I know that canon doesn't really exist in Bioware games, so by canon I mean which Origin/class/race do you think makes the most sense storywise in each game? For me I think that its:
Origins: Male Dalish Elf that romanced Morrigan. This comes from the fact that you start with the Eluvian and come full circle in witch hunt. Morrigan also knows a lot about elven legend in Inquisition, or thinks she does, and this can be interpreted that the hero taught her. Plus, Dalish origin gets the most references in DA2, thanks to Merrill.
DA2: Mage who sided with the mages. This one should be obvious.
Inquisition: I really have no idea. My personal playthrough is going to be of a Human Noble Warrior who romances Cassandra, but I haven't played the game yet. Thus, no idea what could be considered most canon.
I'd probably say it's Cass seeing as she helps start the Inquisition. The others don't really need to be their except Cullen and Josie. Bare in mind, I've only done Cass' romance.
I don't feel its safe for you to ask this question if you don't want the game spoiled for you, but...
Spoiler
If Male Dalish Elf that romanced Morrigan makes the most sense to you as a cannon playthrough, I would use the same logic to say a female elf who romanced Solas is the best for DA:I.
What matters is what makes sense to you or you could go with the hero you see most in the trailers, Warrior Cousland , Mage Hawke , Warrior Traveylan Inquisitor ( last one especially makes sense since the other races were not introduced initially, was a last minute thing ).
My personal canon is a rogue human noble for origins, as it makes sense that he gets involved in a landsmeet when he knows some of the families there, Mage Hawke for DA 2, since it's all about mages anyway, and for inquisitor, a human noble non mage, since the inquisition is an arm of the chantry whether they admit it or not, and I doubt they'd follow an elf or qunari. Plus, there's a lot of involvement with Nobles and south thedas politics.
DAO: Any. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference in who is the most logical choice. In DAO, being a warden completely trumps race, gender, and class.
DA2: Mage Hawke, definitely. Rogue/warrior Hawke's connection to Act 3 is tenuous at best. Mage Hawke has legitimate concerns.
DAI: Human, probably either rogue or warrior. All of southern Thedas deferring to the leadership of an elf, dwarf, or qunari is a bit of a suspension of disbelief, in my opinion. Same thing with a mage. I'm glad those options are there for role playing reasons, but they don't logically fit in the story.
DAO: All of them make sense, as all have some sort of tie in to a major quest later down the line. As for the eluvian thing... meh, i can understand the romancing morrigan making the most sense, but the it was more about the romance than the eluvian tie in anyway.
DA2: Painfully obvious with the trailers what sort of hawke they wanted you to play as.
DAI: Dalish Female romancing solas wins out here, there is so much more insight into elven history and solas's character which in turn gives us a sort of better look at the story.
Hmm, I always tend to favor (greatly lol) mages and playing one. Also for me it makes the most sense story wise (and meta play) to go with mage (example I find ugh if playing warrior or rogue: rescueing Connor and having to pick someone else to go in the Fade). So my personal canon for the series would be:
DAO: Human Male Mage - Romanced Zevran (Though I did play Ser Gilmore NPC mode recently and it's amazing, far better than the Zevran romance ) - sided with mages and elves - fully anti-chantry and atheist
DA2: Human Male Mage - Romanced Fenris (occasionally Anders too, but I don't feel confortable having Anders as canon romance since it's basically a trio lol) - sided with mages - fully anti-chantry and atheist (mostly headcanon since it's harder in DA2 to play as such)
DAI: Human Male Mage - Romanced Dorian (and only Dorian lol) - sided with mages - fully anti-chantry and atheist
I liked that in DAI you can state clearly you're not religious and characters acknowledge it.
Agree with everyone that has said that they can all make sense in some way, particularly in Origins. In the end it's going to be what makes most sense for each individual. For me personally, no story other than a female Cousland that marries Alistair and becomes Queen is as compelling or powerful for instance in Origins.
DA2 however always felt a bit too obvious for me which was shame. So Mage it was.
In DAI I have come to love the symmetry of playing a female human with the whole Herald of Andraste deal. Couple that with romancing her Commander, who for Andraste was Cathaire, whose spirit in the Gauntlet was also voiced by Greg Ellis and it sets all my personal headcanon bells off in a very nice way.
However I can see how an Elf romancing Solas is potentially more rewarding story wise. It just hasn't done it for me. So again, what makes sense for player. As it should be.
