82 réponses à ce sujet

[Sealy]

I don't mind him, he really doesn't faze me. I don't like his hair.

[Wulfram]

Sepewrath wrote...

It makes perfect sense, by that point she is going absolutely insane, threatning everyone in the area, she was no longer fit to lead. I would assume she wasn't behaving like that during the mage killing.

She doesn't go obviously crazy - well, any more than normal - until after Cullen decides that killing a mage who has killed countless Templars in open rebellion against the chantry is going "too far".  But he doesn't find Meredith ordering the slaughter of hundreds of innocent mages to be "too far".

[Lisa_H]

I think Cullen is an intresting character.And yes I would love to see him as a companion and LI.

[Robhuzz]

Like Lisa said, I think he's an interesting character and showed some character development from DAO --> DA2. With DA2 expansion or DA3 probably being about the chantry/mage war, it seems logical that he could be companion. BSN members seem to be notorious for wanting to romance everything that moves so I'd say: Make him a companion, but no LI. He's a templar anyway, it should be forbidden for him to have a romance by chantry rules.

[Sabariel]

Don't like Cullen. Dude is intensely creepy. Also, earned himself some jerk points for telling my Mage Hawke that he wasn't a person

He also doesn't object to Meredith wanting to annull a bunch of innocent mages. Not cool, bro, not cool.

Modifié par Sabariel, 07 août 2011 - 11:20 .

[nos_astra]

Sabariel wrote...
He also doesn't object to Meredith wanting to annull a bunch of innocent mages. Not cool, bro, not cool.

He does, actually. Not all of them, though. There's this very active blood mage club and apostates walking in and out of the Gallows, abominations running wild in the streets, templars and civilians have been abducted and there are connections to the Lily Killer. "Innocent" is a tricky thing for a templar when it comes to magic.

However, if you decide to spare a bunch of mages during the Annulment, he will back you up and act against Merediths wishes.

I like him. I like every character who gives me a glimpse of what the people of Thedas should be like, according to the lore. There are few of them. Too many characters bend over backwards when it comes to tolerance and anti-chantry sentiments to make them more relatable or likeable for the player.

Didn't like him that much in Origins, thanks to the epilogue. 

Modifié par klarabella, 07 août 2011 - 11:44 .

[Sabariel]

klarabella wrote...

Sabariel wrote...
He also doesn't object to Meredith wanting to annull a bunch of innocent mages. Not cool, bro, not cool.

He does, actually. Not all of them, though. There's this very active blood mage club and apostates walking in and out of the Gallows, abominations running wild in the streets, templars and civilians have been abducted and there are connections to the Lily Killer. "Innocent" is a tricky thing for a templar when it comes to magic.

However, if you decide to spare a bunch of mages during the Annulment, he will back you up and act against Merediths wishes.

I like him. I like every character who gives me a glimpse of what the people of Thedas should be like, according to the lore. There are few of them. Too many characters bend over backwards when it comes to tolerance and anti-chantry sentiments to make them more relatable or likeable for the player.

Didn't like him that much in Origins, thanks to the epilogue. 

Mayhap it's because I sided with the mages, but I didn't hear nary a peep from Cullen when Meredith went all Annull-happy. Not until Meredith wanted to kill Hawke. Then he finally spoke up.

[LobselVith8]

Lestatman wrote...

From looking round posts there seems to be a majority of people who want this Templar as a companion and as a romance option.  Really?

Am I the only one who dislikes this character due to his views on mages and if you read the epilogue in Origins when he takes over the Circle he is worse than Meridith with his behaviour towards the mages. 

I don't like Cullen. Although Cullen's "mages can't be treated like people" and "they are weapons" comments can be explained because of his recent trauma with Uldred, his participation in the Right of Annulment against hundreds of innocent men, women, and children can't. Cullen doesn't do anything until Hawke is expressly threatened by Meredith.

Lestatman wrote...

Even in DA2 he continues to hold this extreme view because of his experience all mages are dangerous and I know some will say at the end he does stick up for you against Meridith, well he was there with her to arrest you and only backed off when he realised Meridith is bonkers and being the coward he is probably realised he's better off in the winning team.

My problem is that he has no problem with the genocide of an entire population of innocent people, but will only intercept Meredith when she threatens Hawke. Hundreds of innocent people going to be slaughtered? No problem. Hawke is being threatened? Time to intercede.

Lestatman wrote...

