"Well, you haven't met me." - Hawke

Dragon Age 2 Companion Rankings

Ranked by "how much I personally like them", not necessarily anything else. From Most Fave to Least!

This was particularly hard because I actually REALLY LIKE every single character on this list, yes, even poor Anders, so it's not like DA:O where there are characters totally rocketing to the top of the list (Morrigan, Alistair) and some characters I wish we'd never hear from again (I'm looking at your judgemental ass, Wynne). Sorry for the lack of Carver but I haven't played a mage run yet! I'm just super addicted to being a dual wield rogue. I think I need help.

• #1 VARRIC

MY MAN. MY GUY. MY MAIN DUDE. Varric Tethras is a literary treasure (canonically and also, to me, IRL) and I will hear none less. His quotation about history being the best stories, might as well be his, will live in my heart and brain forever. i actually might get it fucking embroidered on a pillow. This space reserved for massive, massive amounts of Varric positivity after I beat DA: Inquisition again. :V

• #2 MERRILL

Okay this was a CLOSE ONE with Fenris but Merrill ultimately wins out because she's an actual amazing occultist who reflects a lot of my views on life/magic/occultism/history/blood-magic-just-kidding-seriously-just-kidding-on-that-last-one (if you know me IRL you know I don't fuck with demons ASIDE from fictionally, haha). Anyway Merrill's enthusiasm and dedication to restoring the Eluvian and taking on those burdens herself, and her ULTRA TRAGIC main quest, really fucking hits. It's so fucking upsetting that people can't trust you even if you're making a big ugly sacrifice for yourself OR for them, and I REALLY felt for Merrill. Also she's super fun and cute and bubbly and I will protect her with my life :V

• #3 FENRIS

Sign me the FUCK UP for the Fenris Fan Club, jfc. My soft spot for Fenris maaaaybe comes entiiiiirely from the fact that I also have full on diagnosed c-ptsd and so does my sweet guy here. Although, y'know, interacting with it in a high-fantasy allegorical way re: Tevinter slavers and being super apprehensive of magic and losing your memories during a flashing moment of horrendous lyrium based abusive pain is a looooot easier for me to deal with than the actual specifics of, uh, whatever. So maybe Fenris's slot here is entirely personal, but I really did enjoy spending time with him. I don't have any other reason other than, like, bad kids stick together. and this dude goes all the way right next to Alistair on my "Dragon Age True Loves" list. <3

• #4 ANDERS

HOLD ON LET ME FUCKING EXPLAIN lol. Anders is a FUCKING GREAT character, and reeeeally makes the narrative pop. And. Oh man. The emotional rollercoaster of watching someone you trust absolutely fucking betray you because of extremeism and being pushed to the brink by a cruel world is uuuugh. Chef's. Kiss. Oh my god. I was fully emotionally freight trained after the Chantry scene dudes. And! AND. Anders has one of my favorite backstories, with the little detail of Karl being his first and all, it fucking just melted my little gay heart to the core. Absolutely smitten. I know some people have said Justice sapped all the jokes out of Anders from DA: Awakening but it kinda just made his melding/slow fall/)))): even sadder. Man. Anders 4 lyfe dudes

• #5 ISABELA

Okay this is weird because I'm here at the middle of the list and I expected Isabela to be higher! Goes to show I absolutely adore this cast b/c Isabela ranks above a TON of companions in Origins and Inquisiton for me. (Isabela ranks over, just to name a few: Wynne (see: Wynne Is A Huge Bitch, etc etc), Oghren (who I actually like but Isabela does rank above. Wouldn't it be fucking nuts for Isabela and Oghren to meet? He'd just hit on her all day and she'd be all "not in a million years" but in a hilariously flirty way. Hey. Worst pairing? Or weirdly working??? You can all slap me now.), Sten (who is. actually. also. one of my favorite? characters?? shall I just make an overall ranking?), DA:I Leliana (but not DA:O Leliana! The Leliana arc(s) is/are GREAT. dang.), Vivienne (not a bad character at all, but Isabela is my drinking buddy and Vivienne would absolutely try to break me and Fenris up, lmao.).

Where was I? Isabela?? She fuckin rules. I love an unabashed badass and it's honestly refreshing to see a sex positive female character in a game with agency and like. a relateable personality. (Her whole Boomhauer style speech about getting guys to sleep with you is a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks - I've heard 'get away from me you pirate wench' more times than i can count" is SO GOOD DUDE. I actually really love Isabela, and I like how they built on her from Origins (her... tiny appearance in Origins, lol), and I reallllllly wanna see more of her eventually. Maybe in DA:DW? Who knows???

• #6 BETHANY

Bethany is suuuuper sweet and nice and perfect! I have kind of a soft spot for family characters for Actually Don't Suck and Bethany is just so nice. Her banter with Isabela, Aveline, Varric, and Merrill is so sweet, I (Hawke??) would absolutely lay down his life for her. Having Bethany survive my first playthrough was super special too, it was nice having someone still be by my side after, you know, DA2 murders your entire rest of your family except Gamlen. Definitely made the "Fenris is going to die, just like everyone else you've ever loved" sting a little harder in Inquisition, during the Fade quest where the Nightmare is taunting you, knowing you could lose Bethany in some playthroughs.

• #7 AVELINE

My favorite things about Aveline: Her and Donnic (SO CUTE. OH MY GOD. HELL YEAH.), the tragedy of her origin story with Ser Wesley (even if Wesley DID intimidate my sister overtly), her speech about turning the page/"my choice" when it comes to processing grief... Aveline's fucking great. Sometimes Hawke needs a stabilizing force of good in his life, and I was pleased to see that even when Hawke warned her about the dangers of, as Sera would say (was it Sera?? Was it Cole? It's been a while) "Too many men in armor thinking the same thing", she would listen - even if she disagreed. But, y'know, at the end, Hawke had pretty much gotten her to see that ACAB and all that, so it's all good. Although she probably wouldn't like Hawke's idea of anarchy or anything.

• #8 SEBASTIAN

What can I say? We're NOTHING alike, but maybe that's why I enjoy hearing this dude's opinions on the Chantry. It's nice to hear him bring theology into the equation a lot of the time, and watching the dismantling of "what the Chant says"/"what the Maker wants" vs "what the chantry is ACTUALLY doing" is a nice separation that I legit thought Seb wouldn't bring. (It's just so easy to write a religious zealot? But he's got actual depth. And reasons!).

Aveline's antagonizing of him re: Starkhaven Prince Privilege is refreshing, too. Ultimately the way Seb brushes up against other characters in often unexpected ways (Fenris??? The super weirdly-wholesome pleasant Fenris-finds-peace-in-the-Maker banter??? But also the extremely fucking pissing-me-off kind-of-blaming-Fenris kind-of-suggesting-the-Maker-helped-him-escape-slavery made me want to push him off a cliff, lol. Let Fenris develop agency jfc choir boy). AAAAALSO. Exalted March on Kirkwall, my dude? Get some empathy brah. I will keep you from even so much as slapping Anders with a shoe. insert meme of Sebastian saying "I will bring a March so Exalted" on Sue Sylvester's head here.