I think the reason people dislike cole is because he can read your mind and he just randomly blurts it out.
I mean what if your thinking about something embarrassing? Like that time you where caught by the grand cleric doing that thing with your hand. And that chantry sister in the back room of- Well you get the picture.
Here here, well said!
Thanks! I do love that little guy, Weekes pulled off a true masterpiece and so did the voice actor.
We see a lot of codex entries in-game where various Circle mages discuss and debate how the Fade works and how they over-simplify it (like the Veil works), as well as see the views of apostates (the Dalish and Solas), as well as Spirits who all seem to see it differently from each other, suggesting that in reality, how the Fade works is pretty much incomprehensible to everyone and doesn't follow any rules at all? Or that since "Imagination = Reality" in the Fade, then one's own preconceived ideas on how the Fade works are how it operates for that person, but not another?
Could very well be. It must be extremely difficult for people -- there's one entry (from the Fade itself, appropriately enough) where a Fadewalking mage described how it took humbling himself and opening his mind before friendly spirits would come to him and essentially show them their world, make it hospitable for him, where before it was maddening because he tried in vain to control it and couldn't. I found that quite fascinating.
Cole's personal quest is actually enjoyable because we see both of them really care for Cole, yet disagree on what path he takes based on how they see him? Solas sees him as a Spirit of Compassion who is not fulfilling his purpose how it was intended, while Varric sees him as a Person who constantly wants to help others, but doesn't know how to help himself and needs support?
As much as I love that quest, I do feel a little bad about essentially deciding his fate without any input from him. 
Of course he can't decide for himself if the player is supposed to have two equally valid choices to pick from ... but still. I almost wish there was a dialog option to apologize for that, afterwards.
And as far as I'm concerned, Cole is a "person" ... just not in the human sense. 
On the more-spirit path, it would have been good to have a banter in which Varric can start coming to terms with that and seeing some good in it, like Solas does for the more-human path.
(Incidentally, I chose the "Human" path, because I think that with everything that's happened to him thus-far, Cole's already become far too different from what he was before and should explore it further)
It's a credit to Weeke's writing that both options can work so beautifully, depending on which side of the character speaks more deeply to the individual player. I appreciate all aspects of Cole, but my own preference is for the spirit-side, for reasons I have gone on about at length in other threads. 
And it can be very enjoyable when people love different sides of a character but discuss him/her amiably.
Blackwall: Cole, say something interesting.
Cole: ...something interesting?
Blackwall: Huh, walked right into that.
-Cass is pure Andrastian so that is expected reaction of her.
-Sera is just big child,not bad person just immature so she many times like a child once she gets her own theory of something she simply refuses to even listen to another.As I said way to much like little kid.
-As for Vivienne
SpoilerSo I think you can see why Vivienne hates him as she does.
Which banter are you referring to?
Having heard all of her banter with Cole, I believe you may be getting one of them confused for a negative reference to Bastien. Is this the one you're referring to:
Cole: Stepping into the parlor, hem of my gown snagged, no, adjust before I go in, must look perfect.
Vivienne: My dear, your pet is speaking again. Do silence it.
Cole: Voices inside. Marquis Alphonse.
Cole: "I do hope Duke Bastien puts out the lights before he touches her. But then, she must disappear in the dark."
Cole: Gown tight between my fingers, cold all over. Unacceptable. Wheels turn, strings pull.
Cole: He hurt you. You left a letter, let out a lie so he would do something foolish against the Inquisition. A trap.
Vivienne: Inquisitor, as your demon lacks manners, perhaps you could get Solas to train it.
If so it is not Bastien, but a racist comment from Marquis Alphonse that angers Vivienne. Vivienne's feelings for Bastien appear genuine.
Well, Cole does kill quite a few people and he gets away with it. Honestly, "I'm sorry and I won't do it anymore" really doesn't cover it.
He continues destroying people's memories unless the Inquisitor sets him on the human path. He can also destroy Inquisitor's memories of him - in case you decide to not take him into the party. Erasing your memories and interrupting the stream of your consciousness is very akin to death to some people - to me, certainly, it's not unlike murder.
He also torments people by spilling their innermost thoughts in the presence of others, which is painful, tactless, and again, he keeps doing it. Only in the human path he realizes that some things he might've said were wrong, and even then, those banters keep happening.
He is also rather quick to judge - he finds no redeeming qualities in Erimond, he kills Seeker Lambert and never regrets it, and, basically, he remains a killer who is glad, willing and able to kill to help people. I rather prefer Solas' view - only kill out of necessity and when there's no other choice, and even than it's a sorrowful affair.