DA:O Female Cousland Rogue, romanced/married Alistair, became Queen.
DA2: Female Mage, sided with Mages, romanced Anders.
DA:I Female Dalish Mage, sided with Mages, romanced Solas. (I have to say, this felt very right for me, so much connection to the story)
But if we're talking connection to the story through all three games then, for Origins I would also say a male Dalish Warden who romanced Morrigan would be the way to go. As for DA:I, well I'm very happy with mine, I know many people who feel the same way, but also many others who felt very connected going a different way. *shrug*
My contribution isn't completely on topic, but I have a question for everybody. Most responses place the Mage class as the pick for the second game, but I could never figure out a way to make the that work. I never made it past the middle of the second act before giving up, and I tried three times. My last attempt I made sure to avoid aggressive responses that would call too much attention to Hawke. I made sure Hawke did not wear any robes, and only used staves that appeared to be spears or halberds. I made sure not to cast spells in Kirkwall during the day, and never in front of people who would likely turn Hawke in to the Templars, and I still felt really off trying to be a mage despite the enjoyable gameplay.
I will offer my opinion on the subject.
Origins: Male Dalish Elf romancing Morrigan, and goes through Eluvian
DA2: Rogue or Warrior protecting Bethany and being drawn into the conflicts; probably Anders romance
Inquisition: I haven't completed the game yet, so this is pure speculation, but I am leaning towards an Andrastian mage romancing Cassandra or Cullen. Despite all of the elf talk I have read on the forums, I feel that the game is still very Andrastian/Chantry centric. It would be nice if one of the future games delves deeper into elven lore opened up by this game.
I know that canon doesn't really exist in Bioware games, so by canon I mean which Origin/class/race do you think makes the most sense storywise in each game? For me I think that its:
Origins: Male Dalish Elf that romanced Morrigan. This comes from the fact that you start with the Eluvian and come full circle in witch hunt. Morrigan also knows a lot about elven legend in Inquisition, or thinks she does, and this can be interpreted that the hero taught her. Plus, Dalish origin gets the most references in DA2, thanks to Merrill.
DA2: Mage who sided with the mages. This one should be obvious.
Inquisition: I really have no idea. My personal playthrough is going to be of a Human Noble Warrior who romances Cassandra, but I haven't played the game yet. Thus, no idea what could be considered most canon.
What do you guys think?
All my canon are human male warriors who just happen to be caught up in the ****, romanced morrigan, romanced my pirate (I know I'm a terrible person) romanced Cass.
Did the ritual, sided with the mages because hawkes sister lived, saved the world (again).
After playing DAI I agree male Dalish/Morrigan fits nicely. I never played that combo before and now I want to. I can also see mage!Warden/Leliana fitting well, makes sense with her mage support. My cannon was Amell and it almost seemed like a Leli/Alistair love triangle was inevitable....maybe because she was so easy to get ninjamanced by.
Mage Hawke for DA2 who sided with mages, romanced Anders or Merrill and made Carver a Warden.
Not sure for DAI yet. I really liked my female Dalish/Solas play through. But also like the idea of a non mage human with Chantry ties, as a counterpoint to mage Hawke.
Diplomatic Warrior hawke who protects mages. Playing a mage in DA:2 upsets me with all the templars around doing nothing and don't get me started on blood magic.
Inquisition: Human noble andrastian who believes he is truly the herald. Good guy.
I think there's a distinction between 'makes the most sense' and 'makes for a good story'.
With Origins, I believe it makes the most sense for the Warden to be from the Magi background. This is because I can see Duncan prioritizing the recruitment of a Circle mage above all other candidates (remember the Wardens can recruit just one from each Circle and they haven't got one from Ferelden yet). The Dalish Warden probably makes the least sense on that note.
However, the Dalish Warden has the potential for an interesting story for reasons mentioned.
For DAI, I would go with human mage for making the most sense. They have the best reason to even be at the conclave in the first place. Non-mage human is okay but doesn't feel ad strong as the mage.
There is a book/comic canon which is a Dalish female warrior Ultimate Sacrifice no romance for Origins and a male mage Hawke who sides with the mages for DA2. No word on what DAI's canon Inquisitor yet, but I'm guessing a Trevelyan. "Herald of Andraste" fits oddly on non-humans.
