choice of killing Velanna in retribution for the murders she has committed, or attempt to reason with her. She may lead the Warden-Commander into a nearby mine to find her sister, where they meet the Architect, who reveals that Velanna's sister had joined him of her own free will. Once the Warden-Commander makes it through the mine, Velanna demands that the Warden-Commander induct her into the Grey Wardens so she is better able to fight the darkspawn and save her sister. If her approval rating is high enough, a random encounter on the world map will trigger and more of her past actions will come to light.

''Dragon Age II'' companions

Varric Tethras

Varric is a surface dwarf, a member of Dwarven merchant's guild and a known associate of Hawke. The video game's introduction shows him captured and interrogated by Cassandra Pentaghast, a Seeker of the Chantry; thus Varric becomes the narrator of the Dragon Age II story. Varric first meets Hawke roughly a year after the Hawke family has arrived in Kirkwall and makes them a partner in an expedition into the perilous region of The Deep Roads. They remain close friends or frenemies until the end of the game, when they are inevitably separated.
Varric wields Bianca, a unique repeating crossbow. He likes storytelling, and he particularly likes taking liberties from factual accuracy to make the story more interesting.

Bethany Hawke

Bethany is a mage and one of the Hawke twins. She fled Lothering to escape the Blight with his family, and travels arrives to Kirkwall, where the City Guard is denying access to all Fereldan refugees.
If Hawke is a mage, instead of Carver, Bethany will die protecting their mother from an Ogre as they flee the darkspawn onslaught of Lothering. If Bethany survives and is taken to the Deep Roads, she dies from contracting the Taint unless Anders is also in the party. To save Bethany's life, Anders will implore Hawke to search for a nearby group of Grey Wardens and persuades their leader, Stroud, to recruit her into the Grey Wardens. If left behind, Bethany is captured and forced into the Kirkwall Circle of Magi, though she will excel in her position as a Circle Mage. In either case, Bethany will not be available until the end of the game or during certain DLCs.
Bethany employs magic in combat. Her specialty is Force Magic which involves the use of telekinesis to hurl, knock down, stun and harm enemies.

Carver Hawke

Carver is the elder of the Hawke twins and a warrior. Carver tends to have an antagonistic relationship with his elder sibling, due to their having taken over their father's role as head of the household after his death, and possibly due to Carver being the only non-magical child in the family. He fled Lothering to escape the Blight with his family, and travels arrives to Kirkwall, where the City Guard is denying access to all Fereldan refugees.
If Hawke is a rogue or warrior, instead of Bethany, Carver will die protecting their mother from an Ogre as they flee the darkspawn onslaught of Lothering. If Carver survives and is taken to the Deep Roads expedition, he will contract the Taint and die unless Anders is also in the party. To save Carver's life, Anders will implore Hawke to search for a nearby group of Grey Wardens and persuades their leader, Stroud, to recruit him into the Grey Wardens. If he is left behind, he joins Kirkwall's Templar Order and remains resentful of his elder sibling. In either case, Carver will not be available until the end of the game or during certain DLC campaigns. Carver favours wielding two-handed weapons, and has access to the anti-magic combat specialization of the Templars, allowing him to prevent enemies from using special techniques.

Aveline Vallen

Aveline is the daughter of an exiled chevalier from Orlais who was born in Fereldan and served in the army of King Cailan before his death. She and her Templar husband Wesley meet the Hawkes on their flight from Lothering; Wesley dies during their escape in a mercy killing by either Hawke or Aveline to stop the Darkspawn taint from turning him into a ghoul. Aveline joins the Hawkes in escaping to Kirkwall, where she eventually becomes a member of city guard. She is later promoted to the Captain of the Guard after exposing the former Captain's corruption. During the course of the game, she falls in love with Donnic, a guardsman under her command, and can marry him with Hawke's encouragement. Donnic may appear as an ally in the final battle against Meredith, if Aveline is in the active party and if they are married. Aveline adopts her husband's shield during the Prologue and remains such throughout the game. Her specialization is Guardian, serving as a tank, attracting and absorbing hostile fire.
Aveline is a companion with whom Hawke cannot initiate a romance. Gaider suggested that Aveline is his favourite character in Dragon Age 2. He explained that he likes characters "that play against type, and Aveline was a female character who was strong and independent yet also vulnerable, and at the same time she didn’t exist simply to be romanced".
Aveline was well received. Cory Banks from PC Gamer named her as his favourite companion, as did Hayley Williams from Kotaku. Kris Ligman from Pop Matter was amused by her adversarial relationship with Isabela, calling it part of an evolving rapport between two well-written female characters. Aveline's voice actress, Joanna Roth has been praised for her performance.