I don't think Cole is a bad character. But even with the development he's gotten in DAI, it's still hard to look past these things.
No, that's not true. He is aware of human motivations and hangups on the spirit path, too, it's just more of a foreign language to him and he can remain detached which arguably makes him better at helping people. He is also not without tact, for instance he will stop and apologize if someone asks him to, even if his intervention could actually help them.Well, Cole does kill quite a few people and he gets away with it. Honestly, "I'm sorry and I won't do it anymore" really doesn't cover it.
He continues destroying people's memories unless the Inquisitor sets him on the human path. He can also destroy Inquisitor's memories of him - in case you decide to not take him into the party. Erasing your memories and interrupting the stream of your consciousness is very akin to death to some people - to me, certainly, it's not unlike murder.
He also torments people by spilling their innermost thoughts in the presence of others, which is painful, tactless, and again, he keeps doing it. Only in the human path he realizes that some things he might've said were wrong, and even then, those banters keep happening.
He is also rather quick to judge - he finds no redeeming qualities in Erimond, he kills Seeker Lambert and never regrets it, and, basically, he remains a killer who is glad, willing and able to kill to help people. I rather prefer Solas' view - only kill out of necessity and when there's no other choice, and even than it's a sorrowful affair.
I don't think Cole is a bad character. But even with the development he's gotten in DAI, it's still hard to look past these things.
Well, Cole does kill quite a few people and he gets away with it. Honestly, "I'm sorry and I won't do it anymore" really doesn't cover it.
Cole's arc in Asunder is a tad muddier of a situation though.
While it's true that he believed that he would fade away if he didn't kill people to stay "real", something that is obviously wrong and which he shouldn't of done, in reality, what was happening is that he was subconsciously seeking out people who desired death and providing a mercy-killing to end their suffering. In that way, he was fulfilling his role as a Spirit of Compassion, although not in the manner he should be.
It's why he admits he was a demon (or close to becoming one) at the time, because as Solas notes, a demon is just a Spirit who has had their cause and purpose perverted and twisted, turning them into the opposite of what they should be.
He continues destroying people's memories unless the Inquisitor sets him on the human path. He can also destroy Inquisitor's memories of him - in case you decide to not take him into the party. Erasing your memories and interrupting the stream of your consciousness is very akin to death to some people - to me, certainly, it's not unlike murder.
Except that Cole doesn't know how to stop people forgetting him (something that distressed him constantly in Asunder), so it's hardly his fault that he's passively erasing himself from people's memories? While what he does is technically mindscrewing people, it's not done in a malevolent way or intended to cause harm to them.
Think of the last time you stopped and asked someone for directions? Or a stranger helped you out? You can probably remember the event, but can you recall their face exactly? Probably not, because that information is not crucial for your mind to retain, so you tend not to? Cole seems to do the same thing when he makes people forget, so that people recall (on some level) being helped and that small act of charity, just not who peformed it?
He also torments people by spilling their innermost thoughts in the presence of others, which is painful, tactless, and again, he keeps doing it. Only in the human path he realizes that some things he might've said were wrong, and even then, those banters keep happening.
Cole never does this to torment, he merely voices things that people are keeping hidden which are causing them pain, in an attempt to try and help them. Besides, this ignores that Spirits and Mortals are two very different kinds of beings with different thought processes.
Spirits keep themselves relatively simple and avoid learning anything outside their task, to keep themselves pure. When it comes to dealing with Spirits, you always know what you can expect, because what's on the surface is all there is?
Mortals on the other hand are complicated and tend to internalise their feelings, motivations and secrets, so what they are saying and what they are thinking can be two entirely different and contradicatory things.
The concept of privacy is not something he's used to and indeed, the idea of keeping painful memories hidden would seem downright ludicrous to a Spirit because why would any sane being want to continue living in pain and hurt, rather than deal with the problem or let anyone help them?
He is also rather quick to judge - he finds no redeeming qualities in Erimond, he kills Seeker Lambert and never regrets it, and, basically, he remains a killer who is glad, willing and able to kill to help people. I rather prefer Solas' view - only kill out of necessity and when there's no other choice, and even than it's a sorrowful affair.
To be fair, Erimond was pretty irredeemable because he was perfectly willing to sell out the entire world for his own benefit, murder innocent people and bind an entire army of spirits and demons into servitude (I say Spirits as well, because Solas' quest shows how easy it is to pervert a spirit into a demon if you force it to go against it's purpose)... and showed absolutely no remorse for any of his actions afterwards?
