text: Party members that can be recruited in '''either''' ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' or ''Baldur's Gate II'', as well as their associated tropes.Note: In the original Baldur's Gate, if you took a character's portrait as CHARNAME's during character creation they would have a new picture to represent them. The following pictures are their original portraits.'''Warning: Here there be spoilers!'''----[[foldercontrol]][[folder:Party Members in Baldur's Gate]]::'''Khalid'''--> ''I don't want to seem c-confrontational, but could you be a little less... well... evil?''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jim Meskimenhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/khalid_660.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Half-Elf-> '''Class:''' Fighter-> '''Alignment:''' NeutralGood-> '''Place of origin:''' [[{{Qurac}} Calimshan]]Jaheira's husband and fellow Harper, Khalid is a Calishite adventurer who upon Gorion's request offers to join CHARNAME on his travels at the Sword coast. Khalid is a very timid man with huge self-esteem issues, while his wife ironically is one of the most outspoken party members. Along with Jaheira, he is one of CHARNAME's canonical companions in [=BG1=]. Early in [=BG2=], after having been taken captive by Irenicus and separated from the rest of the group, Jaheira tries to track him down, only to find his corpse. Associated Tropes:* {{Adorkable}}: Well, Jaheira at the very least seems to think so.* AdventureDuo: He and Jaheira, before his demise.* ApologizesALot* BattleCouple: with Jaheira.* DarkSkinnedRedhead* DroppedABridgeOnHim* ExtremeDoormat: A downplayed version: He grew up in a large family where his biography implies that he was ignored and disregarded as a child.* TheGenericGuy: He's a fighter with nondescript stats and no special abilities.** That said, his Constitution is very high and his Intelligence 15 is unusual (if useless) for a fighter. (Strangely his INT is only 12 if recruited at level 1 without a bugfix, due to a typo in the game engine.)*** There is some evidence to suggest that Khalid was meant to be a Fighter/Mage. There are also mods that restore him to this status.* HalfHumanHybrid: Like Jaheira, a half-elf.* HappilyMarried: Despite their differences, he and Jaheira are portrayed as having quite a loving marriage.* HenpeckedHusband: "If at first I don't succeed... the wife won't let me forget."** Subverted if you read his biography. Khalid was always very insecure due to family issues, and actually appreciates Jaheira's take-charge attitude because he knows he'll never be able to speak up for himself either way.** If Khalid dies in [=BG1=], though, Jaheira does say "I swear, you'll never hear the end of this!"* InsecureLoveInterest: At times, he seems unsure himself how he ended up with Jaheira.* HeroicBastard: Implied by his biography.* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: If Jaheria's dreams are a little more than just dreams, his spirit gives its blessing to their budding romance after his death. [[spoiler: The Master Wraith impersonating him, however, [[ShapeshifterGuiltTrip tortures her with insults about moving on so comparatively quickly]].]]* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: With [[AmazonianBeauty Jaheira]], naturally.* NervousWreck: Very insecure about his lot in life. He also panics very easily, making him not quite as good as a StoneWall as he could be.* NeutralGood: [[strike:in-universe]] Like wife like husband, really. * NiceGuy: One of the by far unconditionally friendliest companions you can get in the first game.* PorkyPigPronunciation: All the time.-->[[Franchise/LooneyTunes "Th-th-that's all folks."]]* StoneWall: Featuring a 16 DEX, 17 CON and fighter access to shields and armour, Khalid is only outdone by Kagain in the 'take hits' department and is better at dodging. On the flip side, his 15 STR is dreadful for a melee combatant.* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: It wouldn't be possible to romance Jaheira in [=BG2=] if he were still around, would it?* UglyGuyHotWife: Not ugly, exactly, but not very charming, with a very low Charisma score. Several [=NPC=]s seem to think Jaheira is out of his league. Faldorn is one of them, but whether she believes it or is just trying to irritate Jaheira is debatable.:: '''Dynaheir'''--> ''For Right! And I always am!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jennifer Halehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dynaheir_3946.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Mage ([[MindOverMatter Invoker]])-> '''Alignment:''' LawfulGood-> '''Place of origin:''' RashemenDynaheir is a wychlaran, a sort of spiritual leader versed in the arcane arts, from the far eastern nation of Rashemen and Minsc's protegée, whom he accompanied on her journey to the sword coast prior to the first game. Unfortunately, she has been taken captive by a group of Gnolls and can join the player, should he feel inclined to rescue her. Like Minsc, she was in CHARNAME's canonical party in [=BG1=]. When Irenicus captured CHARNAME and his party he murdered Dynaheir in front of Minsc's eyes just to anger him.Associated Tropes:* ActionGirl: And does a pretty nifty job of it too.