85 réponses à ce sujet

[Al Foley]

People expect him to be Tevint-y evil, so he has a moustache he can twirl.... but doesn't. It's a subversion.

Yeah except when he does that it looks provocative and not malicious.

[Rel Fexive]

Yeah except when he does that it looks provocative and not malicious.

That's only because he's being charming instead of all "muahahahahaaaa!"

[Al Foley]

That's only because he's being charming instead of all "muahahahahaaaa!"

Ok sera.

[ShadyKat]

Sera is the Jar Jar Binks of Dragon Age. She tried too hard to be funny, and failed miserably at it.

[Serza]

You're the Jar Jar Binks of this forum, in that case. Congratulations.

[SonnyKohler]

I like Sera.  She's a child.  She's fun.  And she's wicked with her Bow.  I'd call her "irreverent".

[Dabrikishaw]

I dislike Sera because she prefers sticking her head in the sand instead of facing the reality of the world she lives in. Her Temple of Mythal reaction is the biggest proof of that, and I dislike the traditional Dalish elves. I'm also not endeared by her for the same reasons most others gave in this topic for liking her.

[Ghost Gal]

I made the mistake of meeting Sera on my first playthrough as a Dalish.

 

Sera: *smiling* Glad to see you're... *smile drops, frown sets in* Aaaand you're an elf. Well, hope you aren't too elfy.

 

It all went downhill from there.

 

Not because I didn't try to like her, get to know her, or see from her point of view. Oh no. I wish it was that easy. It's because I spent the whole game trying to like her, trying to get to know her, trying to earn her approval, and trying to see things her way, only to learn the hard way that I just didn't like Sera as a person.

 

Spoiler

Unlike many people here, I don't find her antics cute, funny, or charming. I find her annoying, irresponsible, immature, childish, selfish, self-serving, dismissive, judgmental, hypocritical, disrespectful, mean-spirited, and willfully ignorant. She's dumb as a brick and proud of it, refuses to try to see the big picture, refuses to try to see things from other people's perspectives, refuses any kind of self-examination or self-reflection, gets mad when you question her Maker-given right to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants, basically stomps her feet and stops her ears and screams "La la la la la I can't hear you!" when you challenge her, and is a real bigot when it comes to magic and elves (both of which I love).

 

Also, for all her talk of caring about "the little people," she's rarely shown actually interacting with them. Instead she's mostly only seen pranking, robbing, and murdering nobles for kicks. She fully admits when she joins that "fixing the world should earn more sovereigns than this. We need things back to normal so I can go play," and once you get to Skyhold she agrees to help stop Corypheus because, "helps me, helps people, helps you, in that order." Hell, her in-game character description calls her "a selfish criminal. Robs from the rich, keeps it." Party banter with Solas also reveals that she has no intention of trying to bring about any meaningful or lasting social change, instead just "sticking it to nobles who hurt the common folk," but again not doing anything to help the common folk get back on their feet. (Again, it's not like she's gonna take that gold she robbed from the noble in the name of the little people and actually give it to the little people who need it.)

 

Before Sera finally grew up and started helping people for real in Trespasser, I thought she really came across as a delinquent who subconsciously liked keeping nobles in tyrannical positions of power because it gave herself licence to prank, rob, and kill (which she does for fun) with moral impunity. After all, it's not wrong for Sera to enjoy breaking the law and hurting people when she can tell herself, "They're nobles, so they deserve it."

[Deadly dwarf]

I read a lot of people don't like Sera, but tbh she is one of the more interesting ones. Her and Varric so far seem to be the funnier ones. However, whats with her body model? When I first saw her, I almost didnt think she was an elf, maybe another wood creature. Turns out she is an elf, but her silhouette looks nothing like any other elf in game.

 

She just says some funny **** and looks at everything differently. 

 

Yes, she does look different than other elves.  Most elves are thin and waifish.  Sera has more of a human build.  In fact, you'll see later that there is some elf only equipment she can't wear.  I've always wondered whether one of her parents was human.

 

Things for you to watch for as you play this game....listen to the banter between Sera and Solas.  There are a number of wonderful mysteries behind Sera.

 

As to Merrill, she was a Dalish elf character who was in the Dalish elf Origin story in Dragon Age Origins.  She then had a major role in Dragon Age 2 but does not appear at all in Dragon Age Inquisition.

[Animechick69]

[Gilli]

Yes, she does look different than other elves.  Most elves are thin and waifish.  Sera has more of a human build.  In fact, you'll see later that there is some elf only equipment she can't wear.  I've always wondered whether one of her parents was human.

