I think...Cullen's a deeply conflicted man who made some bad choices out of fear and because of the pain he suffered. But one thing I love about DA is that grace abounds. Cullen has the capacity to make better choices, and I think he will.
But at the same time, those bad choices have soured me on him as a LI. Please don't hurt me.
We won't. You're only hurting yourself if you pass over Cullen.
Would you want someone to judge you after you'd seen the people in your life murdered right in front of you and been mentally raped and tortured and held captive with no end in sight? Would you be at your most open-minded and sane? I understand, but I really don't think it'd be fair to dismiss Cullen for that when we haven't even heard his side of the story. Maybe his 'upbringing' as a Templar was fraught with abuse and brainwashing that only really began to ease after he left Ferelden. Regardless, what he went through is enough, if you really think about it. He barely survived, and he only did by smashing his longings and desires down into nothing so they couldn't be used against him.
He had to learn to hate himself, and everything he longed for, in order to keep being tormented so that he would not die like the rest for failing to amuse the demon anymore. It was a survival mechanism.
Think about that. Imagine a sensitive, sweet person who was educated with words like, "you cannot falter. You must not waver in your appointed duties, or it will result in mass slaughter. Your mind must be clear and your eyes open, and you must remain objective, never allowing your feelings to cloud your judgment." Imagine his guilt over longing for and fantasizing about that beautiful mage, every time knowing it was playing with fire. Allowing his feelings to compromise his duty. Knowing that it could get many people killed.
The madness and pain he was experiencing likely was coupled with the understanding that in a sense, he'd invited this. In his eyes, he was the LEAST deserving of survival in comparison with his faithful brothers, because he was vulnerable and weak due to his feelings. That's some intense survivor's guilt fodder. It's only natural to, in a time of stress and low sanity, to become angry to help yourself fight--and in the process, to blame someone you feel has so much power over you--that seductive enchantress whom he couldn't forget, who led him astray. But he did learn better and begin to take responsibility, as we saw. The anger faded and self-awareness of his guilt took hold. He knows, now, I'm sure, that it wasn't her fault that this cocktail of desire for the forbidden existed in him.
Frankly, I think repression unraveling before one's eyes is insanely sexy, particularly if it ends up in actual sex. I hope there's still a ghost of DAO Cullen for us to deal with--I don't even want him to be perfectly well-adjusted now. I want him to be somewhat haunted, and I want him to resist being with a mage so that we can deal with that side of him openly as many of us wanted in DAO.
You know what? Make that a female mage Warden Ultimate sacrifice playthrough of the same race as my protagonist WITH a side of sexy femme-mage Hawke. And I definitely hope the game throws me a bone for making those Keep choices.
Cullen's magelust is just too delicious to not capitalize on. That could be one meaty romance if it's written in such a way.