Love this post. All of this is one of the reasons I really love Sera's character.
I'm looking forward to when I eventually get around to creating my qunari mage to romance her again (this time it might go better, heh).
It's easier with a qunari for sure but I enjoyed it a lot more with the elf.
Sera is a ok character but maybe the worst I have seem from Bioware. I think this was the first time I played a game from them and had to stop myself from not kick her out of the party for RP purposes.
Now I am mostly ok with Sera but the first time I played the game I just could not believe how awful her personality and overall story arc was. There is literally no character development and there is no option in the dialogues to rebuke some nasty things she says, which is just sad and really frustrating. Also it was extra disappointing to see this in the first lesbian companion in DA.
I really do not get why people kept asking this "Why people hate Sera"?, I mean even the devs gave you an options to kick her in the dialogue, why people think that is?
Sera is a ok character but maybe the worst I have seem from Bioware. I think this was the first time I played a game from them and had to stop myself from not kick her out of the party for RP purposes.
Now I am mostly ok with Sera but the first time I played the game I just could not believe how awful her personality and overall story arc was. There is literally no character development and there is no option in the dialogues to rebuke some nasty things she says, which is just sad and really frustrating. Also it was extra disappointing to see this in the first lesbian companion in DA.I really do not get why people kept asking this "Why people hate Sera"?, I mean even the devs gave you and options to kick her in the dialogue, why people think that is?
I'll freely admit, my 1st playthough I was kind of on the fence about Sera. However, it was also a very rushed playthrough and I did not take the time to get to know her.
I knew I had to give Sera a fair chance my second time around. This was especially true after talking to a few friends that loved her. So my second time around, I actually paid attention and got to know her character.I really have to disagree that she is the worst from Bioware. I actually really love her character.
She has a lot of flaws, yes. She is slow to trust, she has a hard time taking things seriously, but she does have limits. The question is, what is character development? Is it because she doesn't conform to what the inquisitor potentially wants from her? She is unwilling to bend on something she feels strongly about. Does that somehow make her a bad person? She is upfront about everything. She doesn't pull any punches. If anything, it is the inquisitor that changes the game.
The only complaint I have about Sera is how easily she is dismissed. She is not the only character that you can choose not to recruit, but she is the only character that you can get rid of without a second thought. It's almost too easy to dismiss her. That is more a problem than Sera's character any day of the week.
Its a thing devoid of any empathy and not the only one ingame. So for me not even human like. Psychopathy is being promoted as the coolest thing right now. The more brain function ones are so arogant most empatic people can recognize it. This Sera thing is a hit because it has no brains to speak of just the attitude and that seems wauw and cool and is promoted as such.
s strongly about. Does that somehow make her a bad person? She is upfront about everything. She doesn't pull any punches. If anything, it is the inquisitor that changes the game.
The only complaint I have about Sera is how easily she is dismissed. She is not the only character that you can choose not to recruit, but she is the only character that you can get rid of without a second thought. It's almost too easy to dismiss her. That is more a problem than Sera's character any day of the week.
I doubt very many people kicked her out tbh if they already went through the hassle of recruiting her
Guest_Donkson_*
Blah blah blah. Arrow in your face.
A lot of you guys have her completely backwards, she is extremely rich in empathy, sympathy. She is the kind of person who puts others before herself, is it no wonder all the nobly ambitious types like Blackwall, etc, turned out to have those twisted paths, by contrast. If I had to trust one person from the DA universe with something important it would probably be her, secondly possibly Cassandra or Solas.
She's stupid and ignorant.
That's it really. Just not right for the Inquisition, I'm not even certain she completely understands what the Inquisition's goals are, considering she can't even pronounce Corypheus's name right.
A lot of you guys have her completely backwards, she is extremely rich in empathy, sympathy. She is the kind of person who puts others before herself, is it no wonder all the nobly ambitious types like Blackwall, etc, turned out to have those twisted paths, by contrast. If I had to trust one person from the DA universe with something important it would probably be her, secondly possibly Cassandra or Solas.
I like Sera, Viv annoys me though
Sera is generally vastly miss-understood. Heck I miss-understood her in my first play through until you get what she is really about.
Sera goes after the 'badies' that aren't obvious badies. Those who play the game and stomp on the little people. The little people being slaves for the most part. She IS actually very smart, her vocab could use some work though.
[Edit] Josie did nothing to deserve a bucket on her head BUT Sera didn't do it to get at Josie, she did it to give the kitchen staff a laugh. To make the Inquisitor seem more human to the kitchen staff instead of a god that is unapproachable by them. You have to understand Sera to get her motives behind things she does.
