Favourite Companions

[Sylvanpyxie]

Gannayev from Mask of the Betrayer - I liked how he hid his emotions and personal problems behind a curtain of arrogance and wit, I liked Atton from The Sith Lords for much the same reason. He was also fairly unique, both in terms of his powers and in terms of his race, and I found it quite fascinating. I appreciated his sense of humour, the banter he would engage me in and I enjoyed his character thoroughly - His intelligence, his arrogance, his wit and all the flaws that went with him. His dislike for his unknown parents and, to be perfectly honest, tottering around the Sunken City with his mother wailing like a banshee then discovering how deeply she had been tormented by her kin.. It was one of the more memorable experiences of my gaming life.

 

 

Bishop from Neverwinter Nights 2 - I liked him, yet I didn't like him. I like that he constantly questioned my actions, I liked his logical approach to weakness and strength and I liked how it all made a twisted kind of sense. I went into Neverwinter Nights 2 with a character that was totally set in her beliefs and yet, by the time I had reached the end of the game, all of her experiences and all of Bishop's personal input began to make her, and me, doubt a few things. I love that a character can make me doubt my choices, I love that a character, no matter how spiteful or evil they may appear, can cause me to stop and truly assess what I'm doing and yet... That's exactly what I hate about him. I hate that he caused so much hesitation, so much contemplation and so much blooming doubt.

 

 

Kreia from The Sith Lords - For much the same reasons as Bishop. I didn't trust Kreia, not even a little tiny bit. I didn't trust her intentions or her blatantly hidden agenda, I didn't trust a single thing that she said to me and yet... The woman made sense. Bishop challenged everything I believed in and it was a very aggressive challenge that completely lacked in finesse, but my experience with Kreia was so different. Our philosophies matched up, we saw things with the same eyes and, while we disagreed on some things, more often than not we were in agreement. That made it so much harder for me, since we agreed on so many topics, I found it difficult to challenge the views that I disagreed with. Unlike Bishop, Kreia had a foothold and that made the doubt so much harder for me to handle. She was a brilliant character and our similarities were disturbing.

 

 

I don't know if she'd actually count, but Shandra Jerro from Neverwinter Nights 2 was a big one for me as well - I didn't like having to lumber some no-named Farm-girl everywhere with me, I found it really irritating that I couldn't just dump her somewhere, but I needed her so I played nice and pretended to care in order to further my own agenda. It's something I do quite a lot - play nice with characters I'm not particularly interested in simply to achieve an ultimate goal - so I didn't think too much about it. I just wasn't all that interested in Shandra's existence and when her death came along I was completely unmoved.

 

That is.. Until I stopped to think about it. To me, Shandra was the kind of character you rarely look twice at, but when I began to look at her more closely, at our conversations and the time we spent together, I started to feel utterly terrible for using her the way I did. Looking back, I realized things about Shandra's character that I had never noticed. She was brave, refusing to sit on the side lines while some pretty heavy bad-guy stuff was going down. She was caring, being one of the few companions that seemed to show genuine concern over my well-being, despite the fact my existence practically ruined her life. I realized that Shandra truly cared about my character and she ultimately sacrificed herself to prove it.

 

Despite how easily I had overlooked her, Shandra became one of my all time favourite characters, she had the courage to stand up and fight for what she cared about when most other people would run away screaming. In the end, she truly had an impact on me.

 

 

Valen Shadowbreath from Hordes of the Underdark would probably have to be the last one - My first experience with Valen was questionable, my perception of his character was skewed when I first encountered him. He was rude, showed no faith and regularly questioned my intentions. He assumed I had some hidden agenda, that I didn't care about the people that I was trying save and that really pissed me off. If I had the option, I probably would have left him behind, but I needed a Fighter and he ended up tagging along.

 

I couldn't have imagined that Valen would completely change my opinions of him, but in the end he did. It wasn't that I began to warm up to his character, it was more the fact that his character warmed up to me. Valen constantly questioned my motives and prodded me for some kind of sign of impending betrayal, it was really irritating, but eventually he stopped and began to trust me. He started to appreciate my help and admit that he wouldn't have been able to do half the stuff we had achieved together. He let his barriers down and showed me less of the hard, icy General of the Rebel Armies and more of the squishy, humourous and kind-hearted Valen that was underneath.