* AdventureDuo: With Minsc.* [[BlackDudeDiesFirst Black Girl Dies First]]: She's the first major character from [=BG1=] you find out has been killed in [=BG2=], though her death occurs off-screen.* BlackMagicianGirl: Literally.* BrainsAndBrawn: With Minsc. Definitely the Brains.* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: To Minsc. After her death, it shows [[SerialEscalation how it affects his behaviour]].* CripplingOverspecialisation: As an Invoker, she lacks two schools of magic, Conjuration and Enchantment.** Not anymore, as of the Enhanced Edition. Now she only lacks Enchantment, making her much better.* DistressedDamsel: She needs to be rescued from a pack of monsters before you can recruit her.* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Unlike with Khalid, it's totally off screen, so it's almost a BusCrash.* [[TheGenericGuy The Generic Girl]]: Your other choices for party mage in [=BG1=] are Edwin, the scheming red wizard who's the best mage in the series, Xan, the chronically depressed elf, Xzar, the psychotic necromancer, and Quayle, the ridiculous gnome. Dynaheir comes off as positively ''boring'' next to them.* GracefulLadiesLikePurple* LawfulGood: [[strike: in-universe]] For her, it's important to do right in the right way. * MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: With [[EvilSorcerer Edwin]]. Given that he was out on his way to kill her, it makes some sense that she doesn't like him very much. That the Red Wizards have an infamous reputation in Rashemen doesn't help either. * ProperLady: ''Very'' proper. Contrasts her all the more with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer Minsc]].* PurpleIsPowerful: Well, Invocation ''is'' the most offensive-oriented of the Arcane spell schools.* RedOniBlueOni: The Blue Oni. Guess who the red one is.* SassyBlackWoman: Kinda. She doesn't speak stereotypical Black Urban American English, but she is opinionated and thinks that she should be in charge.* SwordAndSorcerer: With Minsc, again.* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: A mystery which puzzles most players still to the present day.* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe:: '''Xzar'''--> ''I wanted infravision like the elves... But 'tis more than just taking their eyes... ''--> '''Voiced by:''' Frank Welkerhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xzar_3854.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Mage ({{Necromancer}})-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil-> '''Place of origin:''' Unknown, maybe [[ViceCity Zhentil Keep]]An eccentric - to say the least - wizard met only a short way away from Candlekeep, Xzar is the official crazy guy of the playable [=NPCs=], and he fills the role well. He is also in the employ of [[TheSyndicate a mysterious organization with sinister intentions]], but for his own part, Xzar is happy to hang out with his partner "Monty" and you.He doesn't join in [=BG2=], but shows up to [[spoiler: give a quest that ultimately ends up killing him.]]Associated Tropes:* AdventureDuo: A villainous version of this, with Montaron.* AffablyEvil: Surprisingly yes. He is actually one of the friendliest of the party members towards Charname in the first game, despite being, you know, totally balla-balla.* ArchEnemy: Along with Montaron, to Khalid and Jaheira. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that he and Montaron are agents of the Zhentarim, an [[TheSyndicate evil network]] opposed to the Harpers, a secret organization of do-gooders.* AxCrazy* BadBoss: In the second game, you overhear a couple his apprentices talk about how cruel their master is. Xzar punished one apprentice for miscasting a spell by ''pulling out three of his toenails!''* BeardOfEvil: Only a thin [[BadassMustache mustache]], but evil without a doubt.* CardCarryingVillain: Considering how ObviouslyEvil he is, it doesn't add much ...* ChaoticEvil: [[strike:in-universe]] Of the completely, utterly insane variety. * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: And not the nice kind either.* TheCorrupter: Encourages you to embrace your [[TheDarkSide inner darkness]]. * DemotedToExtra: Though at least he plays a fairly major role in the Harper sidequest.* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: What he seems to think. Said family includes apparently Montaron and you.* EvilMentor: He seems to think of himself as one to you, or at least he behaves himself that way. It may actually be the main reason why Jaheira distrusts him so much.* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Believe it or not, but Xzar is actually the character in the first game with the highest overall mental scores (17 intelligence and 16 wisdom). The Intelligence may be justifiable, but common sense isn't exactly one of [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} his]] strong suits.