Isabela

Isabela is the former captain of the pirate ship The Siren's Call, who is stranded in Kirkwall after being shipwrecked. She is a minor non-player character in Origins who teaches the Warden the "Duelist" specialization, and is an optional companion and potential love interest in Dragon Age II. In Dragon Age II she is an optional companion for Hawke; her specialization is Swashbuckler, which improves her defensive abilities as well as effectiveness as an occasional tank. It is later revealed that Isabela is the main reason behind the Qunari's presence in Kirkwall, as she had stolen an important artifact from them. Depending on the player's choices, she may return to Hawke's side and hand the artifact back to the Arishok, supreme leader of the Qunari army. The Arishok will then demand that she be taken prisoner back to their homeland Par Vollen. Hawke can either hand Isabela over to him, duel the Arishok in single combat, or engage the entire Qunari force in combat.
Isabela is a major character of the following digital comic series: Dragon Age: The Silent Grove, Dragon Age: Those Who Speak and Dragon Age: Until We Sleep. Those Who Speak exploring her background story.
Kris Ligman from Pop Matters praised Isabela's depiction as a strong female character in Dragon Age II, citing an open discussion of finding one's self esteem during a banter conversation between Isabela and Aveline as a highlight of the game's "uncommonly complex messages and nuanced characterization", and that the character is capable of being a role model one could aspire to.

Fenris

Fenris is a Tevinter city elf and former slave; he is an optional companion and potential love interest. He lost his memory due to lyrium, a hazardous liquid substance with magical properties, being infused into his flesh, rendering him averse to physical contact but also giving him superhuman combat abilities. He escaped his master, a Tevinter magister named Danarius, and has been hunted by him ever since. Fenris is a brooding pessimist who is unable or unwilling to live a happy life; he has no memory of his past name, and resents mages due to the suffering he endured under Danarius. Over the course of Dragon Age II, he lives alone in an abandoned dilapidated mansion whose roof is in tatters and its floor strewn with corpses. His personal quest involves reconnecting with his sister Varania, and dealing with his former master's pursuit.
Fenris employs two-handed melee weapons in combat. His specialization, Tevinter Fugitive, involves channeling the power of the imbued lyrium in his body to improve combat efficiency, allowing Fenris to move faster and do more damage as he gets hurt.
Fenris appears as a major character in Dragon Age: Blue Wraith, a three-part limited comic series published by Dark Horse Comics in 2020.

Notable DLC companions

Shale

Shale is an optional companion who is introduced in Origins via the DLC content, . Shale is a stone golem who has a negative perception of humans and living beings after a life of servitude to a former master and having been stuck in place in the village for a long duration, as well as a hatred of birds due to being a frequent target of avian defecation. In order to recruit Shale, the Warden must first complete a quest in the Village of Honnleath and learn an activation code for the golem. Later in the story, the golem will attack the Warden if they choose to side with Branka in a quest pertaining to the Anvil of the Void. If Shale is not in the active party, it will confront the Warden upon their return to the party camp and will leave the party unless persuaded otherwise. Shale's personal quest involves a search for answers to its past. The quest leads the Warden to a long-forgotten dwarven city, where they find a monument. Upon observation of such monument, the Warden finds out that Shale was formerly Shayle of House Cadash, a female dwarf who had volunteered herself, amongst other volunteers, to become a golem to fight the darkspawn threat.
Shale also makes an appearance in Dragon Age: Asunder, as a companion of Wynne.

Sebastian Vael

Sebastian Vael is an optional companion introduced in Dragon Age II via the DLC pack, The Exiled Prince. An archer of noble birth, Sebastian was a cloistered brother of the Kirkwall Chantry until his family was murdered. Depending the player's choices throughout the three acts, Sebastian may remain as a Chantry brother or renounce his vows to attend political concerns. Sebastian is a romantic interest for a female Hawke only, but the relationship is chaste due to his vows to the Chantry.Following the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry by Anders in Act III, Sebastian insists that Anders has committed mass murder and must be executed. If Hawke spares Anders, an enraged Sebastian leaves the party in protest, promising vengeance. If Hawke acquiesces, Sebastian stays as a party member. Sebastian uses bow and arrows as weapon. His specialization, Royal Archer, increases his combat effectiveness in one-on-one fights.
Sebastian appears as a supporting character in Dragon Age: Knight Errant, a five-part limited comic series published by Dark Horse Comics in 2017.