 

It felt like a very natural progression of a Player/NPC relationship, evolving from stand-offish professionalism into a begruding respect and eventually ended up being a great friendship. He was a brilliant character and the progression of the interactions was handled perfectly.

 

 

I also want to give honourable mentions to the Kobold Bard Deekin Scalesinger from Shadows of the Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark - His innocent and idealistic view of the world is adorable and makes him appear almost naive, but Deekin holds hidden wisdom and understanding of the prejudices that he and his kind will always have to endure, no matter how much they might try to change. Despite all the things that could put him down, Deekin always gets back up and keeps fighting not only for his own place in the world but also a place for all his kobold kin.

 

 

Sorry for killing you with so many words but there you go - My personal favourite characters and why I like them (or loathe them.. Grr, Bishop!) so much.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Sylvanpyxie

[rjshae]

 

I don't know if she'd actually count, but Shandra Jerro from Neverwinter Nights 2 was a big one for me as well - I didn't like having to lumber some no-named Farm-girl everywhere with me, I found it really irritating that I couldn't just dump her somewhere, but I needed her so I played nice and pretended to care in order to further my own agenda. It's something I do quite a lot - play nice with characters I'm not particularly interested in simply to achieve an ultimate goal - so I didn't think too much about it. I just wasn't all that interested in Shandra's existence and when her death came along I was completely unmoved.

 

That is.. Until I stopped to think about it. To me, Shandra was the kind of character you rarely look twice at, but when I began to look at her more closely, at our conversations and the time we spent together, I started to feel utterly terrible for using her the way I did. Looking back, I realized things about Shandra's character that I had never noticed. She was brave, refusing to sit on the side lines while some pretty heavy bad-guy stuff was going down. She was caring, being one of the few companions that seemed to show genuine concern over my well-being, despite the fact my existence practically ruined her life. I realized that Shandra truly cared about my character and she ultimately sacrificed herself to prove it.

 

Despite how easily I had overlooked her, Shandra became one of my all time favourite characters, she had the courage to stand up and fight for what she cared about when most other people would run away screaming. In the end, she truly had an impact on me.

 

Well everybody has different experiences; Shandra was the one character in the NWN2 OC that I actually grew to like almost right away. Perhaps it was because she's an unpretentious farmer-turned-warrior character, and a genuinely decent person. Her fate was... moving... and something of a let down.

Edited January 22, 2013 by rjshae

[morrow1nd]

The Ugly, from the movie

Shandra, Amon Jerro- NWN2

Mazzy, Sarevok, Edwin- BG2

Mandalore and the Old guy from KOTOR1

No one- KOTOR2

No one- NWN 1

 

Edited January 22, 2013 by morrow1nd

[Leferd]

I'll play.

 

Kreia

Morte

Morrigan

Jolee Bindo

Atton Rand

 

Think of all the webs of lies being spun with that group.

[Lephys]

If ANYONE was on my team, it'd hafta be Jenkins, from Mass Effect.

 

He knows when to take one for the team, and when 3 of the weakest sentries in the entire game show up, I want to KNOW I've got someone on my team who'll arbitrarily walk face-first into their fire, for absolutely no reason.

 

[FixedR6]

Have to mention:

Leliana from Dragon Age

Garrus and Liara from Mass Effect

HK-47 from Knights of the Old Republic

Minsc (and Boo) from Baldur's Gate

[JFSOCC]

How could I forget HK-47? I am a dumb meatbag

[Caligula Dances]

Aerie , a lovable elf mage with a great personality

 

On a similar note also, Merrill from Dragon Age 2 for similar reasons.

 

Virgil from Arcanum, a great helper character who had his own demons.

 

Minsc from Baldurs Gate, a great warrior with a nutty personality that provided the odd laugh.

 

And finally Gar from Arcanum, I was going to kill him for being an Orc even an intelligent one,  but without spoiling anything, he turns out far more interesting.

[Chilloutman]

Dak'kon - Really deep character with a lot of secrets to discover

Morte - Best Joker in all games period with also great background (someone even think he is headof Vecna)

Garrus - great bro

Viconia - bad **** i can get to good side

Deekin - most talented bard ever

 

As I liked BG games dialogs between characters were not in BG1 and only good banters in BG2 were with Viconia (adn maybe Minsc). Hope they will improve it in P:E

[Rostere]

HK- 47 from KotOR 1 and 2

Jan Jansen (eventually replaced with Grobnar Gnomehands from NWN 2) from Baldur's Gate 2

Edwin Odesseiron from Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

Tiax from Baldur's Gate 1

... and Stephen Heck

 

Thinking of it, NPCs are made more/ less interesting by their context in the game. It's almost meaningless to think of NPCs outside of their narrative context.