* GreenAndMean* HitchhikerHeroes: Almost literally; he and Montaron are encountered on the road after the PC leaves Candlekeep.* InformalEulogy: If Montaron dies, he responds by saying "Montaron! I... I never loved you!"* InsaneEqualsViolent* LargeHam: Justified however in that he is [[AxCrazy absolutely, completely insane]].* LaughablyEvil: Undeniably one of the most entertaining party members in the first game. Arguably also a FountainOfMemes.* LeanAndMean* MoodSwinger: There's strong evidence even that he has [[UsefulNotes/BipolarDisorder Bipolar Disorder]].* MoralityPet: Subverted. He ''is'' nice towards CHARNAME, but that seems to be mostly because he hopes that the two of them are BirdsOfAFeather.* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: With Khalid and Jaheira, obviously, unless CHARNAME has a Charisma score high enough to prevent a fight. Otherwise there is a real chance that he and Montaron will engage them in a duel (and usually lose).* {{Necromancer}}: His school of magic.* OddFriendship: Subverted: He's forced by his superiors to stay with Montaron, whom he despises.* PetTheDog: A lot, almost exclusively towards you. If your Charisma isn't too awful, he will offer you a free healing potion upon meeting him, regardless of whether you let him join you or not.* PsychopathicManchild: At time he can come across as this.* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl-->"Mummy, I don't feel so good!!!"* ShoutOut: To Robert J. Oppenheimer, one of the creators of the atomic bomb, and indirectly to the ''Bhagavad Gita'':-->"I am become death, destroyer of worlds!"** Also:-->[[Literature/OfMiceAndMen "Tell me about the rabbits!"]]-->[[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Some fava beans, and]] ANiceChianti.* SissyVillain: Something of an AffectionateParody.* SociopathicHero: In the first game, his goals are noble, his methods and motivations anything but.* SquishyWizard: His low constitution ties him with Xan for the party member with the lowest health score in the first game. And thanks to his Necromancer class he can't cast some of the better arcane defense spells, such as ''Mirror Image'' or ''Blur''.* StopPokingMe-->Stop touching me!!!* TalkativeLoon: Talks more than almost any other character.* TheMadHatter: Implied.* TheNecromancer* ThoseTwoBadGuys: With (who else?) Montaron.* WithFriendsLikeThese: He and Montaron.:: '''Montaron'''--> ''Ye live longer if ye don't annoy me. Mayhaps even a week or more.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Earl Boenhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/montaron_4852.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Halfling-> '''Class:''' Fighter/Thief-> '''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil-> '''Place of origin:''' UnknownMontaron is the... traveling companion of Xzar, but hates him dearly. A [[{{Hobbits Halfling]] rogue, "Monty" is an intentional subversion of the happy-go-lucky halflings everywhere else in fantasy, and is a man born for murder and slaughter interested only in doing his job in the bloodiest way possible. [[spoiler: He dies off-screen]] in [=BG2=].Associated Tropes:* ArchEnemy: To Khalid and Jaheira. Being [[PsychoForHire purely in it for the money]], he's less invested in the rivalry than Xzar however.* AxCrazy: Even moreso than his partner.* {{Backstab}}: He enjoys it more than most thieves as well.* BalefulPolymorph: When you enter the harper hold in search of him in the second game, they imply he's been turned into a bird. They're playing you for a sucker.* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: He keeps Xzar from going utterly insane despite being fairly unhinged himself. Without him Xzar is even nuttier than Minsc.* CrutchCharacter: If you play as a rogue or a wizard, Montaron will most likely be the only member of your party who can actually take a hit or properly engage in melee combat until you reach the Friendly Arm Inn. Most players will because of that recommend that you take him and Xzar along just to better your chances of surviving a wolf attack or a xvart ambush, because [[SquishyWizard Xzar]] and [[FragileSpeedster Imoen]]... can't.* [[DepravedDwarf Depraved Halfling]]* DroppedABridgeOnHim: As it turns out.* HitchhikerHeroes* {{Hobbits}}: As mentioned above, a deliberately atypical one.* IneffectualDeathThreats: He is rather open about his intention to murder Xzar and/or Charname (and possibly the rest of the party). Unless you command him to do just that, he never goes through with it.* InformalEulogy: If Xzar dies, he responds by saying "And the mad wizard falls!... Saves me the trouble".* MurderIsTheBestSolution: ''Oh yes''.* NeutralEvil: [[strike:in-universe]] Psychotic and bloodthirsty, but uninterested in law vs chaos arguments. * OddFriendship: With Xzar, whom he hates.* PerpetualFrowner: Again, in defiance of the "happy go lucky" halfling.