My fear is Bioware prob might make him a companion in DA3 my only hope like Fenris you have the option whether to recruit him or not.

If that happens, maybe you'll be able to kill him.

[esper]

Cullen scares me.

[Sepewrath]

Wulfram wrote...
She doesn't go obviously crazy - well, any more than normal - until after Cullen decides that killing a mage who has killed countless Templars in open rebellion against the chantry is going "too far".  But he doesn't find Meredith ordering the slaughter of hundreds of innocent mages to be "too far".

Well remember what he said, he said he defended her when Thrask started saying she was crazy, then she throws out the RoA, then she says she's going to take Hawke alive, only to decide that now she is going to kill them. She was getting worst and worst as the situation progressed, who was next, the nobles? the citizens? Also don't forget, he shares her extreme views of mages, so going through with the annulment is not so far fetched for him, but you have to also remember he owes Hawke his life.

[Wulfram]

Sepewrath wrote...

Well remember what he said, he said he defended her when Thrask started saying she was crazy, then she throws out the RoA, then she says she's going to take Hawke alive, only to decide that now she is going to kill them. She was getting worst and worst as the situation progressed, who was next, the nobles? the citizens? Also don't forget, he shares her extreme views of mages, so going through with the annulment is not so far fetched for him, but you have to also remember he owes Hawke his life.

But killing an Apostate Hawke is an entirely reasonably and sensible thing for her to do, particularly compared to massacring innocents.

The idea that an Apostate Hawke would allow themselves to be taken alive, considering the only reasonable outcomes of that are being made Tranquil or imprisonment somewhere like Aeonar is actually rather more crazy.

And if he'll murder innocent mages in his care, but fight for one who chose to put themselves in harms way because they happened to save his life, then he's contemptible.

[miraclemight]

I noticed that Meredith acts more 'sane' when you support her perior to The Last Straw. Couple it with the fact that almost all the apostate hideouts you find in Darktown and Sundermount are filled with blood mages and letters from "A"nders and "M"istress "S"elby, going on and on about smuggling mages and starting a revolution, you'd think the Templars would become very wary about the things going on in Gallows.

I don't support the whole slaughter of innocents thing that happen during a Right, but it's really difficult to say who is really possessed or not. And this is coming from someone who never sided with the Templar in the final quest.

Anyway, back on topic- I support having Cullen as a companion, only and only if they don't turn him into another Anders. Please Bioware, no whiny plight this/plight that team member. X_x

[Sepewrath]

I would agree, but as you saw in Origins, he is not opposed to killing innocent mages, if Gregoire had listened to him, the same thing would of happened in Ferelden. Its also not far fetched to believe that many in the order wanted revenge for what happened to Elthina and wanted to take it out on someone. And arresting the Champion is not reasonable, let alone killing them, that would turn the entire city against the Templar's.

I would like to give Cullen credit for having some kind of political acumen to attest the situation and see how taking Hawke would be a poor idea for the order. But I'm just going to go with the fact that he and a number of members of the order owe Hawke for saving them and cleaning up garbage like Alrik and the simple fact that she proving people like Thrask right.

[Ryzaki]

I just saw it as Hawke being the straw that broke the camel's back.

I picture Cullen fighting Meredith about those three mages (even if Hawke's not there. No Hawke means Cullen gets automatically shut down.), then he's watching all these mages [i]even those that surrender and want to remain in the circle peacefully[i] being slaughtered and when it's done he's kind of like. "...what was the point of this?" It's too late to save the other mages but it's not too late to save Hawke who may have saved some of the mages (whether with the templars are not) and Cullen's simply had it with the killing to feed Meredith's insanity.

[Sepewrath]

Agreed, I look at it like this. Obviously we know there are a lot of devout Templar's and when the Grand Cleric is killed, along with all the stuff from the last seven years, it all boiled over. It became "These damn Mages" and such. It doesn't help that their commander was feeding these thoughts, in a rage you don't think rationally.

But when the killing starts, which we only saw the highlights of people becoming abominations and mages fighting back. But we didn't see them killing children who obviously have no hope of defending themselves against Templar's and we saw some of the, mages not fighting back and begging for their lives, that will snap you out of it eventually, unless your a sociopath who enjoys killing the defenseless. Eventually enough is enough, just about everyone is dead, its to the point where you say no more killing and now she wants to start it again. Unless you share her insanity, you cant follow her anymore.