[PoisonWar]

Okay let us begin:

 

Fall-From-Grace

Wynne

Nordom

Minsc
EDIT: Yeah i just remembered that Troika characters are allowed, I'm replacing Loghain with Serena

 

But yeah, adding to the discussion of best written female protagonist, I think Kreia takes the cake.

Edited January 24, 2013 by PoisonWar

[Shadenuat]

A foxsquirell needs a strong female lead.

 

1. A Woman With The Biggest Dream I Will Follow.

- Kaelyn the Dove. Her devotion to justice is mesmerisingly absolute. Also, there is something in her manner of speech, looks and voice which makes me stare without blinking, mouth open, listening.

 

2. A Woman I Can Believe To Exist.

- Safiya, if we take away crazy Akachi devotion. She is pragmatic, intelligent, smart, loves weird unliving-living things (in real life she would have a naked Sphynx-cat as a pet) and does't care too much about her unorthodox looks (in real life she would wear old shirt, skirt and glasses, or and old fashioned dress). Also, she said I myself am little like Thayan wizard. It was... best compliment a bunch of polygons could ever give me.

 

3. Best Antagonist Deconstruction.

- Kreia.

 

4. I Will Trust Him With My Life.

- Keldorn Firecam.

 

5. I Would Enjoy Being Rivals With.

- Edwin Odesseiron.

 

A few others who are fighting for the top would be...

Best Companion Deconstruction: You see Myron, baby, Myron!

Most Dramatic Death Before Horses In Skyrim: Dogmeat.

Best Philosopher On Masonry: Loghaire Thunder Stone.

Best Character You Never Had In Your Party: Torian Kell.

Biggest Teenager Crush or "I Will Show You My Body... Still crying remembering how I wrote that!" or First Gaider Experience: Aerie the avariel.

Largest Hormones Concentration In One Person: Annah of The Shadows.

Best Grumpy Grandpa: Jolee Bindo.

 

It came as a surprise for me that I could not put a lot of great characters in the top list, like Planescape cast for example. Of course I love them, they are great, but the reason I outgrew these is probably because Torment characters rely just too much on their setting flamboyancy and unorthodox races and looks. For the most part, people remember Morte as flying skull, not as a person torn between fear and dream of redemption. I came to like more normal looking characters who I remember because of what they had to say. You can take wings from Kaelyn, blindness from Kreia, but you can't take away their ideas and ideals.

 

There is also one general pattern my favorites, mostly, seem to follow - they do not change on a player's whim. Kaelyn, Kreia, Edwin, Keldorn (and Myron!) do not abandon their beliefs, no matter how implausible they are or what player does. The reason why some cool and memorable Bioware/Obsidian/Troika characters are out (like Virgil, for example, who is very good, but is affected by player's aura alighment... same as KOTOR2 characters). Loghaire is a notable exeption. His redemption, his speech, manners, sorrow and voice acting were just too strong for me to avoid.

Myron is one who really should be put on the pedestal too, here. He is pathetic, weak, useless, unredemptionable ****. He will never cease being so, even till the last slide, he will never become good in combat... and that is what is absolutely wonderful about him. He never was made to be "likeable" and "useful" to player. Myron us just Myron. He is he. Like that.

 

OTOH, I'm very chaotic in my likes and dislikes so maybe I'll write something completely different next year.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Shadenuat

[Chilloutman]

OMG How could I forget about Myron!

[Daulmakan]

Tough one. I'm having a hard time deciding, so I'll just list all my favorites:

 

PS:T: Morte, Dak'kon, Annah, Grace, Vhailor, Nordom

BG: Jaheira, MInsc, Edwin, Imoen, Jan, Sarevok, Mazzy

KotOR: Kreia, HK47, Visas, Handmaiden, T3, Jolee 

DA:O: Dog, Shale

NWN1: Deekin

 

Honorable non-companion mention for Strauss from Vampire Bloodlines.

