Baldur's Gate 3's Batstarion Meme Explained

Highlights

• Baldur's Gate 3's epilogue reveals what beloved companions have been up to, allows players to hug love interests, and teases a possible sequel.
• A glitch in the game has created a new meme featuring Astarion in his bat form, affectionately dubbed "Batstarion."
• While Astarion's bat form is not available for combat, it has the potential to be a powerful ally if added to the game in future DLC or updates.

Baldur's Gate 3's newly released epilogue updated fans on what beloved companions have been doing in the six months since the events of the game, finally let players hug their love interests, and even hinted at a possible sequel or upcoming future project from developer Larian Studios. But one rather unexpected result of Baldur's Gate 3's epilogue was the birth of a new meme, arising from an amusing glitch regarding one fan-favorite character.

Ascended Astarion Prefers To Party As A Bat

If he remains as a vampire spawn, rogue companion Astarion will be shown enjoying the party and happily reconnecting with his old friends. This, however, is far from the case should Astarion undergo the Rite of Profane Ascension and become a vampire lord. This cold, cutting version of Astarion is bored by the party and will express his displeasure by changing into his newly acquired bat form rather than socializing.

While Astarion pouting as a vampire bat is amusing enough already, fans were drawn in further when some encountered a unique glitch regarding the Vampire Ascendant. This glitch saw Ascended Astarion remaining in his bat form when Withers gave his final toast, creating the hilarious image of a tiny bat attempting to lift an enormous wine glass over his head.

"Batstarion" Is Portrayed As Small, Drunk, And Adorable

Some fans found it funny that the powerful Vampire Ascendant dealt with social situations by quite literally escaping in bat form. Others were disappointed that the nicer, friendlier vampire spawn form of Astarion did not get a bat form of his own. This led to many fans creating fan art featuring the rogue's bat form, who was quickly dubbed "Batstarion." Common variants of the new "Batstarion" meme include:

• Designing a new, more customized bat form for Astarion, featuring white fur, red eyes, and tufted head fur inspired by the character's distinctive hairstyle.
• Portraying "Batstarion" having difficulty drinking wine out of a glass much larger than his own body.
• Redrawing images of other fictional bats, such as Bartok from Anastasia or Batty Koda from FernGully, as "Batstarion".
• Having "Batstarion" show affection towards romantic partners in bat-typical ways, such as regurgitating blood on them.
• Designing bat Wild Shape forms for the party's Druids, Jaheira and Halsin, so they can spend time with "Batstarion".
• Showing the party members, particularly Shadowheart and Lae'zel, mock Ascended Astarion for how adorable and pathetic his bat form is.

Astarion's Bat Form Could Be Useful In Combat

Like Gale's new God of Ambition form, "Batstarion" is unfortunately exclusive to the epilogue, meaning that players do not get to see what this flying form of the party's rogue would be like in battle. While Ascended Astarion does gain new combat powers, such as "Ascendant Bite" and the "Retinue of the Vampire Lord" which he can summon during the final battle against the Netherbrain, his bat form is unfortunately not one of them.

However, it is likely "Batstarion" would have similar stats to the bats summoned by his vampiric master, Cazador Szarr, during the battle against him. These Bats are Level 1 Creatures with fairly low stats except for their unusually high Armor Class of 16 and Dexterity of 18. Despite their relative weakness, they are quite annoying, as they are surprisingly hard to hit and are extremely mobile due to being able to fly.

Astarion as a bat could be even more mobile in combat than he usually is, using his flight to quickly reach enemies and deliver powerful Sneak Attacks. Should Larian Studios add "Batstarion" to the Vampire Ascendant's power set or include him in future DLC for Baldur's Gate 3, this small and adorable creature could turn out to be a surprisingly powerful ally in battle.