Note: NOT A HATE THREAD
I swear it seems like I'm the only one who finds Varric to be lack luster. I kept him at the hanged man for most of my DA2 playthroughs and intend to keep him at Skyhold for DA:I. I don't understand why I dislike him so much (maybe it's cuz he and Carver were responsible for all of my deaths in DA2 >.>). Every time he talks I just roll my eyes, and not in the "oh you" way. I guess I want to see what peoples reasons are for liking/disliking him.
No character is universally liked.
There are others. But not many.
I don't particularly like him either, and I was rather disappointed that he was taking up a companion slot in DAI. I used him my first playthrough in DA2 but ever after I left him at home 
He's not a badly written character all, and his VA is amazing; I guess he just didn't gel with me.
Almost. He's pretty widely liked and I haven't seen any that hate him (lucky for fans I guess 
), but not everyone can like everyone ^^
I loved him in my first DA2 play-through, then on subsequent replay he started to annoy me.
Kind of weird actually.
My liking steams from him being of DA2 main sources of comic relief, along with his always taking your side in the endgame. Then on the sly he helps the team deal with their problems. Giving Merrill food in act 3, keeping thugs off of Anders back. There also his chest hair.
His character is meh to me, I just found myself using him a lot because he was an awesome archer. Way better than Sebastian.
Almost. He's pretty widely liked and I haven't seen any that hate him (lucky for fans I guess
True, I don't even hate him I appreciate his character he just annoys me.
He's ok but I never used him unless I had to do so. He was my least favorite team members so I'd leave him at the Hanged Man and just visit him from time to time. I did like that he took care of the others, behind the scenes.
Note: NOT A HATE THREAD
I swear it seems like I'm the only one who finds Varric to be lack luster. I kept him at the hanged man for most of my DA2 playthroughs and intend to keep him at Skyhold for DA:I. I don't understand why I dislike him so much (maybe it's cuz he and Carver were responsible for all of my deaths in DA2 >.>). Every time he talks I just roll my eyes, and not in the "oh you" way. I guess I want to see what peoples reasons are for liking/disliking him.
How can you hate that funny dwarf with his chest. The chest should make up for every flaw he has. 
I kept him in the hanged man aswell.
I don't particularly like him either, and I was rather disappointed that he was taking up a companion slot in DAI.
Varric is OK (I enjoyed him in DA2), but I have to agree with CuriousArtemis on this. I would have much rather had a new companion than Varric again. I can't imagine there's much new to learn about him. Having someone new would have been much preferable, but I feel the same way about Leliana and Morrigan coming back, so it's not Varric-specific in my case. I just don't care for the character reuse when our protagonist is different, and we could have been meeting other characters with the resources being spent on certain-people's old favorites.
Of course, I'd probably have a different opinion if my personal favorites were brought back, but that's not happening... Alas
I think the reasons he's popular in the fandom include the following:
1. He's got a sense of humor. In Bioware's fanbase, this tends to override a lot of traits. Notice that one commonality with all the villains in Bioware games? No sense of humor. If a character has a noticeable sense of humor, we're supposed to like them. But if you're not fond of overt snarkiness and cracking jokes, Varric will probably not appeal.
2. He's not judgmental. Man, woman, dwarf, human, elf, blond, redhead, mage, lyrium-infused, bloodmage, templar, most of it doesn't matter to Varric, at least not in DAII. He takes people as they are, doesn't demand things of them, seldom asks favors, and usually strives for mutually beneficial arrangements. This tends to make a guy a likable person to most people because he doesn't offend others, at least not without good reason.
3. He's not self-absorbed, instead focusing on his friends, including the PC. As much as Varric talks, we seldom hear him say things of note about himself. He's mostly about other people. He helps Daisy adjust to the alienage and keeps the street thugs away from her. He keeps the Carta off Blondie. He tells Hawke's story, not his own. He helps other people, even his traitorous brother when it comes right down to it. When did Hawke ever ask Varric to do something and help with something, and Varric said "Nope, I won't do it."? I can't recall it happening.
4. He's loyal. No matter what happens. Side with mages or templars, be a total a**hat or the epitome of selflessness and virtue, Varric stands at your side through everything. He may even dislike Hawke in many ways, but respects him/her to a fault. This kind of loyalty is difficult not to find endearing for most people.
Those are all traits that most people like to have in friends. And having them all in one particular friend is the proverbial jackpot. Friends like the above are hard to find, and tend to be the cream of the crop. Hence, Varric is popular.
I like Varric as a Character. I just hate the DA community when it comes to Varric. Even this thread leads to people making chest hair references as if it was clever... That horse had been beat to death and then some. It was not even that funny in the beginning. That's my problem with Varric.
I dislike what we have seen of Varric in DAI so far.
Every single character ever created will have people who dislike them, there's no universal personality type for everyone. It's true Varric seems to be more widely loved and any criticism for him is rare, but it's there if you look hard enough for it. For many people, Varric was a breath of fresh air compared to all of the brooding and loathing going on amidst the other companions in DA2, and so I think many ended up loving him just for that. Another thing to remember is that Varric never hates your character or is hostile to them no matter if you friend or rival him, and he never stirs up any controversial moments in the story itself, so there's little to be bitter over him about unless you just don't really like the cheesy humorous charming rogue type, which is kind of a common trope in the DA universe. He may be quite different now in DAI though, so I'm looking forward to seeing if he evolves into more of a divisive character this time around.
Every single character ever created will have people who dislike them, there's no universal personality type for everyone. It's true Varric seems to be more widely loved and any criticism for him is rare, but it's there if you look hard enough for it. For many people, Varric was a breath of fresh air compared to all of the brooding and loathing going on amidst the other companions in DA2, and so I think many ended up loving him just for that. Another thing to remember is that Varric never hates your character or is hostile to them no matter if you friend or rival him, and he never stirs up any controversial moments in the story itself, so there's little to be bitter over him about unless you just don't really like the cheesy humorous charming rogue type, which is kind of a common trope in the DA universe.
All that and a hairy chest that he takes quite pride in it. He actually has not negative traits he is quite enjoyable to be around.
Part of it for me is, after all the Dwarves in DA:O (And the general dwarf stereotype in general in fantasy) he just seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. Didn't mean I didn't like him, but he just seemed off to me.
Add onto the fact that DA2 disappointed me in that the only customization for any companion you could make was their weapons, and the fact that his weapon leveled with him just made me get bored of looking at him.
I feel like Varric was written to be universally inoffensive to players in personality so he came off as bland to me. Some people say Varric was nice to everyone, but he was a jerk to Sebastian who did him no wrong. I also don't find him funny, but I have a narrow sense of humor.
He seems like he's experiencing a "dark and troubled" personality shift from the dialog snippets I've heard in this game. I might try him out in a no-human team now and then, but there's still nothing known about him so far that piques my curiosity (save possibly his talks with Solas). On a shallow note, his oversized head makes me think of him as an extra in an alien costume in a Star Wars movie. Or maybe Hoggle.
I actually didn't like him when I first played, but he grew on me!
Varric is OK (I enjoyed him in DA2), but I have to agree with CuriousArtemis on this. I would have much rather had a new companion than Varric again. I can't imagine there's much new to learn about him. Having someone new would have been much preferable, but I feel the same way about Leliana and Morrigan coming back, so it's not Varric-specific in my case. I just don't care for the character reuse when our protagonist is different, and we could have been meeting other characters with the resources being spent on certain-people's old favorites.
Of course, I'd probably have a different opinion if my personal favorites were brought back, but that's not happening... Alas
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