** Well, not necessarily. Just look at [[SlasherSmile his picture]]...* PsychoForHire: How he ends up working for the Zhentarim.* TheSociopath: A textbook example. He is neither high-functioning enough to solidly fit into an organization or society (like Kagain), nor low-functioning enough to simply slaughter his way through the world (like Tiax) without at least a few allies to watch his back, and is also smart enough to stay off the really big guys' lawn. This places him firmly at NeutralEvil.* ThoseTwoBadGuys* WithFriendsLikeThese: He and Xzar.:: '''Xan'''--> ''We're all doomed...''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jeff Bennetthttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xan_78.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Elf-> '''Class:''' Mage ([[PsychicPowers Enchanter]])-> '''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral-> '''Place of origin:''' [[HiddenElfVillage Evereska]]Xan is an elven ambassador from the stronghold of Evereska in the north who has had the misfortune of having been kidnapped. If you rescue him, he can join your party. He comes with a Moonblade, a [[EmpathicWeapon sword who is bonded to its owner]] and an incredibly depressing view on your party's success.Xan only appears in the first Baldur's Gate, but has appeared in the tutorial mode for Baldur's Gate 2. He's also popular enough to get mods that add him to Baldur's Gate 2, and was probably the most popular [=BG1=] character to not get into [=BG2=].Associated Tropes:* AwesomeButImpractical: His Moonblade is the first game's best Longsword, but unfortunately you won't probably get much use out of it, because as a raw wizard, Xan has pathetic THAC 0 and only gets one single attack per round out of it, not to mention that with his health, he really shouldn't duel enemies in melee.* BlessedWithSuck: Xan has this opinion about his moonblade. And about his magic. And about everything.* CantArgueWithElves: You ''can'', but he really doesn't care.* CantHoldHisLiquor: Since a character's tolerance for alcohol is directly proportional to their constitution, you can literally get him drunk on just one or two beers.* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: To [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Ajantis]]. The latter has an annoying tendency to rush off and randomly attack any evil-aligned members of your party (ca. 30% of all available ones), but if Xan is nearby, he can soothe him with a speech about morality.* CoolSword: His Moonblade is one of the first game's best weapons, but not quite as effective as it could be, because only [[SquishyWizard he]] can wield it.* DeadpanSnarker: Pretty much with his every line.* DemotedToExtra: And not even in the main storyline, at that.* DeterminedDefeatist: Much more obvious in his mods, but it's the main reason he stays with the party.* TheEeyore: "Life... is so hollow."* EmpathicWeapon: The aforementioned Moonblade.* TheFatalist* GotMeDoingIt: Indirectly: an extremely minor character in ''VideoGame/IcewindDale'' named Erevain realizes that he's complaining so much that he's beginning to sound like his cousin Xan.* HeyItsThatVoice: Creator/JeffBennett, who also does the voice of Cespenar and Jan.* HiddenElfVillage: He is, as likes to inform you in both games, from "Evereska in the north."* LawfulNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] He follows a personal code of ethics, but his main goal is to survive. * OurElvesAreBetter: A subversion in that Xan doesn't care and thinks every race is equal in the extent of how doomed they are.* ShoutOut: There's an offhand mention to Xan, and through him Baldur'sGate, in Erevain's journal in ''VideoGame/IcewindDale''.* SourSupporter: All the way.* SquishyWizard: At a miraculous '''7''' constitution, Xan is the squishiest NPC of them all.* TallDarkAndHandsome / TallDarkAndSnarky: Not brought up in-universe, but the female fandom sure seems to think so.:: '''Branwen'''--> ''And by Tempus, I always repay my debts!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Bernadette Sullivan (Baldur's Gate), Jane Singer (Baldur's Gate 2)http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/branwen_5436.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Cleric-> '''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral-> '''Place of origin:''' Seawolf (a village on the Norheim Islands)Branwen is a self-exiled cleric of Tempus, the god of war. She felt that her people wouldn't accept a priestess of the war god, and being right, she up and left. She bears no resentment, however, reasoning that faith must be tested or be worthless. At some point she was transformed into stone by a mage named Tranzig and sold to a halfling who uses her as a sideshow to be gawked at in a fair. Once she's rescued, she can join the party out of gratitude. Like Xan, she's in [=BG2=]'s tutorial mode, but not in the game proper.Associated Tropes:* ActionGirl* ChurchMilitant: Averted. While she's a priestess of the war god Tempus, her devotion to battle is a personal choice and not part of a church organization (which Tempus hasn't got anyway, being Chaotic Neutral).