[Keyrock]

Neeshka

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy

Morte

Lily

Gar 

[Malevolent]

HK-47 - A snarky, perpetually insulting, sardonic companion with an immense love of killing.  Not only did HK-47 undermine you at every feasible opportunity if you didn't see eye-to-eye, but he painted the world in a delightfully poetic fashion.  Murder and destruction just seemed so much rosier with him around.  And if there's one thing I appreciate, it's someone who makes evil seem fun.  Not some intense chore to blow up the world over some childhood grievance.  Not someone that twirls their mustache and says that you'll 'rue the day you crossed me', but someone who likens love to making an impossible shot. 

 

Garrus - I am huge on bromances.  Garrus felt the closest that you had to an actual bromance of the mass effect party.  Hell, even his romance bordered on the super friendly, casual variety.  He was skilled, he was amusing, and above all else, I felt that he had my back.  He was someone that confided in me, and someone that I could confide in after a hard day's rest.  Plus, I think he'd be a great guy to play poker and have a couple of brewskies with. 

 

Atton - Han-Solo inspired, what's not to love?  Between his bouts of wit and deceptively complex nature, I feel that Atton was a well written character all around.  Morality to him wasn't some simple creature.  Morality shifted and changed and he was always at odds with the various shades-of-grey of his past, present, and the outlook of his future.  He played the fool but showed to have more intelligence than he actually did.  And the romance with him was never particularly overt.  I again feel like this is a character that people of varying alignments could be friends with. 

 

Canderous Ordo/Mandalore - I dunno what it is, but I have a thing for honorable warrior types.  Canderous was a badass, and he knew it, and he had no problems with breaking a few eggs to make an omelet.  Though he didn't delight in chaos quite as immensely as HK-47 did, he was the type of man you could bond with if you ventured on the more ruthless side.  He didn't coddle you, he didn't like excuses, and he didn't nurture weakness.  But he wasn't overtly evil, either.  He had a pride for his culture and a love of his people, and was dedicated through and through.  He was your man until the end. 

 

Jack/Project Zero - Though easily a contested and reviled character, I particularly loved Jack, and the fact that so many despised her was a good sign of writing to me.  She wasn't a traditionally pretty, curvaceous thing.  She didn't giggle and smile when Shepard walked by or do some cutesy hard to get act.  She was tough as nails and didn't take crap from anybody.  She was a strong female character with a serious aggressive streak and a lot of power to her.  She knew who she was and if you didn't like it, well it sucked to be you. 

 

Minsc - C'mon!  This guy is a walking series of one liners!  He was like the Tick made flesh, and turned even more crazy!  Evil characters are often shown with some levels of crazy to them, but Minsc?  He was a good guy, through and through, and I rather liked that he could be completely bonkers and still be righteous. 

 

I'd include Reaver from Fable 2, but alas.  XD

 

Honorable mentions:

Kreia

Mira

Isabela

Varric**  x 1000

Jolee Bindo

[FeloniusMonk]

I was going to try to do the whole 5, but I really would only want to to take these 3 for banter:

 

1. Minsc- Loves animals, generally out to do good, funniest guy in the room.

2. Morrigan- Entertainingly sardonic, wierd mommy issues leading to questionable world view, "I like you, but don't get too close--I turn into a spider" complex= The closest realistic love interest yet.

3.Carth Onasi- Knows what he is, good perspective

[LadyCrimson]

--Xan

--Atton

--Boone

 

....I loved them all to death in their actual games, but mostly, the humor value of those three in the same room would probably have me lol'ing forever.

[Shadenuat]

--Xan

Kulyok's?

[IndiraLightfoot]

PST: None (bit of a shocker,coz the game is great, but as somebody wrote, they are so extreme in that unique and weird plane. And Morte appealed more to my teeange me, than now)

NWN1: Deekin (for his genuine, nice style and kind and cute demeanour)

BG1&2: Jaheira (I usually like nice and decent NPCs, it is clearly a trend), but honourable mentions to Viconia and Tiax.

NWN2: Sand, Khelgar (He was almost comforting, like a father figure who was a bit of a hothead in bars, or a Brian Blessed-style char) and Shandra (First I disliked here, but soon I realized she reacted like a sensible person would do in a world of weird violations)

NWN2 MotB: Kaelyn the Dove (the voice and the company and her discussions), Gannayev (a very credible and deep persona) and Safiya (again, nice and thoughtful). Well, I love the rest too. And I mean, a bear-god and a mass of corrupted souls as NPCs is just classic. I really hope Obsidian live up to that standard again. 

