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[AEve1]

Isabela is and always will be my best girl. I adore her. She's smart, she's funny, she tries not to care but can't help it. She's loyal to her friends, and she's unapologetic about herself. She's incredibly strong, not some sexy strumpet, and I don't see how anyone could ever call her underdeveloped. She's about the best-developed character in a game full of well-developed characters. Finally, Isabela is the poster girl for female friendship, since she's got that friendly antagonistic thing going with Aveline, that big sister dynamic with Merrill, and the flirty-but-respectful relationship with Bethany. Isabela wins over anyone for me.

 

That said, I don't hate Sera. I think she's a bit of a walking disaster - that dev comment about "bad decision hair" basically applies to everything she does. She makes a lot of bad decisions and sometimes she's thoughtlessly cruel, but she also wants to do better, and she's got ideals, even if they're a bit muddled and inconsistent. She definitely comes across as a young teenager who's still figuring out who she is, and hasn't quite gotten there by the end of the game. I like her in an oddly personal, nostalgic way, like a crush in high school who's probably more than a bit self-destructive but who I can't help but be drawn to anyway. I don't expect anything from her, and I don't really believe she expects much from herself. The romance path should freak me out because Sera feels so young... but it also makes me flash back to being young and stupid and sure of myself and not sure of myself, so I hypocritically don't care.

[Mihura]

Isabela is and always will be my best girl. I adore her. She's smart, she's funny, she tries not to care but can't help it. She's loyal to her friends, and she's unapologetic about herself. She's incredibly strong, not some sexy strumpet, and I don't see how anyone could ever call her underdeveloped. She's about the best-developed character in a game full of well-developed characters. Finally, Isabela is the poster girl for female friendship, since she's got that friendly antagonistic thing going with Aveline, that big sister dynamic with Merrill, and the flirty-but-respectful relationship with Bethany. Isabela wins over anyone for me.

 

That said, I don't hate Sera. I think she's a bit of a walking disaster - that dev comment about "bad decision hair" basically applies to everything she does. She makes a lot of bad decisions and sometimes she's thoughtlessly cruel, but she also wants to do better, and she's got ideals, even if they're a bit muddled and inconsistent. She definitely comes across as a young teenager who's still figuring out who she is, and hasn't quite gotten there by the end of the game. I like her in an oddly personal, nostalgic way, like a crush in high school who's probably more than a bit self-destructive but who I can't help but be drawn to anyway. I don't expect anything from her, and I don't really believe she expects much from herself. The romance path should freak me out because Sera feels so young... but it also makes me flash back to being young and stupid and sure of myself and not sure of myself, so I hypocritically don't care.

 

Funny thing is that I found Sera to be more young that Merril, at least in personality. So I agree with this, Sera feel young and immature in a lot of regards, almost a opposite mirror to Solas.

[Ennai and 54 others]

Funny thing is that I found Sera to be more young that Merril, at least in personality. So I agree with this, Sera feel young and immature in a lot of regards, almost a opposite mirror to Solas.

Solas basically gave up on her within 3 conversations.Afterwards he was talking to her as if she is a mental case.

"The way she has been raised,she is as much an elf as I am a horse". Lol.

[sorentoft]

Isabela of course. The angry ex that'll murder you in your sleep if you hurt Merrill, what's not to like?

[AzureAardvark]

Solas basically gave up on her within 3 conversations.Afterwards he was talking to her as if she is a mental case.

"The way she has been raised,she is as much an elf as I am a horse". Lol.

 

That so needed a dialogue option disagreeing, titled "I say neigh".

[Ennai and 54 others]

You do remember that the assertion I objected to was that Isabella has the hero's back and Sera doesn't? So pointing out that Isabella isn't heroic and is perfectly rational about running away and leaving you out to dry isn't exactly refuting my stance.

It remains the case that she lies to you and runs off and only maybe comes back.

That isn't all that I said.

The thing is,I wouldn't call Sera's sticking around no matter what loyalty.She is trying to preserve her mundane shallow way of life,so sticking with the inquisition is more of a selfish act than anything.Besides, she doesn't really live anywhere and she has settled in quite nicely lol.I keep her around cause I pity her.

Isabela does the opposite if you are friends with her.She risks her life (her way of life) because of her loyalty and trust(in you).Her loyalty is more valuable because you must earn it.