* DropTheHammer* DumbBlonde: Her Intelligence is quite low... but she's still smart enough to not count as analphabetic, unlike Minsc.* FantasyCounterpartCulture: She's from the setting's equivalent of medieval Scandinavia, which is quite apparent in everything from her name to her way of speaking to her choice of deity.* [[TheGenericGuy The Generic Girl]]: Her stats are decent across the board as opposed to the more specialised Viconia, Yeslick and Jaheira, she has no noticeable personality conflicts and is somewhat obscure to obtain. And, just to rub it in, she was the very last playable character added to this page having been forgotten about entirely.* GiveMeYourInventoryItem: In order to get her in your party, you have to use a magical scroll to reverse her petrification.* IOweYouMyLife: Why she follows you.* JackOfAllStats: Occupies a middle ground between Jaheira and Yeslick (who are fighters with some priest spells) and Viconia and Quayle (who are spellcasters unsuited for melee combat).* NiceGirl: One of the nicer party members you can find. It's almost enough to make her qualify for NeutralGood.* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race Girl]]* OddFriendship: Will occasionally exchange slightly flirtatious compliments on courage and battle prowess with Kivan.** She also really likes Ajantis, and will praise him roughly every five minutes if you have both in a party. *** Ajantis in turn will inform Branwen in an uncharacteristically low tone that she "is a most beautiful lady". Get a room you two! ** She also has an odd appreciation for Shar-Teel's strength and warrior instincts. Why is it odd? Because she's evil!* PutOnABus: Not even mentioned in [=BG2=].** Though she does at least get a [[TheCameo cameo]] in the tutorial.* ShoutOut--> [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail "Ah uh.. 'tis but a flesh wound."]]* StayInTheKitchen: Her backstory explains that her becoming a cleric was against tradition in her hometown, as it was considered a ''man's'' job, and her self-imposed exile from her hometown set in motion the events that led to her coming to the Sword Coast and becoming TakenForGranite. * TakenForGranite: Though not permanently.* TrueNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] She's mainly interested in finding enjoyable fights, but she sometimes displays typical warrior code honour in her quotations. * {{Valkyrie|s}}: Her long golden hair, large frame, Northern European accent, and worship of the war god gives this impression. Sadly, she came along an edition too early to be allowed to wield an axe (which turns out to be Tempus' favoured weapon, just to rub it in).:: '''Kivan'''--> ''My soul aches for my lost Deherianna.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Rob Paulsenhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kivan_1893.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Elf-> '''Class:''' Ranger-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood-> '''Place of origin:''' Shilmista forestKivan is an elven ranger with a dark past. The love of his life, Deherianna, was slain, in a rather horrific manner, by an ogre bandit named Tazok, and has dedicated his life to hunting him down.Kivan only appears in the first Baldur's Gate, but has enough of a following to warrant fan-created mods so you can use him in Baldur's Gate 2 and Throne of Bhaal.Associated Tropes:* ArcherArchetype: Starts with bow skills and the attitude. NPC mods for Tutu tend to have the option of turning him into a kitted archer.* BestServedCold: He wants revenge on Tazok for torturing him and killing his wife.* ChaoticGood: [[strike:in-universe]]He's basically good-heated and admires the player committing good deeds, but goodness comes before obediance any day with him. * CrusadingWidower: Even though Tazok is his ultimate goal, he's been hunting bandits for months before you meet him.* FacialMarkings* FanNickname: The Machine Gun, for his exceptional archery skills. * FantasticRacism: Against [[NeutralEvil Viconia]] for being a drow. ** And it goes the other way as well. [[OurElvesAreBetter Viconia]] despises surface elves like him for no reason as well.* ForGreatJustice: Why else would he be hunting bandits?** [[ItsPersonal For revenge]], perhaps?* GlassCannon: Third-highest strength in the game and good dexterity to boot, as befitting an elf, and he uses the games' most damaging weapons, [[BladeOnAStick Halberds]] and Composite Longbows. Unsurprisingly, his health is somewhat low for a warrior.** Justifiably so, though, as he was tortured before the events of the game take place.* HatesSmalltalk: Most of his responses when clicking on his portrait repeatedly are him telling you that he doesn't want to talk.* HeyItsThatVoice: Rob Paulsen, who has also done [[PinkyAndTheBrain Pinky]]. Not that you could tell, though.