KOTOR2: Mira.

[Umberlin]

1. Viconia

For those that need a proper guiding moral compass in the game. She's smart, witty and insightful - just flawed enough to be fun, but not annoying or overbearing. If I could have only one I'd choose Viconia every time. I don't think I could do her justice, the best thing to do is to experience the character first hand yourself.

 

2. Gann of Dreams

Properly entertaining, and sometimes insightful when he's not being a smarty pants. Useful in combat, and entertaining and helpful in dialogue. When he wants to be. Despite the obvious, I still like him quite a bit, and he'd be a boon to any party with his abilities as a spirit shaman. Probably my favorite hagspawn companion ever. Also the only hagspawn companion I've ever had along.

 

3. Mordin

Funny, entertaining, serious, possibly a little mad . . . someone who could get things done, but also someone believably fragile - not a construct that could bash through anything. The vulnerability and likability combined with the actual smarts and usefulness made him a character I'd hate to lose. The sort of character that I'd actually be sad about dying. He isn't necessarily the best combatant out there, but his great intellect would be a boon to any party. Despite the scientific bent, he also has a rather mercenary streak that I absolutely love.

 

 . . .

 

I think my party might be magic and science heavy.

 

4. Bishop

I think I'd add Bishop (NWN2 OC), with that in mind, he's a fun character with just enough snark and personality to make him likable, but enough 'put off' to make him flawed enough to be more real. More games need a character that can and will stab you in the back, and the only thing that could improve Bishop is allowing him to do it dynamically, instead of at a fixed point. Anyways, he was a good ranger and I never found him anything but helpful in terms of battle. Sometimes he wasn't so helpful when it came to not making other characters angry, but, hey, that's just part of his charm.

 

5. Safiya

Despite being magic heavy I'd probably add in Safiya as my fifth, simply because she is a terribly underrated character - easily one of the better companion character you could ask for in general. She's just 'iffy' enough that you aren't always sure which way she'll jump. Safiya came off as a complex and interesting character that was worth spending time with, and always worth having in the party, with just enough flaw to make her 'Human' and not off putting. Hard to argue with the power of a Wizard by your side, especially one of her particular origin.

 

 . . .  I ran out of room for the rest

 

 . . .

 

I swear I'd shove Atton Rand into this party if I could. I don't have enough room damn you!

 

Not enough room for Visas Marr either.

 

Also Xzar, as if my party wasn't magic heavy enough as is.

 

Seriously, I need more room. o_0

Edited January 26, 2013 by Umberlin

[Lephys]

3. Mordin

 

Funny, entertaining, serious, possibly a little mad . . . someone who could get things done, but also someone believably fragile - not a construct that could bash through anything. The vulnerability and likability combined with the actual smarts and usefulness made him a character I'd hate to lose. The sort of character that I'd actually be sad about dying. He isn't necessarily the best combatant out there, but his great intellect would be a boon to any party. Despite the scientific bent, he also has a rather mercenary streak that I absolutely love.

 

 

Well... He IS the ver-y mod-el of a sci-en-tist Sal-ar-i-an. ^_^

[locomotron]

In no particular order:

Minsc - Loved his strange banter and odd combat exclamations

Jan - Long winded anecdotes about turnips, whats NOT to love?

Mordin - He sang gilbert and sulivan, enough to win me over, was truly heartbroken to see what happened to him in the end.

HK 47 - I'm a sucker for characters with odd mannerisms and lots of arrogance.

Keldorn - A great example of a lawful good character done right; reliable, duty-bound, and reasonable.

 

Honorable mentions:

 

Garrus

Khalid

Kreia

Wrex

[LadyCrimson]

 

--Xan

Kulyok's?

*Google*

 

Nope...just plain old vanilla BG1 Xan. Never got around to BG mods, really. I should some day....I just haven't.

[Shadenuat]

Nope...just plain old vanilla BG1 Xan.

HA GOT YOU ROMANCE WEE--

Oh wait, I did't. Damn. Better luck next time I guess.

(Good mod, actually. One of the passable onces, I suggest trying it out with NPC1 mod.)