Xilizhra wrote...
I think this has more to do with your personal standards than anything to do with male characters in the DA series.
I don't think so. Like I said, I like the characters, but let's consider the other male companions I didn't mention.
You've got Oghren, basically a drunken lout who consistently messes up with his, well, both his wives that we see, leaves his family, and gives up left and right.
There's Alistair, who's charming in that effete sort of way, but whose main defining trait is his basic underlying insecurity. He's an odd duck because of the way he interacts with different Wardens, though. I played a female city elf first and he was my final romance. Then I played a few different males, and each time he comes off as this overly insecure backbiter. So as much as I liked him playing female, I can't think of him as a strong male character, quite the opposite. Multifaceted with depth and nuance, yes, which is why I like him, but not a strong character, and not somebody I particularly like playing male.
There's Zevran, who has a stronger core, but also consistently moves from one master to the next, and is very comfortable doing it.
There's Sten, who's very interesting, and I like him too, but he's essentially a conformist zealot, except that he conforms to the Qun.
There's the guys from Leliana's Song, who we learn very little about.
There's Anders, whose great talent is running away, escaping, and otherwise is a great scoundrel type until he becomes a bit unhinged along with..
Justice, a very interesting but single minded fade spirit, who Anders joins with basically to make up for his lack of conviction up until that point.
There's Finn, who's a lovable languange nerd, great, but also a lovable scaredycat. Not a problem. He's a great character, just not a strong one.
Then there's Fenris, who I already described why I don't like. Also, he's very smug, and I despise smug. And as much as this list might look otherwise, he's really the only one I'm not fond of. But for this point, no character that's mostly defined by their prejudices and fears (apart from his inexplicable exception granted to Hawke) can be classed a strong personality.
There's Sebastian, who's such a zealot he'll turn around and vow revenge on his best friends for an act of mercy, so entitled he'd burn down the world to claim what's his and then throw those who supported him aside in his hubris.
Finally there's potentially Hawke, who I found basically accepted failure at every turn and then walked away in disillusionment.
And for male NPCs, I doubt anybody can find one in DA2 that would honestly classify for strong. There were a few in DA:O. One I forgot to mention would be your aid if you were a Dwarven Noble, forget his name. And there's Duncan, but you learn very little about him and he's around for only a couple hours. Kristoff was in DA: Warden's Fall, but he doesn't actually appear alive in the games. Riordan was definitely a strong character, again in DA:O.
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My conclusion? Every character has virtues and faults. I think my problem with most of the male characters is that their faults are their most defining character traits. They tend to be about overcoming their own foibles, which they never do on their own or with any real grace. By contrasts, the female characters are more defined by their strengths, and their personal arcs tend to be about overcoming outside pressures and expectations while deciding for themselves what kind of person they want to be, which means their faults come into play, but as personal factors rather than intrinsic failings.
I find most of them, all but one, interesting and enjoyable, but I'm left with a sense that the males are on the whole weaker individuals than the females in this series. I'd like to see it evened up a bit. There should also be strong male characters, whose personalities balance out better like the females do.
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They're very interesting characters.
