Dragon Age Companions: The D&D Moral Alignments Of The Main Characters
The Dragon Age series is well-loved for its choice-based, compelling world-building, and especially for its fleshed out characters. Companions in Dragon Age are loud and opinionated, more often than not unafraid to tell you exactly what they think. Building a relationship with all these people with different personalities and values can be a struggle, especially when you don't really know what they stand for.
Fear not, though! By using D&D alignments as a basis, it's a bit easier to figure out what's important to these characters—at least so they'll be a bit nicer to you. However, due to the sheer number of companions in the series, we'll just be taking a look at playable fan favorites, romance options, or characters that otherwise make a big splash story-wise.
13 Alistair: Lawful Good
Alistair might be the biggest softie you'll meet in all three games. He's got a gooey marshmallow heart, always sticking up for anyone and everyone in trouble. He cringes at the idea of hurting anyone at all, sometimes even people who may deserve punishment. Additionally, he follows the Grey Warden code closely, taking the values Duncan taught him to heart. He even has the possibility of becoming a benevolent king, showing he has respect for the law and other people. There's no doubt Alistair is lawful good.
12 Morrigan: Chaotic Neutral
Morrigan really couldn't care less about laws or traditions of any sort. A side effect of growing up in the woods, maybe? Still, Morrigan's disdain of social and political conventions solidifies her as chaotic. Additionally, she's really only ever out for herself, always trying to improve her own situation while not caring what happens to others. Some may argue that she leans a bit more towards evil than your average neutral character (especially in Origins), but these incidences are few and far between enough that neutrality fits her better.
11 Leliana: True Neutral
Leliana is an interesting one, as her values shift in between Origins and Inquisition. Still, neutrality seems to be the best fit for her overall. While you may want to place her as chaotic, she doesn't have a vendetta against tradition. Additionally, she uses the law to her advantage when she can. You may want to place her as good, but as a spymaster, she does questionable things to gain the information she needs. She works for a righteous organization, sure, but she's more than willing to hurt people who might not deserve it to get ahead. While not malicious, she's not really benevolent, either.
10 Zevran: Chaotic Neutral
Placing an assassin as chaotic neutral is pretty much the most natural thing in the world. Zevran lives on his terms and only his terms, doing as he pleases without going out of his way to hurt others. If he's not hired to, anyways. He has complete disdain for the law and breaks the code of The Crows frequently, showing that he's not one to play by the rules. Additionally, Zevran doesn't kill for money or pleasure—it's just business, and he's more than willing to switch allegiances if it benefits him.
9 Anders: Chaotic Good
Anders is probably the most controversial character in Dragon Age (other than a certain bald elf), and his black-and-white justice certainly helps with that. He's a revolutionary to the core, breaking the law and going against society in order to do what he thinks is right. His disdain for the rules of the Circle and his willingness to go against social conventions to achieve his goals show chaos.
However, he stands for a cause he believes in, wanting to lift the oppression of all mages. While his actions may be extreme, his values are solid and his goals are righteous.
8 Fenris: True Neutral
Fenris is difficult to place since so much of his character is clouded by trauma, but neutrality is the best fit. While he agrees with the law on the matter of mages, he lives as a mercenary and has no love for social norms or legislation. He doesn't even have a moral code he follows closely—his only goal is to escape life as a slave. While there's a temptation to place him as a good character, neutrality is once again more natural for Fenris. He does questionable things while running from Danarius, but he's not malicious to those who aren't chasing or tormenting him.
7 Isabela: Chaotic Neutral
It's only natural the Pirate Queen herself would be chaotic neutral, right? Isabela's placement obvious, as she always displays both her lack of moral code and her disdain for rules. She's selfish but not malicious, always looking out for number one. She also looks out for her in-group once she gets to know them, which is very chaotic neutral. Also, Isabela is literally a pirate. Her whole life is a lawless one, and she laughs in the face of all expectations.
6 Merrill: Neutral Good
Merrill as a good character is obvious. She wouldn't hurt a fly and doesn't have a mean bone in her body. However, pinpointing her on a scale of lawfulness to chaos is tricky. While she eschews the conventions of her clan by using blood magic and rebuilding the Eluvian, she follows other Dalish customs closely and appreciates her culture. In fact, she believes that by turning her back on certain conventions, she's helping the Dalish rebuild. Because Merrill's willing to ignore rules she doesn't agree with but follows the rest easily, neutrality's the best fit.
5 Varric: Chaotic Good
It's obvious that everyone's favorite roguish dwarf is chaotic good. Varric is an underworld businessman and a "bad dwarf" for not following social conventions (and being proud of being a bad dwarf, at that).
Further, while his morals aren't strong most of the time, Varric only wants the best for others and never hurts someone who doesn't deserve it. Sometimes, he doesn't even hurt people who do deserve it (Bartrand, anyone?). He's no revolutionary and doesn't lean as far into good as Anders, but there's no doubt Varric shares this alignment.
4 Cassandra: Lawful Good
Cassandra is another give-me. She takes the tenants of the Chantry and Seekers to heart, allowing her morals to be guided by their rule. Even though she questions certain things, she ultimately believes that both are just at their core, showing her lawfulness. Cassandra's goodness is evident, too. She punishes evil-doers and does not abide by anything evil or malicious, speaking up against anyone she believes isn't doing the right thing.
3 Dorian: Neutral Good
There's a strong instinct to place Dorian as chaotic, but looking closer at his motivations shows he's pretty neutral. Even though he relishes being a pariah, everything he does is to change Tevinter for the better. His dream to change Tevinter society into something more honorable shows he cares about legislation despite enjoying turning his back on social norms. Also, his goodness isn't really debatable. He might believe questionable things, but when confronted with suffering or evidence he's wrong, he always sides with what's right.
2 The Iron Bull: True Neutral
Bull's alignment shifts wildly depending on the choices you make, but his natural state is neutral. Bull belongs to a rigid culture, but he's pretty lenient on what rules he does and doesn't follow, mostly letting his whims decide.
Additionally, even though he's a pretty nice guy, he's not really altruistic or crazy for justice or anything. Plus, his status as a mercenary lends to neutrality, too.
1 Solas: Lawful Evil
Solas, Solas, Solas, how we the fandom loves to hate you and hates to love you. Placing Solas as lawful evil may be controversial, but it's the most natural placement for him. Firstly, he's lawful because he rigidly follows set goals and rules he's placed for himself, despite how he feels personally. Further, while he may morally struggle with his actions, what he's trying to do is too obviously evil for him to be considered neutral, despite his reservations.
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