 

Sera uses a female human body model, adjusted to make her look like an elf (height, ears etc) which is the reason she can't equip elf armor.

IF she were a half elf, she'd look 100% human, like

Spoiler

Alistair, or Michel de Chevin

[Giantdeathrobot]

I found her annoying and immature. She's written that way, so that's fine I guess,  but I simply do not respect nor value those things in a person. And at the risk of being a bore, fart jokes have stopped amusing me some time ago.

 

Being so dead-set in her worldview is another thing. While I can appreciate a character that doesn't give ground on their beliefs, especially coming from Bioware, Sera seemed to be very judgemental of anything and everything that was beyond the scope of what she knew and understood. Solas is very on point when he confronts her about that, I feel.

 

She does have a few good lines, however. My favorite is her string of profanities when you take her to  the Fade.

[Blood Mage Reaver]

I made the mistake of meeting Sera on my first playthrough as a Dalish.

 

Sera: *smiling* Glad to see you're... *smile drops, frown sets in* Aaaand you're an elf. Well, hope you aren't too elfy.

 

It all went downhill from there.

 

Not because I didn't try to like her, get to know her, or see from her point of view. Oh no. I wish it was that easy. It's because I spent the whole game trying to like her, trying to get to know her, trying to earn her approval, and trying to see things her way, only to learn the hard way that I just didn't like Sera as a person.

 

Spoiler

Unlike many people here, I don't find her antics cute, funny, or charming. I find her annoying, irresponsible, immature, childish, selfish, self-serving, dismissive, judgmental, hypocritical, disrespectful, mean-spirited, and willfully ignorant. She's dumb as a brick and proud of it, refuses to try to see the big picture, refuses to try to see things from other people's perspectives, refuses to do any kind of self-examination or self-reflection, gets mad when you question her Maker-given right to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants, basically stomps her feet and sticks her fingers in her pointed ears and screams "La la la la la I can't hear you!" when challenge her, and is a real bigot when it comes to magic and elves (both of which I love).

 

Also, for all her talk of caring about "the little people," she's rarely shown actually interacting with them. Instead she's mostly only seen pranking, robbing, and murdering nobles for kicks. She fully admits when she joins that "fixing the world should earn more sovereigns than this. We need things back to normal so I can go play," and once you get to Skyhold she agrees to help stop Corypheus because, "helps me, helps people, helps you, in that order." Hell, her in-game character description calls her "a selfish criminal. Robs from the rich, keeps it." Party banter with Solas also reveals that she has no intention of trying to bring about any meaningful or lasting social change, instead just "sticking it to nobles who hurt the common folk," but again not doing anything to help the common folk get back on their feet. (Again, it's not like she's gonna take that gold she robbed from the noble in the name of the little people and actually give it to the little people who need it.)

 

Before Sera finally grew up and started helping people for real in Trespasser, I thought she really came across as a delinquent who subconsciously liked keeping nobles in tyrannical positions of power because it gave herself licence to prank, rob, and kill (which she does for fun) with moral impunity. After all, it's not wrong for Sera to enjoy breaking the law and hurting people when she can tell herself, "They're nobles, so they deserve it."

*Facepalm*

 

Like I said, Sera was never meant to be liked by pro-elf players much less for her antics and point of view to be taken seriously.

 

Lavellan is the worst possible pick to deal with her, even more so if he or she tries sticks to elven customs and ideals because Sera will never budge in or sympathize with them.

 

Sera's entire point is that she has static character development, she can grow closer to the Inquisitor as a friend or lover but she will not change her core values even if you romance her.

 

In every BioWare game up until DAI, practically every companion would change to a certain extent to suit the views of the player. Morrigan could be softened, Alistair and Leliana could be hardened, Garrus could become more lawful or roguish, Tali could be made to accept the Geth, everyone in DA2 could be swayed to Hawke's views and even Miranda and Jack could become their complete antithesis to name a few.

 

They made a bold move by introducing characters whose views could not be changed over the course of the game and at least Sera, for all the base breaking, admits her own selfishness without shame.

 

Her backstory explains her behaviour, she was raised by an arrogant human noblewoman who tricked her into believing others hated her for being an elf so she hated and hurt innocent people all because that old lady couldn't admit she didn't know how to cook.

 

To make matters worse, being raised by a human made other elfs consider her an outcast, a traitor and an aberration just because she didn't follow their customs and traditions.