Tallis

Tallis is a temporary companion in the Dragon Age II DLC, Mark of The Assassin. She was an elven slave in the Tevinter Imperium until the Qunari liberated her and she converted to the Qun, where she was given several names before being assigned to the Ben-Hassrath as Tallis. Tallis is a rogue character and uses daggers in combat. Unlike Isabela, Tallis also employs unique throwing knives for ranged attacks. Her combat specialty called Infiltrator allows her to win close quarter encounters with a single foe. Tallis only appears in main campaign of Mark of the Assassin DLC pack as a mandatory party member, and she leaves Hawke's party permanently after the DLC pack is completed.
Tallis is voiced by and modeled after Felicia Day, who also stars as Tallis in the webseries , a six-part webseries.

Major antagonists

Teyrn [|Loghain Mac Tir]

Loghain Mac Tir is one of the main antagonists of Dragon Age: Origins. He was King Maric's right hand during Ferelden's war against the Orlesians. First seen at Ostagar, he is introduced as the general who provides strategies for Maric's son, Cailan, in the defense of the realm from the Blight. However, during the battle, after the signal is given for Loghain to launch an attack on the darkspawn's flank, he strays from the plan and retreats from the field, along with his army, leaving both the King and the Grey Wardens to their deaths. For the majority of the game from then on, Loghain takes up residence in Denerim and appoints himself regent to his daughter, [|Queen Anora] and seizes power as the de facto ruler of Ferelden. He is served by his loyal right-hand woman Ser Cauthrien, and is in league with [|Uldred] and [|Arl Howe].
Loghain may join the Warden's party as a warrior very late in the game, during the Landsmeet. After the Warden and Loghain duel each other, the Warden may choose to either have Loghain executed for his crimes or inducted into the Grey Wardens. Allowing Loghain to live will force Alistair to leave the party in disgust and will allow Loghain to join the Warden's party as a new Grey Warden.
Loghain makes a small cameo appearance in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening should he survive in Dragon Age: Origins where he informs the Warden he is being sent by the Grey Wardens to Orlais for aid, and commands the Warden to treat his daughter well if he married Anora.

Arl Rendon Howe

Rendon Howe is the Arl of Amaranthine, and later the self-appointed Teyrn of Highever and Arl of Denerim. Howe is described as
"cultured and charming, with an insatiable lust for power, who never hesitates to harm anyone who gets in his way". He is [|Loghain's] closest advisor, providing a shrewd and calculating political aid to Loghain, and serves as a secondary antagonist to the Warden. Howe is notorious for using any means to achieve his desires, including mass murdering the Cousland family and their associates to usurp the title of Teryn of Highever, authorizing torture, and slavery. He meets his downfall when he takes Queen Anora hostage to stop her speaking out at the Landsmeet: the Warden breaks into Howe's Denerim estate to rescue her, and Howe is killed in the process.
For his work as Arl Howe in Orgins, Timy Curry was nominated for the Supporting Performance In A Drama award for The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers's 2009 annual awards program honoring video game art, technology, and production.

Uldred

Voiced by: Barry Dennen
Uldred is an ambitious mage of the Ferelden Circle of Magi at Kinloch Hold. He is first seen at the war council prior to the Battle of Ostagar. He contends that lighting the beacon at the Tower of Ishal is unnecessary and that the Circle of Magi can contribute instead of dispatching Grey Wardens to light a signal fire, but is dismissed by a Chantry Revered Mother. After the Battle of Ostagar, Uldred returned to Kinloch Hold, where he nearly convinced senior members of the Circle to support Loghain Mac Tir, though his treachery is uncovered by Wynne. He tried to take over the Circle by force and summons a Pride Demon, but he is quickly possessed and becomes an abomination. Uldred is eventually stopped and killed by the Warden.

The Archdemon

The Archdemon leading the Fifth Blight is the central antagonist of Dragon Age: Origins. During the course of Origins, the Archdemon unleashed the darkspawn hordes on Ferelden, causing untold death and destruction before finally being slain at the battle of Denerim. With the archdemon's death, the darkspawn are routed and the Fifth Blight ended. The Archdemon's soul has two paths to take - it can transfer into the body of the nearest Grey Warden, or it can transfer into Morrigan's unborn child if the dark ritual is performed. It is revealed in Origins - Awakening that the Archdemon in Origins was Urthemiel, once worshipped as one of the Old Gods of the Tevinter Imperium as the "Dragon of Beauty", the patron deity of artists, musicians and poets.
The Archdemon, along with the High Dragon, were the most complex character models in Origins. They measure around the 27,000 polygon mark, and took about five to six weeks to complete. By comparison, most of the other character models in Origins are about 10,000–12,000 polygons including the head and weapons, and would be finished in about three weeks.