[Nathair Nimheil]

The thing is,I wouldn't call Sera's sticking around no matter what loyalty.She is trying to preserve her mundane shallow way of life,so sticking with the inquisition is more of a selfish act than anything.Besides, she doesn't really live anywhere and she has settled in quite nicely lol.I keep her around cause I pity her.

The interesting thing in these cases is that we are talking about constructs. People planned out the parameters of these characters, mapped out what their motivations are, how they feel about things, how they react to things, etc. Then they told us about the broad strokes of these decisions and plans in character profiles as well as through various little comments made in the media and around the net. So "reading between the lines" of in-game behaviour and coming to a conclusion about the character that is completely the inverse of what the people who designed, wrote and implemented her say she is about means you're not reading between the lines very well.

 

We've seen this in detail in such cases as Sera's comment that Bull makes her "wonder about things" and lots of people started speculating that she was hinting at being attracted to Bull despite this being a direct contradiction to her character profile and a denial of all the "official" and in-game information about Sera. "Maybe", so the speculation ran, "she's secretly not...." But no, Sera is not an actual person and her writers can not, by definition, be mistaken about her. Perhaps they wrote her some of her dialogue in a way that appears ambiguous to you, but that doesn't mean that Sera is, unbeknownst to the people who wrote her, secretly anything. If the man who wrote the character says "Sera fights for those caught in the middle and to restore order" then That Is Canon and you have come to a contradictory conclusion for whatever reason You Are Wrong.

 

In Sera's case this is even more true than usual since, as her creator says “She makes no secret of her feelings, I don’t think she could if she tried.”
 

[AzureAardvark]

If the man who wrote the character says "Sera fights for those caught in the middle and to restore order" then That Is Canon and you have come to a contradictory conclusion for whatever reason You Are Wrong.

 

Nevertheless, Han shot first and Jar Jar Binks is not an interesting character.

[Ennai and 54 others]

The interesting thing in these cases is that we are talking about constructs. People planned out the parameters of these characters, mapped out what their motivations are, how they feel about things, how they react to things, etc. Then they told us about the broad strokes of these decisions and plans in character profiles as well as through various little comments made in the media and around the net. So "reading between the lines" of in-game behaviour and coming to a conclusion about the character that is completely the inverse of what the people who designed, wrote and implemented her say she is about means you're not reading between the lines very well.

We've seen this in detail in such cases as Sera's comment that Bull makes her "wonder about things" and lots of people started speculating that she was hinting at being attracted to Bull despite this being a direct contradiction to her character profile and a denial of all the "official" and in-game information about Sera. "Maybe", so the speculation ran, "she's secretly not...." But no, Sera is not an actual person and her writers can not, by definition, be mistaken about her. Perhaps they wrote her some of her dialogue in a way that appears ambiguous to you, but that doesn't mean that Sera is, unbeknownst to the people who wrote her, secretly anything. If the man who wrote the character says "Sera fights for those caught in the middle and to restore order" then That Is Canon and you have come to a contradictory conclusion for whatever reason You Are Wrong.

In Sera's case this is even more true than usual since, as her creator says “She makes no secret of her feelings, I don’t think she could if she tried.”

I don't think I was reading between the lines.She basically says she wants to join so that we can close the breach and make everything normal and profitable again.

She also says she wants everything back to normal so she can go play.(After we meet corypheus)


So basically I read it as she simply wants to preserve her way of life(another thing she has in common with Vivienne lol).

I don't think I'm so far off.

[Nathair Nimheil]

I don't think I was reading between the lines.She basically says she wants to join so that we can close the breach and make everything normal and profitable again.
She also says she wants everything back to normal so she can go play.

You said a bit more than that. You said that her sticking around is not loyalty but a selfish act, that her life is mundane and shallow. That's the kind of "reading between the lines" I was referring to in your case.

[Nathair Nimheil]

Nevertheless, Han shot first and Jar Jar Binks is not an interesting character.

But in the first case George Lucas is just a lying sack of nug nuggets. He tried, after the fact, to contradict previously produced and still existing material as well as to completely ignore the other people involved who resisted his attempt to retcon reality. Nothing even remotely like that obtains here. People aren't deciding between contradictory canon here.