As for Lambert, he killed him because he knew that he was never going to give the Conclave a chance and was always going to purge the mages. However, he does have a lot of banter with Cassandra where he reflects upon what he did, eventually realising that it possibly wasn't the right thing to do. His goal was to help the Mages, but after Cassandra points out that he might have made the situation worse because the Templars and Seekers believed the Mages had assassinated Lambert, he admits that it was the wrong thing to do and he regrets it.
While I love the character, I'll happily admit that I understand why the mind-reading can really put people off -- even though it's done in the best of interests and even though he apparently often simply reacts to what people are "broadcasting".
Calling him quick to judge is severely unfair, though. Patrick Weekes specifically describes him like this: "He will walk into the most painful moment of someone’s life and offer them comfort without hesitation or judgment." IMO the games really shows that well. Cole is a spirit of compassion, and unless someone is actively harming others, he'll try to help whoever is in pain. Physically, mentally, emotionally, small hurts, big hurts, doesn't matter. If he was quick to judge, he certainly wouldn't do his best to play therapist for Blackwall of all people, nor would he fully and readily forgive the templar who "killed" him (i.e. whose neglect lead to the horrible lingering death of the real Cole) when you let Solas help him deal with that man.
That line about Erimond always struck me as having been intended to be exceptional. You don't expect this soft-spoken little guy who's always trying to help and heal to flat-out call someone an "*******" -- but Erimond has no excuse for his actions, no "secret pain" driving him, he's evil because he wants to be. He shouldn't be, he could change, but he is and he doesn't, so someone has to stop him. And even so, killing does bother Cole, at least if you make him more of a spirit -- you can't ask him on the more-human path, but I'd bet that even then it still bothers him, probably moreso than most any real human. If he becomes more human, he does gain more violent impulses (which is one reason why I don't do it), but anyone who makes him more human and then blames him for showing any of the negative traits that we humans have plenty of clearly didn't think things through.
He is also rather quick to judge - he finds no redeeming qualities in Erimond, he kills Seeker Lambert and never regrets it, and, basically, he remains a killer who is glad, willing and able to kill to help people. I rather prefer Solas' view - only kill out of necessity and when there's no other choice, and even than it's a sorrowful affair.
Cole can read minds. If he actually says Erimond has zero redeeming qualities then he most likely saw in Erimonds mind that he really had zero redeeming qualities. Thats not being quick to judge. I mean seriously what redeeming qualities could this guy possibly have? He is Howe 2.0 only with more blood magic and mustache and less capability to actually hurt someone with his words.
Hmmm.... so far I have equal view on both paths. A bit of a lore & English noob here, but I'll try to say what I think.
Spirit path will make him true to himself yes, his purpose of helping people and his purity as a spirit of compassion. Letting go of the real Cole seems the best way for him to focus on helping people... in Asunder, I may be wrong, but he doesn't know he was a spirit, hence why he wanted to become "real" and after knowing his true nature, it's best for him to stay that way.
This, is my opinion on the spirit path : he would be pure, and continue helping then make people forget, and that is what irks me. Personally I don't like it if a character stays "perfect" and "untainted", I like it when he goes human and experience all the flaws and negativity.
Human path.... this is a big leap of faith, I believe spirits can do many unique and extraordinary things, and personally I think this spirit of Compassion can become fully human--have the ability to. I agree that being human is not the "perfect" story for everything, but it's the flaw and hardship / hard path he took that makes him more special to me. I headcanon'd that if his main purpose was to help the real Cole... if there's any hope that the mage!Cole's dream can be fulfilled, it's to become like the current Cole--free and without magic. I imagined that the real Cole would be happy to see him "live" on like what he always wanted to be....
I trust Cole enough that he's become human, and negative emotions will not turn him into a demon. Also, something like this line of his : "Now I understand why some things I said to Cullen makes him uncomfortable," this I think will make him understand how to help more efficiently, because if he understands what the people feel and have experienced those feelings himself, he would know how to help without making them feel uncomfortable. Without being too intrusive.
Also when he says that people knew him now--that people know someone cared and wanted to help them, it could make them feel better too. All the memories of the real Cole and his backstory on Asunder caused him great pain, yes, but now he can feel what's it's like being healed himself. I would love for him to meet Rhys & Evangeline again in the future... it would bring me tears.
In tears right now.... T__T sorry he's just so special to me. He's such a beautiful character... /hugs him tightly T__T
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