[|The Architect]

The Architect appears to be a uniquely intelligent and sentient darkspawn emissary who does not suffer from a compulsion to find the Old Gods and corrupt them into Archdemons. Lead Character Artist Shane Hawco states that the character was a full collaboration between Origins - Awakening's design team and the character artists. The team were aiming for more than a visual threat; they wanted to emphasize "on his sadistic personality which physically masks his grotesqueness". Haweco revealed that the Architect's in-game mesh is approximately 11,000 polygons, and that he most challenging thing was to use his appearance to showcase his personality and character. The character is described as "highly intelligent, decisive, cold, manipulative and he has little understanding of humanity" and is completely devoid of morality.
The Architect first appears in Dragon Age: The Calling. He wishes to free his darkspawn brethren from their compulsion by killing the Old Gods; however, he believed the mortal races and darkspawn would never see eye-to-eye even were they freed from the Old Gods. Viewing the Grey Wardens, who share the same taint as the darkspawn, as a middle ground, the Architect planned to spread the taint across Thedas in order to create a similar state among the mortal races, even knowing that thousands of people worldwide would die and the survivors would be tainted; he believed the chance of peace between humanity and darkspawn was worth the high cost. Several of the Grey Wardens agreed with his ideas and allowed their taint to be "quickened", turning them into ghouls. The Grey Wardens, including a young Duncan and King Maric, thwarted the scheme, but the Architect escaped.
In the opening sequence of Origins - Awakening, a follower of The Architect, a fully sentient awakened darkspawn known The Withered, led an assault on the Grey Wardens of Vigil's Keep. The Architect is first encountered the Warden-Commander at a silverite mine in the Wending Wood, where he captures the party and experimented on them. He flees the mine after the Warden-Commander break out of their cell and slays a pair of dragons under his thrall. The Architect is encountered again in the Mother's lair, where he offers an alliance with the Warden-Commander: he explains his research has shown him that by exposing the darkspawn to the blood of a Grey Warden, the darkspawn are freed from the call of the Old Gods, preventing them from starting a Blight. The Warden-Commander must decide whether to ally with the Architect in their common interest of stopping the Blights, or kill him and his Warden companion Utha. If they ally with him, the Mother will reveal that prior to the events of Origin, The Architect found the Old God Urthemiel and used Grey Warden blood in an experiment deep below the earth; this backfires and Urthemiel was tainted as an Archdemon, setting in motion the beginning of the Fifth Blight.
The Architect may receive a brief mention in Dragon Age II, depending on the player's decision to deal with the Architect in Origins - Awakening.

The Mother

The Mother was originally a human woman who was corrupted into a monster called a Broodmother, for the sole purpose of breeding darkspawn.
Unlike a previous Broodmother encountered by the Hero of Ferelden in Origins which was a tainted corruption of a dwarven woman, the Mother's upper body has a more slender build with less grotesque features at first glance. The character artist repurposed the old base mesh of the Broodmother encountered in "Origins" to help create a new and improved version, and she is added into the conversation system so that she could converse with the player character. She has the ability to birth monstrous worm-like darkspawn called "the Children", grubs which hibernate in cocoons after they have been birthed, only emerging when they sense another living being nearby to attack and devour their unfortunate prey. The Mother is designed with a visual link to her Children with her split face and the extra limbs coming out of her back.
Like other awakened darkspawn known as "Disciples", she is freed from the call of the Old Gods by the Architect. Driven insane by the self-realization of what she had become and the loss of her purpose to find the Old Gods, she mobilizes her forces to ravage both the city of Amaranthine and the Deep Roads, fighting against the forces of the Grey Wardens as well as the Disciples loyal to the Architect.

The Arishok

The Arishok is the leader of the Qunari military branch, who is stranded in Kirkwall with his men, after their ship was wrecked in a storm chasing after the thief who stole their relic. Despite the Qunari's history as foreign occupiers, he states he has a demand to satisfy of their religion, the Qun and claims he has no intention of conquering Kirkwall. He is eventually sickened by the people who inhabit Kirkwall and after tensions between the Qunari and the residents of Kirkwall boil over, he decides to take the city by force and kills its [|Viscount]. Hawke must deal with the Arishok, and earns the title of Champion of Kirkwall after resolving the Qunari crisis on behalf of the embattled city state.
The Arishok's visual design was the favourite of the character artist team; team member Jae Keum was credited for designing the Qunari and their leader in such a way which captures the intensity of their stare as well as their essence as stern and noble warriors.

First Enchanter Orsino

Orsino is the First Enchanter of the Circle of Magi in Kirkwall. He constantly clashes with Meredith over her treatment of mages and growing power in the city. Their most consistent topic of unrest is the thought that the mages use blood magic in secret. After Meredith invokes the Rite of Annulment, Orsino admits that he had ties to the deranged necromancer Quentin, who murdered Hawke's mother and several other women in Kirkwall. In desperation from the advancing Templars, he uses blood magic to use the dead bodies surrounded him to transform into a monstrous Harvester. He must be fought and killed by Hawke, regardless of which faction Hawke sides with.
Reflecting on Orsino's role in the narrative of Dragon Age II, Gaider felt that it was a lost opportunity as Orsino ended up getting less screen time than necessary for his side of the story to be properly told.

Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard

Voiced by: Jean Gilpin
Meredith is the Knight-Commander of the Templar Order in Kirkwall and the chief antagonist of Dragon Age II. She holds extremist views on the control of magic, and is the ruler of Kirkwall in all but name; the Viscount of Kirkwall, [|Marlowe Dumar], dare not oppose her. Following Dumar's death, Meredith assumes direct control over the city, and prevents any vote to elect a new Viscount to proceed. Kirkwall quickly becomes a police state that Meredith rules with an iron fist, giving free rein to her cronies amongst the Order to do as they please in abusing the mages and dominating the civilian population of the city. As the game progresses, she suffers from paranoid delusions that all members of the Circle of Magi are blood mages and all who defy her are under their influence. During the climax of the game, Anders blows up the Kirkwall Chantry and openly announces his culpability. The destruction of the Chantry gave her the opportunity to unilaterally invoke the Rite of Annulment, an order to kill every member of the Kirkwall's Circle of Magi, without official sanction from a Grand Cleric or the Divine. Her action sparked the Kirkwall Rebellion, which eventually escalates into a regional war between the Templar Order and the Circle mages. Meredith later reveals that she has purchased an idol made of red lyrium previously recovered by Hawke and Varric in the Deep Roads in Act I, which was taken by [|Varric's] brother, Bartrand. The red lyrium has granted her superhuman abilities, but has also caused her insanity, as it did to Bartrand. Hawke is forced to fight Meredith as the game's final boss and kill her.

Corypheus

Corypheus is the main antagonist of the Dragon Age II DLC pack Legacy. Corypheus is one of the original Magisters Sidereal: magic-wielding magisters from the Tevinter Imperium in ancient times, who broke into the Maker's Golden City centuries ago to claim it for their own selfish, power-hungry reasons. The Andrastrian Chantry teaches that the magisters' actions and hubris turned the city black and transformed them into the first darkspawn. Corypheus, also known as The Conductor of the Choir of Silence, is mentioned in the Chantry's Chant of Light as collaborating with the high priest of Urthemiel, known as [|the Architect of the Works of Beauty]. In Legacy, Corypheus is released from a prison deep within the Vimmark Mountains and seemingly killed by Hawke; unbeknownst to Hawke, his soul transferred to a nearby Grey Warden, who then take their leave. Corypheus would return as the central antagonist of .

Duke Prosper de Monfort

Duke Prosper de Monfort is the main antagonist of the Dragon Age II DLC pack Mark of the Assassin. He is a high-ranking Orlesian nobleman, and a cousin of Empress Celene I's mother. Tallis enlists Hawke's aid to infiltrate Duke Prosper's home, the Château Haine, and steal the "Heart of the Many", a gem which he supposedly has no right to possess. Upon his death at the conclusion of the DLC pack, his son Cyril de Montfort inherits his holdings and titles.

Supporting characters

Duncan

Duncan is the narrator of the opening cinematic in Origins and leader of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden. He is seen recruiting the player character to join the Wardens under six different scenarios, and serves as their mentor early in the game, before perishing at the battle of Ostagar. Duncan also appears in The Calling, where he and his fellow Grey Wardens first encountered The Architect, a uniquely sentient darkspawn mage who presents himself as different from the rest of his kind in that he has free will, and that his goal is to release the darkspawn race from the compulsion to search for the Old Gods by any means necessary. IGN's Christian Holt noted that the death of Duncan is particularly painful because "no matter what origin story you went with, he played a role as a steady but firm hand that not only saved your life, but initiated you into the Grey Wardens".

Marethari

Marethari is the Keeper of the Dalish Sabrae clan, whose members include her First Merrill and potentially a Warden of Dalish elf origin. As a Keeper, she is the political and spiritual leader of her clan. The Keepers are also the mages of the Dalish, though each clan will seldom have more than two fully trained mages, namely the Keeper and the Keeper's First. In Origins, Marethari is preparing her clan to flee Ferelden, and venture north into the Free Marches, both in response to warnings from Duncan about the impending Blight and tensions with a neighboring human settlement.
The clan occupies Sundermount, a mountain peak to the north of Kirkwall by the events of Dragon Age II. Hawke delivers an amulet on Flemeth's behest to Marethari, and the latter will ask Hawke to perform a ritual involving Merrill as well. The ritual involved summoning and/or reviving Flemeth, in the event that she meets her death at the hands of the Warden. After the ritual is done, Marethari asks Hawke to take Merrill back to Kirkwall but does not specify why. It is later revealed that Marethari sent Merrill away because the latter had been insistent on trying to repair the elven artifact which sickened two members of the Sabrae clan. But since the fragment she kept contained the darkspawn taint, Merrill learned blood magic from a demon imprisoned at the top of Sundermount, in order to purify it. Marethari would continue to discourage Merrill from her attempts to fix the artifact due to the potential danger.