* TheHunter: Motivated to kill the bandits and destroy Tazok because they killed his wife.* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: Viconia.* OddFriendship: With Branwen whose courage he admires while she in turn compliments him on his strength as a warrior.** He remarks that Ajantis' "courage shames the others", while Ajantis will compliment him on being a "man of honor" and says he respects his integrity.* PerpetualFrowner: Not surprising given his backstory, but he's never happy.* PutOnABus: Despite being a fairly popular character in the first game, he doesn't even make a cameo in the commercially released sequel. There are fan mods which put him back in however.** Unlike most of the companions who don't appear in the second game, Kivan's character files and data are in [=BG2=], and he can even be spawned with a console command or viewed with a creature editor. His file has a character portrait associated with it, which [=BG1=] characters who make cameos but don't join the party don't get, indicating that he would have been recruitable.* TheQuietOne: Goes along with HatesSmallTalk.* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Kivan's sole reason for being in the game. --> ''Flee, coward, but I will track you down. You cannot hide from my wrath.''* ShoutOut: His voice sounds almost exactly like DirtyHarry.:: '''Coran'''--> ''A figure like yours shouldn't be risked in a profession such as adventuring.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Brian Georgehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coran_1578.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Elf-> '''Class:''' Fighter/Thief-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood-> '''Place of origin:''' Thethir forestCoran is a happy-go-lucky elven adventurer and serial womanizer who's encountered in Cloakwood forest. At first he's insistent on hunting wyverns, but after that subquest is completed he will join the party permanently. He will flirt shamelessly with female party members, particularly Safana, and in addition has a lovechild in Baldur's Gate that he may or may not know about... depending on player actions. He can't be recruited until fairly late in the game, but his combination of archery and thieving skills and his excellent statistics make him a fairly popular character nonetheless.He shows up for a cameo in the second game, but can't be recruited.Associated Tropes:* AbortedArc: Pre-release materials pegged him as one of the characters who would return as a party member in [=BG2=]. Instead, his role in the sequel is limited to a very brief cameo. CHARNAME can still ask him to join, but he will decline.* AwesomeButImpractical: With his stats, he ''should'' be the best thief in the game; however, because the game handles the auto-leveling of thieves very poorly, by the time many players get to him he will be [[CantCatchUp locked out of his full thieving potential]].** He is hardly useless though. Even if he is gotten too late to adequately fill the party's needs for a thief, he handles the "Fighter" part of his Fighter/Thief multiclass very well. While his relatively low Strength (for a Fighter) means his decent sword skills will pretty much go to waste, his anomalistically high Dexterity and his bow skills make him the best archer in the game and he's still fairly useful all-around.* [[spoiler:BestialityIsDepraved: One of his lovers is a wolfwere. Has the man no standards?]]* TheCasanova: A relatively sympathetic one, in contrast to Eldoth.* ChaoticGood: [[strike:in-universe]] He's of the ForHappiness sort of heroes, and actively opposes any attempts by anyone to restrict his lifestyle.* ChocolateBaby: His former lover is human, as is her husband. The fact that her child was a half-elf is what tipped him off that she was playing away from home.* DemotedToExtra: A pseudo-villainous one.* DisappearedDad: Though it's not clear he knows about the child.** He does if you take him into Baldur's Gate with you. [[spoiler: Brielbara, the mother of the child, is near the Splurging Sturgeon and will ask the party to save her child from a curse her husband put on the baby. She will specifically talk to Coran and tell him it's his child if he's in the party. Once she is done explaining her situation, Coran will ask the party members to help him. If you refuse, he leaves. If you agree and bring back Yago's spellbook so the curse can be broken, Brielbara will ask Coran to join her in raising their daughter together. He refuses.]]* FacialMarkings* ForHappiness: His motivation for being a good guy and ultimate goal in life. What prevents him from being NeutralGood is that this of course also includes ''[[TheCasanova his own happiness.]]''* HandsomeLech: It gets him in trouble eventually.* ImAManICantHelpIt: To his eventual sorrow.* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He refuses to help raise his daughter, but when she is really in danger, he is there for her.