[Galagraphia]

Sabariel wrote...
Mayhap it's because I sided with the mages, but I didn't hear nary a peep from Cullen when Meredith went all Annull-happy. Not until Meredith wanted to kill Hawke. Then he finally spoke up.

Actually when Meredith invoked the Right of Annulment, Cullen wasn't there. He was probably in the Gallows. And he didn't support RoA. He kept following her orders, because she was his commander and that's what every templar must do.
He was also against killing mages who didn't want to fight the templars.
Why he and other templars agreed to storm the Gallows at all? IMHO:
1) because many were under the impression of what Anders did. Grand Cleric and many of their brothers died, of course they wanted revenge!
2) mages started using blood magic, summoned demons, became abominations. It's templars' duty to fight them in such cases.

But Cullen was against killing innocent mages all the time. Even in the 1st act, when he was suffering from PTSD. He made a few extreme comments, but when Thrask told everybody that Starkhaven mages were killed (even if you let them escape), Cullen said that he regrets about it:

[jamesp81]

Lestatman wrote...

From looking round posts there seems to be a majority of people who want this Templar as a companion and as a romance option.  Really?

Am I the only one who dislikes this character due to his views on mages and if you read the epilogue in Origins when he takes over the Circle he is worse than Meridith with his behaviour towards the mages.   Even in DA2 he continues to hold this extreme view because of his experience all mages are dangerous and I know some will say at the end he does stick up for you against Meridith, well he was there with her to arrest you and only backed off when he realised Meridith is bonkers and being the coward he is probably realised he's better off in the winning team.

My fear is Bioware prob might make him a companion in DA3 my only hope like Fenris you have the option whether to recruit him or not.

I was not a fan.  I think he's a decent guy in his heart, but he's a bit nuts.  The circle tower incident in Ferelden damaged him...bad PTSD.  He should've retired from active duty after that.  Still, he was one of the few templars I didn't constantly hate on.  Probably because Meredith and Alric were occupying my attention.

Still, when he came to take Bethany to the circle, if I'd had the option, I'd have killed him on the spot without regret.

[Gespenst]

rapunzel696 wrote...

I don't like him. But I can't blame him for his views - he's a indoctrinated, misguided fool like many templars.

edit: great character, though.

He was also

ORIGINS SPOILERS



Tortured by Uldred and his demon friends


SPOILER



Still, I played a female mage on one of my Origins playthroughs and he went from clearly wanting to get into her robes to "mages aren't people". Sure he sided against Meredith but so does Fenris and he'd be perfectly happy if every mage everywhere got on a boat and left... and then it sank.

Sundance31us wrote...

Before judging him consider the following:

Settle this with little bloodshed? No. No you cannot settle this with little bloodshed. You've invoked the Right of Annulment. You can only settle this by killing everyone.

And you're never going to be able to talk them down, "surrender and die!" isn't much of a choice.

Sundance31us wrote...

But she's already invoked the right ... does he think she was joking or something? (Well it's not actually up to her so he could argue that it hasn't been invoked... legally it hasn't but factually it doesn't matter when she's going to stick a sword in anyone who's ever so much as performed a card trick)

...Then again who decides when they get to use the Right? Knight-Commander Greagoir had to send for permission from Denerim, did he have to ask the monarch or the head of the chantry for permission? If it's the latter Meredith has already assumed that position and in the latter case who does authority fall to? It can't possibly be the Knight Commander, can it? That's just dangerous. Especially since older templars regularly become insane anyway.

Modifié par Gespenst, 09 août 2011 - 01:55 .

[Vaeya]

Wulfram wrote...

But killing an Apostate Hawke is an entirely reasonably and sensible thing for her to do, particularly compared to massacring innocents.

The idea that an Apostate Hawke would allow themselves to be taken alive, considering the only reasonable outcomes of that are being made Tranquil or imprisonment somewhere like Aeonar is actually rather more crazy.

And if he'll murder innocent mages in his care, but fight for one who chose to put themselves in harms way because they happened to save his life, then he's contemptible.

Remember, no matter what class you choose, the two endings are generally the same. Cullen will stand up for Hawke be it apostate mage Hawke, Rogue Hawke, or Warrior Hawke.  Also, when you meet three mages, he stands up against Meredith and defends them. He goes as far as to say that he'll take responsibility for them if they turn out to be blood mages, because that is what being a Templar is about.