Cullen

Cullen is a Ferelden member of the Templar Order. Cullen may be encountered three times in Origins. In the Mage Origin, he is the templar assigned to execute the player character if they were to fail their Harrowing and become an abomination. If the Warden is a female mage, Cullen will reveal his infatuation with her, ad he hated the idea of having to be the one to potentially execute her. He will be found once again as the last surviving templar in the upper levels of the Circle Tower during the Broken Circle quest. When the Warden meets him trapped inside a magical prison, he dismisses the Warden as another illusion. Once Cullen has calmed down, he will attempt to convince the Warden to kill all the mages in the Harrowing Chamber, not just the villainous Uldred and the abominations, as he fears they may be blood mages in hiding. The Warden, upon defeating the last of the demons, has a choice to either pardon the surviving mages, or kill all of them to prevent the worst from happening yet again. Before the Warden ascends to the final floor, Cullen implores them to choose the second option. The third time is immediately after that choice is made, where Cullen expresses his opinion on said choice.
In Dragon Age II, Cullen is transferred to the Circle in Kirkwall, where he was promoted to Knight-Captain and second-in-command to Knight-Commander Meredith. While obviously scarred by his experiences from Origins, he is presented as a tough but fair arbiter of his duties as a templar. He eventually encounters and becomes a recurring associate of Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall. During the final confrontation with Meredith, Cullen orders her to step down when she orders Hawke to be executed, stating that they had agreed only to arrest the Champion. Meredith will accuse him and the surviving templars of being blood mage thralls and then attack. Cullen will fight alongside Hawke.

Flemeth

Flemeth is the legendary "Witch of the Wilds", an ancient, transcendent and apparently immortal shape-shifting mage affecting the appearance of an eccentric old woman or a high dragon depending on the situation. At the start of the game, she gives the Grey Warden recruits a set of ancient treaties and advice for their future. She later rescues the Warden and Alistair from Ostagar, and commands her daughter Morrigan to accompany them on their subsequent journeys. As part of Morrigan's personal quest, the Warden may choose to attack Flemeth and fight her in her High Dragon form, or simply allowing her to leave in peace and take her grimoire.
Flemeth makes an appearance at the beginning of Dragon Age II, saving Hawke and their party from Darkspawn while sporting a new, more menacing look. Later in the game it is revealed that regardless of what happened in Dragon Age: Origins, she survived by putting a part of her soul in a medallion that she then gave to Hawke in exchange for safe passage to Kirkwall. The Dalish elves living near Kirkwall then use the amulet to restore her. She warns Hawke and company that the world is about to change before departing.
Flemeth's character design was completely overhauled for Dragon Age II. Francis Lacuna, Character Artist for Dragon Age II commented that her redesign "seemed a gamble at first, going from a crazy old lady living in a shoe to a crazy old lady who can turn into a dragon, eat Darkspawn for breakfast and is also kind of a hot babe...which is disturbing and awful and at the same time – awesome!".

Queen Anora

Anora Theirin is the current Queen Consort of Ferelden and Loghain's daughter. Unlike her husband, Anora is a heavy player in politics and wants to protect the kingdom and its people, though it is clear she believes herself entitled to the position of Queen. When Loghain takes over the kingdom and appoints himself as regent, she supports him at first. However, after witnessing his disastrous and paranoid political choices, she starts doubting him and confronts him about Cailan's death. After learning that her father left Cailan to die at Ostagar on purpose, thus triggering the Ferelden civil war and leaving the nation extremely vulnerable to the darkspawn Blight, she opposes her father but is kidnapped by Arl Rendon Howe to prevent her involvement at the Landsmeet. After the Warden rescues her, Anora will support the Grey Warden against her father during the Landsmeet as long as her position as Queen of Ferelden is secured by supporting her right to rule, either as queen regnant, as Alistair's queen or by marrying a male Warden if he is a Human Noble. If Anora is deposed, her fate is not revealed.

