Fun Fact: Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 3 Both Have Characters Named Anders

Highlights

• Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 3 are popular fantasy RPGs with big worlds and interesting characters, such as Morrigan and Lelianna from Dragon Age, and Astarion and Gale from Baldur's Gate 3.
• Both games have a character named Anders, who share a desire for justice. However, they have opposite morals, with one being more of a villain.
• In Dragon Age, Anders is a circle mage who adores cats and eventually merges with the Spirit of Justice. In Baldur's Gate 3, Anders is a fallen Paladin of Tyr who serves the Arch-devil Zariel in exchange for power.

Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate 3 are both popular revolutionary fantasy RPGs. Both games boast a big world full of lore, magic, and fascinating characters. Dragon Age is set on the continent of Thedas, and Baldur’s Gate 3 is set on the continent of Faerun. These magical places are home to some unique and very interesting characters, such as Morrigan and Lelianna from Dragon Age, and Astarion and Gale from Baldur’s Gate 3.

There is one detail that Baldur’s Gate 3 has in common with the Dragon Age franchise that players may not know or can easily miss. One of the many things that these games have in common is that they both have a character named Anders, and these two characters both have something in common as well. They both share a desire for justice. However, they have opposite morals, with one Anders being more of a villain than the other.

Anders in Dragon Age

Who is Dragon Age's Anders?

Anders is a circle mage who first appears in the expansion for Dragon Age: Origins called Awakening. The player meets him after he has been arrested for escaping the Circle of Magi. Luckily for him, the player can recruit him if the Templars can be convinced to let him become a Grey Warden. Anders adores cats, and if the player can find the tabby kitten living in Vigil’s Keep, then they can gift the kitten to him. Players won’t see the kitten, but with Anders in the party, the kitten will occasionally join in on conversations that Anders has with the other companions. Then, during the story of Awakening, players will be able to recruit the Spirit of Justice who is inhabiting the dead body of a Grey Warden.

Anders and the Spirit of Justice

In Dragon Age 2, the protagonist Hawke encounters Anders in his clinic in Dark Town within the walled city of Kirkwall. Regardless of player choice in Awakening, he will become a Grey Warden and meet the Spirit of Justice. After the events of Awakening, Anders and Justice merged while on a mission with a warden named Rolan. This Grey Warden witnessed the merge and reported it to the Templars, stating that they cannot allow abominations to live. Due to this, he decided to flee the Grey Wardens. In the events of Dragon Age 2, Anders is finding it more difficult to control Justice the more the Templars persecute the Mages. His anger inevitably causes Justice to become a Spirit of Vengeance. At the culmination of Dragon Age 2, Anders blows up the Chantry in Kirkwall, leading to the events of Inquisition.

Anders in Baldur’s Gate 3

Who is BG3's Anders?

Anders is a High Half Elf Paladin of Tyr who players meet in Act 1 in the Toll House. It is revealed by the companion Karlach that he and his friends have been hunting her. When players meet him, he will pretend to be an innocent man who Karlach is trying to kill, but he quickly reveals that he lied, and that he has been sent to hunt Karlach by the Arch-devil Zariel.

The Fallen Paladin of Tyr

If players meet him without Karlach, they will discover that he is a fallen Paladin of Tyr. He chose to forsake his oath to Tyr when he realized how blind Tyr’s justice was after his children were killed by goblins while he was fighting in a battle elsewhere. He says there is no justice in fighting other people's battles if he loses those he loves. When he broke his oath, he chose to serve a new master, the Arch-devil Zariel. He says that she gives him power, the power to protect those he loves, but that he needs to pay a price. That price is a soul, either his own or a creature bound to Zariel. This is why he hunts Karlach: so that he can have power without selling his soul. Anders from Baldur’s Gate 3 shares his desire for justice with Anders from Dragon Age. They also both have an entity or item named justice; Dragon Age's Anders has the Spirit of Justice, whereas Baldur's Gate 3's Anders has the Sword of Justice.