During Act 1, he says many things against mages. But you must remember, this is only a year after his trauma in the Circle Tower. As the Acts go on, he mellows out as the years pass, becoming one of the most reasonable Templars in the game.

To each their own, however. :3 And if you really hate Cullen, then that's your own opinion.

I, however, support Cullen as a future companion/LI. It takes balls to stand up to Meredith when you're trained from day one to obey superiors and staring down the sword of a crazy and strong woman. We need a companion like that for once! XD

[Icy Magebane]

Cullen is awesome... my Warden wouldn't have liked him at all, though...

One thing I should add is that I hope that in DA3, we have more companions, meaning more optional companions... I know Isabela and Fenris were optional, but it would be nice to have some backups just in case people dislike the ones we are given.  Now, I know that this would probably cost a lot of money, but what the hell do I care?  I'm just some guy talking about video games... it's a good idea, even if it isn't cost effective.  And when you think about it, maybe making a high quality game that provides for more options than any other actually would be cost effective, as it would appeal to a wider audience?  meh... I don't know.  Sounds good, but you never know...

Modifié par Icy Magebane, 10 août 2011 - 06:45 .

[Bekkael]

He's a templar anyway, it should be forbidden for him to have a romance by chantry rules.

Like Aveline's husband, Ser Wesley? I think with that little inclusion in DA2, templars just became fair game.

Whether LI possibility or not (and I feel it's rather unlikely, although I support it), I think having Cullen side w/ Hawke regardless of which side you pick in the end means there is a good possibility his part in the story is not done. For a minor NPC, he had a decent sized role in DA2.

[Bayz]

I considered him as a love interest as a Mage Warden, then I forgot who he was until the Circle's arc, tried to flirt again with him (Alistair wasn't in the tower) but failed so I forgot him again.

I dunno, I guess when you see your world filled with demons from one day to the other and they torture you for days\\weeks\\whatever your views could move to the point of hate a little bit, but I can't speak for my own experience .

That said if I discover he will become a love interes I will take him in my female demon worshipping child eating blood mage playthrough. And corrupt him slowly. And dress him in black and pink. And give him a whip weapon to use in his shield arm. And call him Lucius.

[Auroras]

I disliked Cullen, for the same reasons as the OP.

[GR Groe]

What attracts people to Cullen most, I think, is the fact that he goes through serious character development between Origins and DA2. Think on it, his harsh attitude towards magic doesn't come from religious zealotry or a lust for power, like a large number of other templars. He genuinely suffered at the hands of blood magic, he saw firsthand just how far that corruption can go. He has good reason to believe as he does, and good reason to not immediately question Meredith's orders during The Last Straw.

Having said that, in between Origins and DA2, he seems to go through a period of maturity. His fear of blood magic manifests itself into a devotion to the core ideals of the Templar Order, to protect the world from corrupt magic. For that reason, he doesn't hesitate to be strict when it comes to apostates and other mage problems, but neither does he act irrationally in his vigil over the Kirkwall Circle, as Meredith does. Remember, at his core Cullen is a compassionate person who does not hate mages, we saw that in the Mage Origin. His experience with Uldred shook that core, but didn't change it, it would seem.

On the whole, I think Cullen is falling into the mold of Knight-Commander Greagoir, which I don't think is a bad thing. Greagoir may have come across as harsh during the Mage Origin and Broken Circle, but at the end of the day he was still hoping for survivors from the Circle, and he was genuinely happy to see First Enchanter Irving. Similarly, Cullen has good reason to fear blood magic and such, and he won't hesitate to do his duty as a templar. But he's willing to spare mages, respects a mage Hawke, questions the necessity of Annulling the Kirkwall Circle, and ultimately stands up to Meredith for acting in a manner he views as being unfit for a templar. Really, he's more or less the textbook definition of a templar, without the mindless zealotry and abusive qualities.

As for him appearing in the future, I'd rather it wait until later, to be honest. After a small cameo in Origins, he had a massive supporting role in DA2 (his name would be pretty high up in the credits, if it were a movie.) I wouldn't mind hearing his name mentioned in DA3 or something like that, but I'd wait a game or two before I wanted to see his character again. As of DA2, I do love Cullen. I think his character was done terrifically, not a thing I would change. But though I hate to say it, I think his character has been used enough, up to this point. The plot has to progress a bit further for him to have any meaningful role ever again. As a romace interest? Never really crossed my mind, but to each their own. I've no problem with it.