Bodahn and Sandal Feddic

Bodahn Feddic is a surface dwarf merchant, who is assisted by his adopted son, Sandal. In Origins, Bodahn and Sandal are rescued by the Warden from darkspawn upon leaving Lothering, after which they will offer their services along to the Ferelden Grey Wardens. He provides a venue at the party camp through which to sell and buy goods. According to Bodahn, Sandal may be lyrium-addled due to his possible exposure to lyrium in the Deep Roads. He also claims that the Circle of Magi declared Sandal a savant and may have desired to keep Sandal for study or in order to enchant for them. Sandal excels at enchanting and runecrafting; he is, however, unable to care for himself and has a limited mental capacity for common tasks, such as conversation where he usually replies with one-word answers. Prior to the Battle of Denerim, Bodahn and Sandal can be found Redcliffe Castle to assist with any final preparations before the Warden travels to Denerim. Sandal will next be encountered at Fort Drakon by himself, surrounded by dead darkspawn and covered in blood. When asked what happened, he will simply say, "Enchantment?".
In Dragon Age II Bodahn and Sandal journey to Kirkwall in the aftermath of the Fifth Blight, providing provisions for the Deep Roads expedition organised by House Tethras. He proudly boasts about his association with the Warden to Hawke, who had managed to become business partner to Bartrand and Varric. During the expedition, Bodahn alerts Hawke that Sandal has gone missing. Whether or not Hawke agrees to look for him, Bodahn is extremely grateful when Sandal returns to him unharmed. After the Deep Roads expedition, he sets up in the Amell Estate as servants in the Amell estate in Hightown along with Bodahn, who can craft any rune Hawke requires. Sandal also occasionally takes on cooking duties for the estate, his specialty being "Enchantment Soup". During Act 3 of Dragon Age II, due to the rising tensions between templars and mages, Bodahn decided that it would be time that he and Sandal leave Kirkwall. He mentions that the Orlesian Empress is very interested in Sandal's enchantments and would like an audience with him.

Bann [|Teagan] Guerrin

Teagan Guerrin is the bann of Rainsfere and Eamon's younger brother. He is the brother of [|Arl Eamon Guerrin], and the uncle to King Cailan Theirin. Immediately after the battle at Ostagar, Teagan is shown confronting Loghain Mac Tir at the Landsmeet, highly suspicious of Loghain's self-appointment as regent after his withdrawal from Ostagar. When the Warden arrives in Redcliffe Village, it is besieged by undead hordes, and its ruler Arl Eamon is locked away in his own castle nearby, with no word from it at all. Bann Teagan is in charge of the village's defense, and he pleads with the Warden to help them defend the village. Once the Urn of Andraste is found and Eamon recovers, Teagan stays with his brother at Redcliffe Castle. Later, Eamon orders Teagan to stay with the Redcliffe garrison while he and the Warden go to participate in the Battle of Denerim. He later arrives with reinforcements and was not far behind the main body of the Fereldan army when the Archdemon perishes at Fort Drakon, and leads a final attack on the routed darkspawn as the horde flees Denerim.
Teagan can be encountered by Hawke in three different scenarios during the course of Dragon Age II, depending on the choices you made in Dragon Age: Origins. If Alistair was made king of Ferelden, he will appear as Alistair's aide during the quest "King Alistair" in Act 3.
If Alistair was exiled and became a wandering drunk, Teagan will appear in The Hanged Man during Act 2 and talk a reluctant Alistair into returning to Ferelden. He will also appear as a guest of Duke Prosper at Chateau Haine during the events of the Mark of the Assassin DLC pack.

Arl Eamon Guerrin

Eamon Guerrin is the Arl of Redcliffe, husband of [|Arlessa Isolde], brother of Bann Teagan, and father of [|Connor Guerrin]. He is first mentioned in Lothering as deathly sick from an incurable illness; in truth, he has been poisoned by an assassin of Loghain's. He is also the maternal uncle of King Cailan and therefore Alistair. He is later revived by the Warden by giving him the Urn of Sacred Ashes and becomes instrumental in helping the Warden rally support for his cause, both against Loghain at the Landsmeet and the darkspawn.

Riordan

Riordan is an Orlesian Grey Warden who was sent as an advance scout by the Orlesian support forces when they were turned away by Loghain. Riordan was a friend of Duncan, having gone through their Joining together. Riordan plays a pivotal role by revealing that an Archdemon is only slain permanently by a Grey Warden who makes the ultimate sacrifice, and later assisting the Warden with planning for the final assault against the Archdemon and its hordes. During the final battle in Denerim, he confronts the Archdemon alone and succeeds in wounding it enough to give the Warden a chance to slay it, though Riordan perishes before he can join the final fight.