 

Sera was less than 10 years old, her childhood was a friendless nightmare in which she perceived herself hated by both humans and elves just because of who she was.

 

When she found out her foster-mother lied to her about humans hating her and she fled to the Friends of Red Jenny, she discovered for the first time that there were people who didn't care who she was and judged her only for what she could do.

 

She went from a friendless child who felt hated by everyone to someone with an adoptive family that treated her as an equal and at that point she decided she would live her life for what she believed in and all who disagreed could shove it. Sera simply would not allow herself to fell wrong or out of place again and grew scornful and dismissive of anyone who tried to convince her she was the "problem".

 

Imagine yourself growing up alone and feeling hated by everyone, feeling like everyone sees you as a problem and wondering if they are right and something is wrong with you that you have no control of.

 

Then one day you find out that the only person who seemingly cared for you actually lied your whole life to make herself look better and that lie made you feel like you were worse than **** before everyone else.

 

Imagine how a 10 year old kid would feel knowing she has been led to believe she was hated and alone just because a woman couldn't admit she was unable to make cookies.

 

You run away from that life without a roof to sleep under or food for the next day then you bump into a bunch of rag-tag misfits who instantly accept you and tell you that there was never anything wrong with you. Those people show you kindness, teach you how to live off the streets and earn a life by giving anonymous revenge to those who treat the poor and defenseless like crap. Would you grow self-confident, see yourself as rightful and tell other to shove it or would you accept the views of those who ostracized you your whole life?

 

Of course at some point Sera would completely shut down to outside views, it's a defence mechanism not to fall into a bout of depression and self-doubt because she doesn't fit with any role models society expects of her.

 

To top it all off she was an orphan child who went through the Siege of Denerim were a big ****** magic dragon torched the entire city while the darkspawn army was hunting down all women in sight to drag them down the Deep Roads and turn them into brood mothers.

 

By DAI Sera is just in her early 20's, she has the maturity you would expect from a teenage criminal whose life made her feel like everyone who don't agree with her is just some snoty bigot that wan't her to feel bad for not conforming to social norms.

 

Of course some of her views are wrong, she fear what she doesn't understand and her biggest flaw is to extend her self-assured attitude to things she formed preconceptions of like magic which makes her come across as hypocritical.

 

You cannot change her views and you cannot force yourself to accept her views, however, you can accept that she has different views than you and respect that she is willing to fight for your cause because she believes it's the right thing to do.

 

As for the whole steal from nobles for yourself rather than the poor, remember that Red Jenny is not Robin Hood, what they deliver is vengeance against nobles singled out by their servants as really nasty people and in turn make a profit for the smiles they put in the face of those who wanted the untouchable humiliated or killed for their crimes.

[KaiserShep]

"They're nobles, so they deserve it."

 

Well, technically the reasoning is not so much "they're nobles", but rather "they're nobles that use their rank to rain abuse with impunity". Look at that Orlesian mage in Val Royeaux and Harmond (though I typically let him live). Being just noble isn't really sufficient to be a target, since being a target requires getting the ire of disgruntled servants who are fed up.

 

No one would weep for Vaughn Kendells if Sera or some other Jenny got him between the eyes with an arrow, and he'd deserve it. 

[Xerrai]

I found her annoying and immature. She's written that way, so that's fine I guess,  but I simply do not respect nor value those things in a person. And at the risk of being a bore, fart jokes have stopped amusing me some time ago.

 

Being so dead-set in her worldview is another thing. While I can appreciate a character that doesn't give ground on their beliefs, especially coming from Bioware, Sera seemed to be very judgemental of anything and everything that was beyond the scope of what she knew and understood. Solas is very on point when he confronts her about that, I feel.

 

She does have a few good lines, however. My favorite is her string of profanities when you take her to  the Fade.

This reminds me of the one thing I really really dislike about Sera. Like I can tolerate her any other time, and joke and laugh with her often enough, but then I remember the thing she does when she romances an elven Inquisitor. She straight up demands that they claim it (things learned at the Temple of Mythal) is all a lie.

 

Sera: Plus, a big old temple full of demon worshipping lies. Grand, that.

-skip a bit-

Sera: There can't be bunch of gods and the maker. Don't matter how much or little you believe, those don't fit....Mythal is a ruin filled with demons.

-skip a bit-

Inquisitor: You'd really end our relationship over what I think of some ruins?

Sera: Maybe I don't believe much or understand it. But some people think too much and can bend anything and fit anything. Some things just don't fit. Yes, you can explain it, and no, I won't get it. But I don't care. Some things don't fit. So take it back. Say you'd rather look ahead, that's all.