Eh, not really. Sera is committed to her cause, for sure, but she's also willing to crap on anyone who shakes the foundation of her very narrow take on things. Hell, my dalish warden doesn't feel particularly proud of being an elf and even she got a little flustered.
Sera lacks charisma. This isn't a bad thing in and of itself, nor does it make her a bad person, but she's gleefully abrasive and rude. Look at her pranks quest. Tell me what Josephine deserved to get a bucket on the head. But it's funny to Sera, so who cares, right?
There is no real long term thinking and not much room for empathy for people she doesn't view as her own. She doesn't react well to pressure or stress either. She worries and lives in a very small scope and is unable or unwilling to look beyond that. Varric makes a salient point about her unwillingness to think big. Her reaction is telling.
Everyone's code is fundamentally personal, it is important for people like Sera to remind us all of that, so what you call her narrow-mindedness I call that empathy, because when all is said and done that's what is going to matter most to people.
When people express themselves independently it has an empathetic effect, because you kind of accept the impossibility of ever really understanding. In contrast, straining to meet people halfway or whatever often has the opposite effect and is grasping and knowing, not what people want.
Her "unwillingness to think big" and what I perceive to be her empathy are two different things. In fact you say so, she "lacks charisma" ok, but I wasn't talking about charisma.
Everyone's code is fundamentally personal, it is important for people like Sera to remind us all of that, so what you call her narrow-mindedness I call that empathy, because when all is said and done that's what is going to matter most to people.
When people express themselves independently it has an empathetic effect, because you kind of accept the impossibility of ever really understanding. In contrast, straining to meet people halfway or whatever often has the opposite effect and is grasping and knowing, not what people want.
Her "unwillingness to think big" and what I perceive to be her empathy are two different things. In fact you say so, she "lacks charisma" ok, but I wasn't talking about charisma.
I like the 'childish' concept of her personality for two reasons:
1) It would be really boring of I got was characters who were dead serious about everything and didn't have their faults so blatantly visible. Sure, every single character in the game has some fault, but Sera's seems the most 'extensive' just because its more out in the open. Kinda adds to the whole 'faulted hero' concept that NO ONE is perfect. Not even the characters we make or come to know. I mean, if people didn't like her, they don't have to recruit her, and can kick her out later!
2) Sera's childish personality could be alluding the concept that EVERYONE is somehow affected by war/conflict; Including, as much as we hate to think it, children. Children, have no concept of what war is like, its consequences, etc. They have a general idea that its one side versus another, but children don't understand declarations of war for moral reasoning.... Or religious, political, economic etc. Sera, to me, seems to play off on that idea. It's not that she doesn't care about the war, so much as that she doesn't fully understand it; Aside from the Templars v Mages thing. That's not to say, she is stupid, but more of that she is young and 'innocent'. Just because one grows up in a 'bad' environment, doesn't mean they know how the world works. Sera kinda reinforces the idea since she thinks war is simple, in terms that it can be solved by either one side winning, or all sides talking. Unfortunately, this is rarely true, as everyone tends to have their own agenda in warfare. To top it off, I think Sera says that in one conversation, that she wants things to go back to the way they were, in that they are simple. It kinda reminded me of the South Park episode the aired right after 9/11, and how the opening line was, "Do you guys remember when things weren't so complicated?", or something along those lines. So basically, kids don't understand conflict/war, but they see what it can do to their society from watching how everyone, mostly adults, react. They don't understand it, but they know something has changed drastically, and it is affecting them. This then becomes more of an issue of kids trying to maintain a life they are familiar with, rather than changing it because of some war they don't understand.
That's my two cents anyway.
I just think her promoting material gave us wrong impression on her character.
Look back at E3 trailer, I would've think she is some sort of Robin Hood type. Not this...
It's either that or something very wrong happens during her character implementation.
Such a shame, really. She went from my one of the most anticipated companion to "Get the hell out of my party", and tbh I don't think she was a well written character at all.
I just think her promoting material gave us wrong impression on her character.
Look back at E3 trailer, I would've think she is some sort of Robin Hood type. Not this...
I was looking forward to shooting arrogant shems with her. 
But that was my mistake tbh, I assumed she would fight for elven rights simply because she's an elf.
Sera is prejudiced, short sighted and wilfully ignorant. The only way to tolerate her is to ignore every aspect of her personal philosophy.
It's either that or something very wrong happens during her character implementation.
