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Bioware unveils Dragon Age Inquisition’s “first fully gay” character

• Egon Kilin
• July 1st, 2014

Bioware RPGs are well known for featuring characters of all sexual orientations and Dragon Age Inquisition is no different. A few days ago the company revealed Dorian, a Tevinter mage that was said to be the “first fully gay” male character of the series. While this new character seems like a great addition to the companion lineup, the company’s statement managed to raise more than a few eyebrows. Bioware’s David Gaider did clarify his statement afterwards by saying that he used “fully gay” in order to differentiate Dorian from the bisexual characters that appeared in previous Dragon Age games.  “I meant “legitimately”, sorry. I was trying to be clear–many people consider the bi characters we’ve done to be “gay”, he responded when asked about the meaning of “fully gay.”

https://twitter.com/davidgaider/status/482638104130375681

Unfortunately for Gaider “legitimately” doesn’t sound much better either and he was called out for using it by the very same user on Twitter. “‘legitimately’ is just as bad phrasing? what’s wrong w/ just ‘this is the first gay companion i’ve written’?,” the user asked. Gaider explained “Many would say, “No, it’s not.” But fair enough–I did not intend to comment on bisexuality, and will leave it at that.” As most of you are aware, this is a pretty sensitive matter for many people so I guess Bioware should choose their words more carefully in the future. On the other hand, the company is well known for not discriminating anyone, which leads us to believe that this was just a minor mistake and he didn’t mean to upset anyone.

But let’s talk a bit about Dorian himself, shall we? Dragon Age Inquisition’s latest addition is described as being smart, sarcastic, and an exceptionally skilled mage. “He enjoys using his magic and doesn’t see any reason why he should be ashamed about it. So he unleashes his full power when it’s needed… and he has plenty of power to unleash, seeing as he comes from a society where mages are trained to use it rather than hide it. This includes powerful elemental spells, as well as spells involving the control of spirit and the dead—things societies outside of Tevinter might turn up their noses at and claim “distasteful.”

Dorian comes from one of Tevinter’s wealthy and influential families, and was raised to be the perfect mage. However, he rejected that life and chose to become an “outcast” and not live according to society’s expectations. Given that Dorian is “fully gay”, he will be available as a love interest only for male Inquisitiors. Dragon Age Inquisition launches on October 7 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, and the PC. Stay tuned for more news and updates.