The best villains in Dragon Age

What's a good heroic video game story without a good villain? To be honest, it's usually either a boring rant or an incredibly cozy game. Fortunately, there is no shortage of quality villains in the Dragon Age games. Or maybe it's unlucky if you have high blood pressure.

While not all of them may hit your emotional spleen as hard as you'd like, villains from every Dragon Age game have managed to leave an impression on players. So which ones are the best of the worst?

9

Randon Howe

How can someone be so evil?

In the case of Rendon Howe, his effectiveness as a villain depends in part on what background you choose for your protagonist in Dragon Age: Origins. When you're playing a nobleman, it becomes a lot more personal.

Howe is an old friend of the nobleman's father, Bryce Cousland. But he betrays Bryce and the rest of your family by sending his troops to kill everyone in your house. His lust for power isn't exactly complicated, and he's worth scorning regardless of your background, but finally taking him down later in the game is much more satisfying with this backstory.

8

Calpernia

Some go to great lengths for their people

Dragon Age: Inquisition gives you a choice between wizards or templars in their ongoing war, and given the underdog nature of wizards, it's hard not to root for them. But if you side with the Templars, you'll meet Calpernia, a sorceress from Tevinter who works with Corypheus to free her homeland from corruption.

Of course, you won't find this out until you've completed many quests fighting her extremist Venatori agents. She's a fierce fighter and seems like a cartoonish villain at times, but watching her anger transfer to Coryphaeus when you prove that he's planning to betray her is a sight to behold. She may not be the most stable of people, but her motives are relatable and her energy a little intimidating.

7

Branka

Blacksmiths are probably no longer invited to meetings

A misguided desire to help one's people is always a fascinating villain motive. Sometimes, as in the case of Branka in Dragon Age: Origins, this drive becomes so twisted that its initially benign core becomes almost unrecognizable. She is so focused on the ultimate goal that she commits atrocities without a second thought just to achieve it.

Branca is on a mission to find the Anvil of the Void, a mythical device that will allow her to create an unstoppable army of stone and metal golems for her fellow dwarves. Unfortunately, dwarves must be sacrificed to create golems. But she doesn't care, and she'll happily take it to achieve her endgame, unless you can stop her.

6

Orishok

When life gives you lemons, conquer the city

Sometimes a good villain starts out looking good, and Dragon Age 2's Qunari leader Orishok did just that before anyone even knew what the game was about, thanks to a surprisingly cool teaser trailer. But he also has the cunning brain and motivation to back up that polished perfection.

When the Qunari enter Kirkwall, Orishok decides to use this opportunity to try to force the people of the city to submit to the rule of his people. Despite​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​a ultimately fails, his time in the game extremely memorable, his commanding presence and some genuinely well-done moments.

5

Architect

Aim to be better, but perhaps with less blood

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening supplemented its ambitious use of punctuation with a villain who may not actually be a villain. The Architect may be one of the original Magisters, whose arrogance led them to become the first spawn of darkness, but he is not one of the mindless creatures they eventually became.

The Architect found a way to gain free will for his fellow darkspawn by ingesting the blood of the Gray Warden. Of course, one of his previous attempts made Mother, a human brood mother, make things even worse, and knowing that's possible can ruin you. So is the architect really trying to do good? It's up to you. Dragon Age loves its gray areas.

4

Corypheus

Not even death can make a rich guy shut up

Like the Architect, Corypheus is another ancient corrupt magister. Unlike the Architect, he decided to make it everyone's problem. First appearing in the Dragon Age 2 Legacy DLC, he returned as the surprise main villain of Dragon Age: Inquisition, staying true to that drama.

Corypheus' goal is to return to Black City, the place in the Fade that he and his fellow mages reached before being banished and transformed into the first rebirth of darkness. Unfortunately, it will take a lot of violence to get there. He's a pretty basic villain and you stomp on him at pretty much every turn, but he has that perfect bad guy vibe that makes you enjoy his victory.

3

Knight Commander Meredith Stannard

Fear leads to anger

The force corrupts, but so does red lyrium, and when you combine the two, you get Knight Commander Meredith. As the leader of the Templars in Kirkwall, she is theoretically tasked with protecting the people and making sure wizards don't let their powers get out of hand. Somewhere along the way, this mission got a little twisted.

She starts Dragon Age 2 as too bellicose from her wizarding perspective. But when she gets her hands on the red lyre idol, its influence further twists her ambitions to the point where she is satisfied only with destroying all the wizards in the city. At first glance, Meredith may seem intelligent, but she is one of the most dangerous tools of evil.

2

Solas

Crack that egg

Where were you when you found out that Solas, that meek, tea-hating mage you dragged as a group for 100 hours in Dragon Age: Inquisition, was the ancient elven god Fen'Harel, the Dire Wolf? Statistically, you've probably been on a sofa or chair somewhere, but what a shock, right?

Solas' status as a major villain is more than a surprise; he is a tragic figure. He seeks to remove the Veil that separates the waking world from the Fade (and which he put there, long story), which will bring back his lost world of the ancient elves, but effectively destroy everything as it is. He's still searching for that goal in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but an accident throws that plan into catastrophic disarray.

1

Loghain Mac Tir

Cool motif, still a kill

For many, it's really hard to see Loghain, the antagonist of Dragon Age: Origins, as anything other than a power-hungry villain. Honestly, it's hard to blame anyone for refusing to look any further. In the end, he betrayed the king and left him and the Gray Warden army to be killed.

But this guy genuinely believed he was doing what was right for his country of Ferelden. He believed that he was the only one who could save his people from destruction, despite ​​​​​​​​his vile methods. If you let him survive and bring him back to the Gray Wardens, his appearance in Dragon Age: Inquisition would be a fitting redemption arc and a great reason to keep Hawke alive so they can get back to their best Varrick.