Seneschal Varel

Varel is the Seneschal of Vigil's Keep. When the Grey Wardens took over Amaranthine, they appointed Varel as Seneschal. He is privy to many secrets of the order, despite not being a Grey Warden himself. He is first encountered in Origins - Awakening during the opening quest to regain Vigil's Keep, being held on the roof of the keep by the Withered, an awakened darkspawn who has gained full sentience and follows the Architect. Following his rescue by the Warden-Commander, Varel runs the day-to-day operations of Vigil's Keep. He can be found in the throne room of the Vigil where he keeps the Warden-Commander informed of the political events that are taking place in the arling. He is also in charge of the Joining ritual for each of the Warden-Commander's companions.

Cassandra Pentaghast

Cassandra Pentaghast is a member of the Seekers of Truth, a secretive and powerful faction within the Andrastian Chantry answering directly to the Divine in Val Royeaux. She kidnaps Varric to extract information regarding Hawke. Varric responds by spinning a tale about Hawke's life story, framing the narrative for the events of Dragon Age II.
Cassandra appears in the Japanese anime prequel film as the story's protagonist.

Leandra Amell

Leandra Amell is the mother of Hawke, Bethany, and Carver. She was a noblewoman from a prominent family in Kirkwall. She is the widow of Malcolm Hawke, a mage who was originally from the Kirkwall Circle of Magi; they first met at a ball thrown in honour of the visiting by then-Viscount of Kirkwall Perrin Threnhold. She defied her family by eloping with Malcolm; the couple fled to his native Ferelden, where they settled down in Lothering and started a family together. Shortly after the Battle of Ostagar, Leandra escapes with her family from Lothering's destruction, where they had lived for several years, fleeing with portions of the darkspawn horde in pursuit. Leandra suggests travelling to Kirkwall and seek her younger brother Gamlen's aid to enter the city. During their flight through the Blightlands, one of the twins is killed by an Ogre. Leandra and her surviving children, along with Aveline Vallen, travel to Gwaren with the aid of Flemeth, and from there they take a ship to Kirkwall. She reunites with Gamlen, who reveals that he lost the estate some years earlier. In order to get his relatives in, Gamlen commits Hawke and their sibling to work with either a mercenary company or a smuggling group for a year, during which time the Hawke family live at Gamlen's hovel in Lowtown. Upon Hawke's profitable return from the Deep Roads expedition at the conclusion of Act I, the family regains control of the old Amell estate from the slavers. When Hawke investigates the mystery of missing women in Act II, Leandra is abducted and murdered by an insane serial killer while en route to visit Gamlen, as her face resembles his deceased wife.
Leandra is included in a list of notable RPG mothers compiled by RPGFan; her abduction and death is noted as one of the more emotional scenes in Dragon Age II as she had been a constant presence at Hawke's side.

Grand Cleric Elthina

Elthina is the Grand Cleric of Kirkwall in the Free Marches, and is one of the city state's most powerful people. As the Grand Cleric, she tried and imprisoned [|Marlowe Dumar's] predecessor who attempted to expel the Templar Order from Kirkwall, and indirectly undermined the political office of Viscount by allowing Kirkwall's Templar Order under [|Knight Commander Meredith Stannard] to grow too powerful. She personally appointed Meredith to the position of the Knight-Commander of Kirkwall, and Sister Petrice to the rank of Mother in the Kirkwall Chantry. She refuses to openly take sides in the conflict between Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino of the Kirkwall Circle of Magi, claiming that she is seeking to balance the needs of everyone. By the climax of Dragon Age II's Act III, Anders blows up the Kirkwall Chantry, killing Elthina and everybody else inside. Meredith unilaterally invokes and executes the Rite of Annulment in response, sparking the Kirkwall Rebellion.

Viscount Marlowe Dumar

Marlowe Dumar is the Viscount of Kirkwall, officially the most powerful political office in the city-state, though in practice Dumar holds power only at the sufferance of Kirkwall's Templar Order, despite his efforts to gain more relevance amongst Kirkwall's nobility. During his reign as viscount, the Templar Order has grown extremely powerful in Kirkwall: it has become the center of Chantry strength in eastern Thedas and holds its Circle of Magi in an iron grip. During Hawke's first year in Kirkwall, Dumar put out a bounty for the safe return of his son, Saemus. He was under the impression that Saemus was kidnapped by the Qunari. When it turned out that Saemus befriended the Qunari, Dumar was concerned how scandalous it would be if it was found out that a Qunari influenced his family.
Three years later, Dumar summoned Hawke to help with the matter of the Qunari. However, events culminated with the death of Saemus, who was murdered by Chantry fanatics desperate to set the whole city against the Qunari. By this point, Dumar grieves for his son and no longer has the resolve to lead his city. Dumar was later killed by the Arishok during the Qunari attack on Kirkwall and his head was tossed about his own throne room. After his death, Knight Commander Meredith tightened her stranglehold on the city, and deliberately leaves the position of Viscount vacant.

Other characters