* LadykillerInLove: Flirts with all the female companions, but is especially head-over-heels for Safana.* LongRangeFighter: In terms of accuracy, Coran is the best archer in the game, thanks to [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules an ungodly high Dexterity stat, an illegal number of proficiency points]] and one extra point just for being an elf. Although, he can also do pretty well as a backstabber, especially if you raise his strength.* LovableTraitor: In [=BG2=], there's a subplot in which he turns into one.* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: Even with his unnatural dexterity aside, Coran is given some incorrect bonuses. He has three proficiency points in bows, even though multiclasses shouldn't be able to have higher than two. His base [=THAC0=] and attacks per round are also higher than what a normal Fighter would have, let alone a multiclass.* OurElvesAreBetter: Like many characters in these games, he's a subversion of a fantasy stereotype, in this case the severe, humorless elf warrior.* YourCheatingHeart: While having an affair with a mage in Baldur's Gate, he was caught by her seducing another woman, which is what forced him to flee into the woods.:: '''Safana'''--> ''I'll do anything.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Diane Pershinghttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/safana_4059.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Thief-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral-> '''Place of origin:''' Calimport (capital of Calimshan)Safana is a sultry female thief first encountered in the Seawatcher Ruins area, where she is searching for lost treasure. She has a bit of a dark past, and is skilled at using her looks to manipulate men and get what she wants. As a result, Coran will take quite a shine to her if they're in the same party.She can be obtained relatively early in the game and has some amusing dialogue, so she was fairly popular among players, but nevertheless she did not make it to the sequel as a playable character. She does, however, show up as a minor NPC at one point late in the game.Associated Tropes:* ActionGirl* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She takes an interest in [[BlackKnight Dorn]], a self-professed bad guy and mass-murderer. Dorn is too suspicious of her to let her get close, though.* {{Backstab}}: Literally and figuratively.* ChaoticNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] Cares only about herself, mostly, and Coran too to an extent. Not ruthless or destable enough to be evil, however. * CharmPerson: Safana's Flirt special ability, [[DummiedOut restored]] in Unfinished Business and some unofficial patches, is essentially a non-magical version of this.* TheCharmer: Highest charisma score in the game, on par with [[ThePaladin Ajantis']].* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Though she doesn't betray the PC until the second game.* DemotedToExtra: She only has a few lines of dialogue in the sequel, and is only around long enough to betray the party before being killed.* DoubleEntendre: Much of her dialogue consists of these, which is part of what makes her popular with players.* FaceHeelTurn: Sorta.* FemmeFatale: Her entire personality is a take on this trope, though she doesn't behave this way toward the player. Definitely to Coran, though.* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: Her selection and action quotes are flirts directed at the player.* KarmicDeath: She's betrayed and killed by one of Coran's other lovers, after betraying the protagonist.* TheMunchausen: A female version, though her stories aren't quite as outlandish as Jan Jansen's.* MurderTheHypotenuse: How she ultimately meets her downfall.* {{Pirate}}: She was one, formerly.* PirateBooty: What she's looking for when you meet her.* ReallyGetsAround: She claims as much.* TheVamp:: '''Tiax'''--> ''The day comes when TIAX will point and click!''--> '''Voiced by:''' John Marianohttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tiax_8260.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Gnome-> '''Class:''' Cleric/Thief-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil-> '''Place of origin:''' Unknown, but presumably Baldur's GateA gnomish cleric and rogue, Tiax is an utterly insane follower of Cyric (the utterly insane god of lying and evil). Tiax is possibly the single most insane character in the entire series, and that is honestly saying something: He believes Cyric has proclaimed him to rule Toril (the world you're on) and that though he hasn't ''quite'' taken over yet his time will soon come. He has what's slightly more than a cameo in [=BG2=] when he [[spoiler:helps you fight Irenicus but dies at the end of the battle.]]Associated Tropes:* AxCrazy: Oh yeah.* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Why he wants to TakeOverTheWorld...* BoisterousBruiser: More like BoisterousWeakling, but he can be quite tough if you know how to do it.