 

No debate, no compromise. Either abandon the elvhen gods in all forms (religious, historic, cultural or otherwise) or I can't be with you. Like geez, Sera. I know you don't like elfy-elves but demanding religious/cultural abandonment? That's a bit much even for you.

 

Keep in mind this still happens even if the Inquisitor goes with a more liberal route instead of straight reverent belief ("But what if even some is true").  

[Nefla]

You can mod that, I used a mod for the female elf body shape that looked good

No I can't.

 

Plus even if I'd played on PC, I've never seen or heard of a mod that fixes the male elf broken arms and baby shoulders.

[KaiserShep]

This reminds me of the one thing I really really dislike about Sera. Like I can tolerate her any other time, and joke and laugh with her often enough, but then I remember the thing she does when she romances an elven Inquisitor. She straight up demands that they claim it (things learned at the Temple of Mythal) is all a lie.

 

Sera: Plus, a big old temple full of demon worshipping lies. Grand, that.

-skip a bit-

Sera: There can't be bunch of gods and the maker. Don't matter how much or little you believe, those don't fit....Mythal is a ruin filled with demons.

-skip a bit-

Inquisitor: You'd really end our relationship over what I think of some ruins?

Sera: Maybe I don't believe much or understand it. But some people think too much and can bend anything and fit anything. Some things just don't fit. Yes, you can explain it, and no, I won't get it. But I don't care. Some things don't fit. So take it back. Say you'd rather look ahead, that's all.

 

No debate, no compromise. Either abandon the elvhen gods in all forms (religious, historic, cultural or otherwise) or I can't be with you. Like geez, Sera. I know you don't like elfy-elves but demanding religious/cultural abandonment? That's a bit much even for you.

 

Keep in mind this still happens even if the Inquisitor goes with a more liberal route instead of straight reverent belief ("But what if even some is true").  

 

 

I had to laugh at the possible end of that exchange though. You basically just tell her to shut up and she approves and says "Charmer", totally decides to brush aside whatever she was talking about and asks to get food, which seems to be a thing with her. She attends an execution, and talks about getting food there too. 

[AlanC9]

Well... how do you reconcile Andrastianism with the elven gods?

Besides,

Spoiler

Sera's mostly right. They weren't gods.

[Giantdeathrobot]

Well... how do you reconcile Andrastianism with the elven gods?

Besides,

Spoiler

Sera's mostly right. They weren't gods.

 

Maker created the Elven gods, or they are aspects of the Maker, Boom, done and done. 

 

Yes, I am being facetious. Albeit Solas's revelations actually makes that scenario more likely.

 

Or you know, just live and let live. Sera champions that very attitude herself a few times. but now suddenly the Inquisitor believing in something else is such a grave problem that she demands another person rejects their entire belief system? Sera is Andrastian, but not a devout practitioner so that came out of left field. Methinks it's more that Sera wanted to be right and hear someone tell her she is.

[Xerrai]

Well... how do you reconcile Andrastianism with the elven gods?

Besides,

Spoiler

Sera's mostly right. They weren't gods.

The same way Ameridian did I would imagine, who believed that the two sets of gods could exist concurrently. Or how Cassandra was willing to let the Maker exist alongside the elvhen creators. Even Mother Giselle was willing to believe they were powerful historical figures (or even hypothetically/possibly, "aspects of the maker").

 

Religious and cultural values are not entirely dependent on validity, though it can certainly be important. That the elvhen gods were not truly gods does not matter--it never did. What does matter is what they left behind: values, beliefs and religions (warped as they are) that exist in the Dalish and City elven culture today.

 

The Inquisitor even had to option to say that 'some of it may be true', which can be interpreted to say that 'a lot of it can be a lie, but some truth may still be there still'. It was never about the validity of the evhen gods. It was about the denial of intrinsic cultural values (or academic, depending on how the Inquisitor views them).

[Deadly dwarf]

Well, yeah. Her backstory explains why she's the only Elf that can wear Human armors, but not Elven ones...

 

What part of her backstory explains why she has a more human-like body?  All she says is that she was from the alienage in Denerim and was adopted by a human noblewoman, Lady Emaud.  (In the codex of a report by Leliana, she cannot confirm Sera's story.) 

[Serza]

What part of her backstory explains why she has a more human-like body?  All she says is that she was from the alienage in Denerim and was adopted by a human noblewoman, Lady Emaud.  (In the codex of a report by Leliana, she cannot confirm Sera's story.) 

