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[Xilizhra]

The problem with those scenarios is that they're based on wishful thinking and best-case circumstances. They assume that the blood mage, who could be hated and mistrusted by their closest advisors and companions, somehow still rises to essentially become the Inquisition. They assume that the companions always overcome their prejudices against blood magic and the fears that the blood mage Inquisitor will eventually become a villain comparable to Corypheus. They assume that the companions are incompetent and short-sighted enough to not come up with a feasible plan to get rid of the blood mage before it's too late.

None of that requires any sort of deviation from what's in the game already (also, overcoming prejudices against blood magic means that "incompetent and short-sighted" is never an issue).

[Jouni S]

None of that requires any sort of deviation from what's in the game already (also, overcoming prejudices against blood magic means that "incompetent and short-sighted" is never an issue).

The entire point of blood magic is that you get to play very powerful characters, who are almost universally hated and mistrusted, like some Thedas equivalents of pedophile-nazi-communist-terrorists. If that doesn't show in the game all the time, the writers have done a poor job.

[Xilizhra]

The entire point of blood magic is that you get to play very powerful characters, who are almost universally hated and mistrusted, like some Thedas equivalents of pedophile-nazi-communist-terrorists. If that doesn't show in the game all the time, the writers have done a poor job.

"Almost universally hated" appears to be a fair overestimate, judging by the reactions of various people to Merrill in DA2.

[Jouni S]

"Almost universally hated" appears to be a fair overestimate, judging by the reactions of various people to Merrill in DA2.

Like I said, the blood magic practiced by playable characters was badly written in DA:O and DA2. In one scene, an elf from Merrill's clan is so afraid of her that he runs to his death. After that, nobody else in the clan cares when Merrill visits them. Then the entire issue with Merrill's blood magic is conveniently forgotten until the next plot point.

There's a huge disconnect between the blood magic practiced by the PC and their companions, and the blood magic practiced by NPCs. For the playable characters, blood magic is just ordinary magic with red and black special effects, unless the story specifically demands otherwise. Everyone else practicing blood magic is automatically labeled as a villain and treated as such by most characters.

[Xilizhra]

Like I said, the blood magic practiced by playable characters was badly written in DA:O and DA2. In one scene, an elf from Merrill's clan is so afraid of her that he runs to his death. After that, nobody else in the clan cares when Merrill visits them. Then the entire issue with Merrill's blood magic is conveniently forgotten until the next plot point.

There's a huge disconnect between the blood magic practiced by the PC and their companions, and the blood magic practiced by NPCs. For the playable characters, blood magic is just ordinary magic with red and black special effects, unless the story specifically demands otherwise. Everyone else practicing blood magic is automatically labeled as a villain and treated as such by most characters.

That's because the blood magic practiced by NPCs is usually used for villainous things, but not always. Jowan isn't a villain, and Gascard duPuis is only shakily a villain, and can be redeemed (and use blood magic for a constructive purpose). Janeka, too, isn't a villain precisely.

[Jouni S]

That's because the blood magic practiced by NPCs is usually used for villainous things, but not always. Jowan isn't a villain, and Gascard duPuis is only shakily a villain, and can be redeemed (and use blood magic for a constructive purpose). Janeka, too, isn't a villain precisely.

Jowan is a borderline case: he willingly poisons Arl Eamon, but he can redeem himself later. Gascard is a clear villain. He kidnaps an innocent to track down a bigger villain, but when the villain is finally found, his default choice is to join the villain instead of fighting him. I wasn't aware that Janeka is a blood mage (maybe because I never sided with her).

Anyway, the point wasn't that blood mages are villains. The important thing is that they're almost always presented as villains, and most people believe that they are villains.