Such a shame, really. She went from my one of the most anticipated companion to "Get the hell out of my party", and tbh I don't think she was a well written character at all.
Bioware's character promos are terrible, IMO. Getting a sense of a character from those is only going to result in disappointment.
Perspective. Sera is written to be infuriating, childish, chaotic and stupid so in that sense, she is written very well.
She is not written to be liked.
Sera is prejudiced, short sighted and wilfully ignorant. The only way to tolerate her is to ignore every aspect of her personal philosophy.
Just like how you will inevitably end up treating Crazy SJW Tumblrettes.
It is hilariously sad though because for the rest of the characters you can understand what they are and where they stand.
Cassandra is a religious and faithful woman who believes in reform. Vivienne is a pro-Circle conventional Loyalist who is a master of the political game. Solas is an Elven God of Rebellion who believes in the freedom and individuality of all peoples and who is hell bent of making mistakes with good intentions. Dorian is someone who decided to give the finger to the collective society who will no longer accepts who he is and works to try and change them by doing what is right. Blackwall is a former chevalier of sorts who committed a terrible crime and is now on a path of self redemption. Iron Bull is a PTSD-ridden former spy of a totalitarian expansionist philosophical regime. Varric is a happy-to-go lucky guy who is in a f**ked up pseudo relationship with a woman who strings him along who is deep down caring and religious. Cole is a spirit who is like a newborn kid learning the ropes of life.
Sera...Sera is just all about YOLO and instant gratification. The two qualities that are common amongst many of those in the younger generations. Hence her appeal.
I was quite the opposite. I went in expecting to dislike her but she became one of my favorite companions in Inquisition.It's either that or something very wrong happens during her character implementation.
Such a shame, really. She went from my one of the most anticipated companion to "Get the hell out of my party", and tbh I don't think she was a well written character at all.
Sera is prejudiced, short sighted and wilfully ignorant. The only way to tolerate her is to ignore every aspect of her personal philosophy.
And that right there is the issue. If we're just going to 'ignore' personality aspects, how can we learn to appreciate a character?
That's hardly a healthy outlook.
I completely expected to like her and thought she would be a fun companion. I even prepared to kick out Varric at the first opportunity (even though I like him) to replace him with Sera in my party.
I first started to dislike her because I couldn't understand what the hell she was saying. I mean really: to me it was just a jumble of random words ending with "yeah". Listening to her talk and her wartable quests just started to hurt my brain.
Then came the quest where she kicked some noble into a pulp like a complete psycho. She could have stabbed him or shot him but noooo... she kicked his head in with a boot. That was the time where I stopped trying to like her and bringing her along. I got the rooftop talk and the companion pranks later that made her more likable but still I am not a big fan and prefer Varric and Cole.
I don't think she's a bad character or badly written, she just isn't my cup of tea.
I love all the companions. Their "realistic skin" faces, however, I do not. Oooh, there are some that have good faces, but others just look like BioWare is trying to win the prize for "Most Repulsive Yet Lovable Characters in a Video Game."
Guest_Donkson_*
I love all the companions. Their "realistic skin" faces, however, I do not. Oooh, there are some that have good faces, but others just look like BioWare is trying to win the prize for "Most Repulsive Yet Lovable Characters in a Video Game."
You're not saying my baby girl has a repulsive face, are you?
Cause if you do... I'll spam that Cersei Lannister GIF so much you'll feel the unrelenting urge to report me and get me banned...
Wait.
That benefits you. Not me.
Nothing to see here. 
She's stupid and ignorant.
That's it really. Just not right for the Inquisition, I'm not even certain she completely understands what the Inquisition's goals are, considering she can't even pronounce Corypheus's name right.
Then you have been deceived. Sera knows how to say his name, she just believes he deserves no respect, so she attempts to disrespect him by mispronouncing it.
Also, she's not ignorant. Stupid, definitely, but not ignorant. She's just unfamiliar with the ways of the world, if that makes sense. She sees things in a very simplistic manner, which can come off as ignorant. But that's the whole point of her character. She's a misunderstood creature, and apparently that transcends fiction (ex: you).
Sera wants to understand the world, because she finds it confusing and scary. She wanted to join the Inquisition for that reason. She also believes that others are scared. She represents the peasant-folk whom are detached from the unpleasantness of demons, mages and nobility, and look to the Chantry for answers.
She's best described, I think, with the words lonely and peculiar. She's sort of a "special" person (emotionally; not mentally or physically) who needs and craves kindness and understanding - though she'd probably never admit it.
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