 

And, yeah. JJB was a bleak, bleak day for adults but anyone comparing Sera to JJB is indulging in weapons grade hyperbole.

[Ennai and 54 others]

You said a bit more than that. You said that her sticking around is not loyalty but a selfish act, that her life is mundane and shallow. That's the kind of "reading between the lines" I was referring to in your case.

I say her life is mundane in that it does not involve any magical elements.(Anyone who is not a mage is a mundane to me)

Her life IS shallow,she moves from city to city,stealing from and hating the nobility but doing nothing significant about it.Even Solas,the dread wolf,tries to advise her on how she would make her organization more effective and actually help the people she claims to be fighting for,she rejects this in favour of pranks,murders and fart jokes.

[AzureAardvark]

But in the first case George Lucas is just a lying sack of nug nuggets. He tried, after the fact, to contradict previously produced and still existing material as well as to completely ignore the other people involved who resisted his attempt to retcon reality. Nothing even remotely like that obtains here. People aren't deciding between contradictory canon here.

 

Right, we aren't talking about contradictory canon, we're talking about the degree of acceptance of an author speaking ex cathedra in defining canon.

 

You'd have preferred I post a meme on appeals to authority instead?  

 

I've never, ever cared for "the author said so, therefor it's true"; an author's whole job is to sell me on his story.

 

 

 

And, yeah. JJB was a bleak, bleak day for adults but anyone comparing Sera to JJB is indulging in weapons grade hyperbole.

 

I simply picked the most egregious example, to be sure you would see my point.  

 

While I agree that Sera is in no way Jar Jar, there's no hyperbole at all; this is apples-to-apples "author said character is such-and-such" example; I should have chosen an example you *wouldn't* have immediately agreed with?

 

I get it, you *want* other people to accept Sera as you do, and enjoy her the same way; that's fine, I get it.

 

And if you like the character, a lotta the stuff on this board must getting pretty damn old.

 

On the other hand, the arguments with which some of her supporters are 'defending' her, against all comers, has made me turn an even more jaundiced eye on her in game.  Unfortunate, that, as I really wanted to like her when she was announced.

[StrangeStrategy]

Isabela, for sure. She was just awesome.

 

She had depth, could be careless but also hid how much she really cared about things, and how that scared her. She was relevant to the plot, and although we didn't see eye to eye with ideals (Atleast Sera wants to help commoners) I still liked her way more. She was funnier, and atleast her jokes were clever rather than Sera's comebacks like "Yeah, well you're a butt."

 

Sera was immature, and not in a funny way. There was something off with her; I kept her in my part for my entire playthrough because she was funny, but by the end I realized I didn't like her. She is actually really close-minded and stubborn, and really, really blissfully unaware of how stupid she is. Funny pranks though, occasionally funny banter... But most of the time, disagree with her even a little and she becomes stupid.

[Starscream723]

Isabela, for sure. She was just awesome.

 

She had depth, could be careless but also hid how much she really cared about things, and how that scared her. She was relevant to the plot, and although we didn't see eye to eye with ideals (Atleast Sera wants to help commoners) I still liked her way more. She was funnier, and atleast her jokes were clever rather than Sera's comebacks like "Yeah, well you're a butt."

 

Sera was immature, and not in a funny way. There was something off with her; I kept her in my part for my entire playthrough because she was funny, but by the end I realized I didn't like her. She is actually really close-minded and stubborn, and really, really blissfully unaware of how stupid she is. Funny pranks though, occasionally funny banter... But most of the time, disagree with her even a little and she becomes stupid.

 

She's an idiot.

 

One of her later conversations had her telling me if I did something I'd sound stupid, and I was delighted to be able to snarkily say "It seems to work for you." Her approval actually went UP. 

[o Ventus]

Funny thing is that I found Sera to be more young that Merril, at least in personality. So I agree with this, Sera feel young and immature in a lot of regards, almost a opposite mirror to Solas.

I think Sera is younger physically as well, IIRC. I remember hearing from her that she was a girl when the Blight was going on, and that the Warden gave her a doll to play with when it was happening. I have no idea Merrill's age, but she uses the adult female elf model in DAO's Dalish origin.

[NWN-Ming-Ming]

In the comics, it's revealed she threw a bunch of slaves overboard to escape capture, in a voyage prior to the one referenced in the game.