 

If you romance Sera, she tells you this is the truth. She actually hates Lady Emmald because of "Pride Cookies". And wants to make cookies with Inky.

 

As for that, there is no explanation for a human-like body, but there is explanation as to why she wears Human armors, but can't wear Elven ones. (Because let's face it, different body model or not, it's not like they can't adjust the armors, right. Inky and every companion likely have armors custom-tailored to them.)

 

Since Lady Emmald took her in very early (It seems like 5-ish might even be a close number) she hasn't really had much contact with Elves in the Alienage.

Then, when she ran, the Red Jenny that took her in and trained her was a HUMAN.

So, yeah. She spent more of her life having a HUMAN parental figure than an ELVEN parental figure. If she even had her parents, because we all know how Denerim's Alienage's Elves were treated in the City Elf Origin, which is roughly the time when Sera is already with Lady Emmald or the Jenny. They may simply have been, uh, disposed of by the Shemlen. Then the Blight came. She didn't really have a nice childhood, thinking about it.

[Milan92]

I thought Sera was kind of endearing during her recruit mission. 

 

But afterwards it went down. But that's alright.

 

She was clearly written with the idea that not everyone would like her.

[Deadly dwarf]

This reminds me of the one thing I really really dislike about Sera. Like I can tolerate her any other time, and joke and laugh with her often enough, but then I remember the thing she does when she romances an elven Inquisitor. She straight up demands that they claim it (things learned at the Temple of Mythal) is all a lie.

 

Sera: Plus, a big old temple full of demon worshipping lies. Grand, that.

-skip a bit-

Sera: There can't be bunch of gods and the maker. Don't matter how much or little you believe, those don't fit....Mythal is a ruin filled with demons.

-skip a bit-

Inquisitor: You'd really end our relationship over what I think of some ruins?

Sera: Maybe I don't believe much or understand it. But some people think too much and can bend anything and fit anything. Some things just don't fit. Yes, you can explain it, and no, I won't get it. But I don't care. Some things don't fit. So take it back. Say you'd rather look ahead, that's all.

 

No debate, no compromise. Either abandon the elvhen gods in all forms (religious, historic, cultural or otherwise) or I can't be with you. Like geez, Sera. I know you don't like elfy-elves but demanding religious/cultural abandonment? That's a bit much even for you.

 

Keep in mind this still happens even if the Inquisitor goes with a more liberal route instead of straight reverent belief ("But what if even some is true").  

 

I once made the mistake of romancing Sera as an elf mage and, of course, the relationship ends as a result of that conversation.  In my mind, this shouldn't have been a deal breaker; sometimes you have to "agree to disagree."  In any case, with the relationship ended, the game ended on a sour note for my elf mage as she returned to her luxurious quarters all by herself!  (You would've thought they would've brought up some "special guests" from The Pearl for the end of Cory celebrations!)

 

As for that, there is no explanation for a human-like body, but there is explanation as to why she wears Human armors, but can't wear Elven ones. (Because let's face it, different body model or not, it's not like they can't adjust the armors, right. Inky and every companion likely have armors custom-tailored to them.)

 

But that's the thing, why does Sera have such a human-like body while all other elves have that small-boned waifish build?  It's not just the Dalish that city elves are also extraordinarily thin.   So why is Sera different? 

 

I'm familiar with the Lady Emmald story.  Note that after Sera tells you about her and her childhood, the codex for Sera is updated and in it, Leliana mentions that her agents cannot find any proof that Lady Emmald ever existed.  For those who've played "Trespasser," (I haven't yet) do we learn more about who Sera really is? 

 

All things considered, she is one of my favorite companions.   I find her Cockney accent hilarious.  Her party banter is generally fun, except for when Blackwall is in the group.  Together, they're really obnoxious.  More importantly, with her specialization, she works reasonably well on auto-pilot.  Cole, by contrast, dies in every fight unless I'm carefully controlling him.

[jlb524]

I once made the mistake of romancing Sera as an elf mage and, of course, the relationship ends as a result of that conversation. In my mind, this shouldn't have been a deal breaker; sometimes you have to "agree to disagree."

I think it's fine that this is a deal breaker for Sera. She has every right to end a relationship she's uncomfortable with for whatever reason (even if you disagree with it and think she's being unfair).

What I don't like about that scene was the Inquisitor's dialog options. Your choice is to either totally agree with her or coldly tell her to **** off.