BioWare art director Matt Rhodes has shared 21 character concepts that never made it into Dragon Age: Inquisition on X: “The Everything App.” The rejected character pitches were originally intended to be playable in Inquisition’s aggressively monetized yet surprisingly great co-op multiplayer mode.
The released mode had plenty of out-there, zesty concepts for the characters you could play (the Silent Sister and Saarebas spring to mind), but these rejected concepts bring a sense of zany fun that I can get behind. I’m a big fan of “The Pirate Queen,” a swashbuckling Qunari rogue who looks like DA2 companion Isabela but with horns. The Rivaini Guard, meanwhile, brings a bit more pizazz to the classic sword and board warrior concept.
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Others are truly out there, or otherwise offer exciting tidbits of Dragon Age lore. I love the description of the “Cube Golem,” a construct that looks more at home in Destiny than Dragon Age: “Some rocks can be really weird.” The “Automaton,” on the other hand, is an Orlesian “metal soldier who knows how to cry,” while the cheeky little candle to help the dwarven “Excavator” see in his dark tunnels really makes my heart sing.
The biggest surprise is “The Hermit:” Yep, that’s just Anders from Dragon Age 2 and Origins’ Awakening expansion. “There are many reasons for mages to hide in the wilderness,” his description reads. “From Templar persecution, to the crippling guilt of starting a war that threatens to burn the world to ashes.”
BioWare (or maybe just Matt Rhodes) were clearly turning over a number of options for an Anders appearance in Inquisition that never came to be. Shortly after Inquisition’s release ten years ago, Rhodes shared a similar concept of a mad hermit Anders getting discovered out in the desert. “Some guy in a cave,” Rhodes wrote of the controversial companion.
Even if we never got to see these guys in-game, I appreciate getting the chance to see the concepts now. Rhodes also recently shared a look at some of the earliest concepts for this year’s Dragon Age, The Veilguard.