The book/comic canon makes a certain amount of sense in retrospect. After all, Origins Dalish origin starts you right off with an Eluvian and mentions of Mythal, and the mages are much more sympathetic in DA2 than templars.
My personal canon is all Elven mage, and as Elfy-elf as I can manage in each game. I'm saving it for last, but I can't wait to play a Dalish mage for the first time ever
(Being both an elf and a mage puts you dead centre of most of Thedas' conflicts.)
Origins-
Male Warrior Cousland who puts Alistair on the throne and generally does the 'best outcome' choices (preserved ashes, brokered peace between Zathrian and werewolves, etc...). Romanced Morrigan but does not do dark ritual (self sacrifice).
Female Mahariel who also puts Alistair on throne, may or may not romance him, had a relationship with Tamlen, sacrifices herself to end blight, again makes generally peaceful or at least pro dalish choices.
DA2:
Male Mage who sides with Mages and romances Isabela. Sarcastic or Aggressive personality.
Female Mage who sides with Mages and romances Anders. Diplomatic or Sarcastic personality.
Inquisition:
Male Warrior Trevelyan who romances Cassandra or Josephine
Female Mage Lavellan who romances Solas
(Not my canons or even characters but just going by what would be the most likely outcome. The default tapestry in the Keep suggests a female Mahariel, male mage Hawke and male Trevelyan if anyone noticed)
(Not my canons or even characters but just going by what would be the most likely outcome. The default tapestry in the Keep suggests a female Mahariel, male mage Hawke and male Trevelyan if anyone noticed)
Er, your keep suggests a male Trevelyan? Something's wrong with mine, then. It just says all the DAI features are "coming soon," even when I hit "replay startup"
Well what happens is if you select 'play through states' at the end is the 'default' I suggested (in addition to yours).
I have the coming soon as well. You can't really access it because the Inquisition tapestry isn't there or at least won't be until the next game comes.
In DAO I think they did a good job at not prioritizing any particular origin. All of them were tied to one of the story areas, and all of them provided interesting content.
Being Morrigan's friend or lover (I think friend works as well and I personally prefer her arc as a friend) definitely makes for a more engaging story, both in Origins and going forward. Letting her have a child does wonders for her own character development.
DA2 felt best as a mage. Making Carver a Grey Warden also felt more right than any other possibility, especially with what Hawke is getting up to in Inquisition.
Love Interest-wise, Anders was most connected to the plot. However, like Morrigan, I preferred being his friend. Not for the same reasons, though. His romance just felt...unhealthy, so I couldn't bring myself to do it.
For Inquisition, the first half of the game is very focused on the mage/templar conflict. With that in mind, I think mages have a much more interesting connection to that storyline, whether they're circle or apostate.
The second half of the game is very elfy, especially if you know all the spoilers and are able to read between the lines. The Andrastian stuff sort of falls by the wayside and the revelations about the ancient elves and the elven gods are by far the most interesting parts of the game. Not only that, but the world itself seems to be pushing the elven themes. Once I really started exploring the various areas, I felt like I was was constantly tripping over ancient elven ruins or big-ass wolf statues or shrines to various elven gods. Even Skyhold is built on an elven ruin, and is steeped in old magic.
As for romance, I highly recommend romancing Solas. From a story perspective, it's the most interesting one. I don't want to spoil anything for you, so I'll just put my more spoilery thoughts in a tag.
Spoiler
Solas is this game's Major Story Character, though you may not realize it until the end. Going back through the game, it's amazing how well everything is foreshadowed. It reminds me of Dark Souls in how all of these fascinating tidbits of lore are hidden between the lines. Playing an elf, and especially an elf who romances him, gives you more insight into his character, and thus more insight into what exactly is going on in Inquisition.
From a story standpoint, romancing Solas changes...everything. At least it did for me. Talking to friends of mine, they expressed disappointment over how disjointed the story felt, and how they thought the ending was lacklustre. They didn't like that it was "just another save the world story". That wasn't my experience at all, though. If you actually care about Solas, then the ending is an emotional punch to the gut. And when you know who he is, then replaying the game offers a whole other layer of meaning. I'll probably play other combinations eventually, but an elf mage who romances Solas is always going to be my canon. It's just so interesting from a story/lore perspective.
Retour en haut
) - sided with mages and elves - fully anti-chantry and atheist