 

I am pretty certain this came out on my most recent playthrough where I had Isabella as my LI, and ran her personal plot against the other pirate.  He referenced her dumping her cargo to avoid getting caught (a la Han Solo) and then later on, reveals the cargo was slaves.

[ObserverStatus]

I'd say Sera is my favorite of the two, mostly because she doesn't make terrible jokes all the time. I'll take crazy over painfully unfunny any day. If Sera was in DA2, she would only be the 7th annoyingest companion.

[Xiolyrr Zoharei]

Since it's a video game, I'll give a shallow answer and say Isabella because she looks better.

[Wolven_Soul]

I like Sera a lot better.  I love the way that she talks, and she is so funny.  That, and the things that she does with Red Jenny....you need people like her in the world who are not afraid to stick it to the rich pricks.

[skotie]

Isabella by a huge margin.

 

Sera is well... I actually want to like Sera but just can't. She honstly reminds me a bit of Daveth from DAO except I liked him and thought it would have been awesome had he lived as a fellow Warden companion. If Sera's personality were more like his I would probably love her, I mean they did seem to have a quite similar background. Both poor, at least spent quite a bit of thier life in Denerim, rogues, mostly concerned with thier own affiars but not opposed to fighting for cause to restore order. I could certainly see someone like Daveth as part of an organization like the Friends of Red Jenny, and sticking it to the arrogant nobles.

 

I suppose the reason I make the comparision is because Daveth was rather likeable, reminds me of perhaps a Fereldan Zevren. He didn't talk about looking out for the downtrodden then take a crap on all elves (who pretty much have it the worst of all races) he didn't much seem to care that you ever were an elf other than being unexpected. He also wasn't excessively childish in his humor, annoying or obnoxious.

 

As someone who almost always plays an elf, Sera really annoys me. I could except she hated the Dalish, if she seemed to have at least some respect for alienage culture, or anything other than playing pranks and/or killing nobles because "O this little guy says he's a bad person! Must be true!".... sigh *rolls eyes*

[KaiserShep]

I never thought of any parallel to Daveth.

[Ennai and 54 others]

Isabella by a huge margin.

Sera is well... I actually want to like Sera but just can't. She honstly reminds me a bit of Daveth from DAO except I liked him and thought it would have been awesome had he lived as a fellow Warden companion. If Sera's personality were more like his I would probably love her, I mean they did seem to have a quite similar background. Both poor, at least spent quite a bit of thier life in Denerim, rogues, mostly concerned with thier own affiars but not opposed to fighting for cause to restore order. I could certainly see someone like Daveth as part of an organization like the Friends of Red Jenny, and sticking it to the arrogant nobles.

I suppose the reason I make the comparision is because Daveth was rather likeable, reminds me of perhaps a Fereldan Zevren. He didn't talk about looking out for the downtrodden then take a crap on all elves (who pretty much have it the worst of all races) he didn't much seem to care that you ever were an elf other than being unexpected. He also wasn't excessively childish in his humor, annoying or obnoxious.

As someone who almost always plays an elf, Sera really annoys me. I could except she hated the Dalish, if she seemed to have at least some respect for alienage culture, or anything other than playing pranks and/or killing nobles because "O this little guy says he's a bad person! Must be true!".... sigh *rolls eyes*

I miss slim couldry so much(the fat guy that gives you rogue work at denerim).
He also wanted to stick it to the arrogant nobles,but he was very clever about it,and didn't condone violence.Interestingly enough he introduced himself as a friend.

[skotie]

I miss slim couldry so much(the fat guy that gives you rogue work at denerim).
He also wanted to stick it to the arrogant nobles,but he was very clever about it,and didn't condone violence.Interestingly enough he introduced himself as a friend.

Yeah I liked him as well. Slim didn't even mind if you were a noble yourself ether.

 

Funny though another character who was a rogue type and a Fereldan who Sera could have been modeled around. Instead we get her, the elf who hates elves, yet champions the downtrodden little guys, so long as they don't have pointy ears, Screw those guys! Those arrogent bastards moving around the countryside in thier fancy moving refugee camps collecting old artifacts and taking in elves who flee from the city. They just like to think thier so much better than everyone else!