* TheCaligula: He orders people around with demands like these, though no one listens to him.* ChaoticEvil: [[strike:in-universe]] Like Xzar, of the batshit insane AxCrazy kind. * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Even more out there than Minsc or Xzar, which is saying something.* DemotedToExtra: Not that most players gave him too big a role in the first game, but he gets only a short amount of screen time in the sequel.* EpicFlail: He comes with one.** SimpleStaff: In the Enhanced Edition, it's just a quarterstaff, a weapon he actually has the required strength to use. He can also {{backstab}} with it.* IncomingHam: Like Minsc, it's his standard way of responding whenever he's spoken to. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that he is utterly insane.* InsaneEqualsViolent* JokeCharacter: Though he's not as underpowered as the typical example, his primary role is to provide comic relief.* LargeHam: Tiax shall RULE THE WORLD! Just... you... wait.* LaughablyEvil: More like Laughably ChaoticStupid, but yeah.* TheNapoleon: A particularly mad example.** If you put him in a party with Quayle, the latter's snarky comments will eventually end in bloodshed.* NiceHat* NoFourthWall: "The day will come when TIAX will point and click."* OurGnomesAreWeirder* ReligionOfEvil: In his case, the religion of AxCrazy, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} mentally unhinged]] evil.* SmallNameBigEgo: It doesn't get much bigger than believing you're destined to rule to world.** One of the few things would be to believe what Tiax does in the sequel: that he ''already'' rules the world.* TakeOverTheWorld: Of course!* ThirdPersonPerson: Practically every time he speaks.* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: As odd as it may sound, there is actually one thing in the game that only he can pull off: Because stealing and opening locks under the cleric spell ''Sanctuary'' doesn't reveal you to your surroundings, you can go with him on a thieving spree through Baldur's Gate without ticking off the [[IFoughtTheLawAndTheLawWon Flaming Fist]].* TooDumbToLive: Generally speaking. Quayle will even invoke this trope word for word if he dies. * WeCanRuleTogether: What he proposes to you upon meeting him. Although it is more of a deal of "I help you now and you help me later.":: '''Shar-Teel'''--> ''Men are pathetic.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jennifer Darlinghttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sharteel_9002.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Fighter-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil-> '''Place of origin:''' [[spoiler:Baldur's Gate]]A female warrior who's encountered in the wilds between Candlekeep and Baldur's Gate. She enjoys humiliating male adventurers by challenging them to duels and soundly thrashing them. She'll challenge a male member of the PC's group to a fight when you meet her, and if she is defeated, she will grudgingly agree to join the party.Associated Tropes:* ActionGirl* AxCrazy: Though not as much as some of the other ChaoticEvil characters.* {{Backstab}}: Like in Imoen's case, players quickly noticed that her dexterity stat is high enough to dual-class her into a thief right from the get-go. DualWielding a proper pair of weapons ([[InfinityPlusOneSword Drizzt's scimitars]] come to mind), combined with her very high Strength can make her an extremely lethal Backstabber.* BloodKnight: With a gender-specific twist.* BraidsOfBarbarism* BrawnHilda* ChaoticEvil: [[strike:in-universe]] She's a type 1, due to being more interested in her freedom to murder and/or humilate men with abandon than going on an active rampage through the countryside. * DefeatMeansFriendship: Subverted. She offers to join the party if you defeat her, but she never warms up to you even if you accept.* DefeatMeansPlayable: As noted above, you have to beat her in order to recruit her into the party.* DoesNotLikeMen: To say the least.* DualWielding: Two different weapons, to boot.* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Branwen]] seems to have a bit of a girl-crush on her, as does [[TheIngenue Skie]] to a lesser extent. For Shar-Teel's part, she simply brushes off their [[LesYay interesting compliments]] with a smirk. -->"Flattery will get you nowhere."* EvilRedhead* FacialMarkings: Though they're never explained in the game.** The game doesn't explain anyone's facial markings, leading most people to belive they're either tattoos or war paint.*** The game doesn't exlain facial markings of party followers because if during character creation you pick the portrait that is cannonically assigned to them the game will asign them another one instead.* FreudianExcuse: In addition to her dislike of men, Shar-Teel's biography says that she also hates Flaming Fist mercenaries and that "...likely her childhood was not of storybook quality." Fast forward to Chapter Seven and you meet her father. Briefly: he's a member of the Flaming Fist, and he is a horrible, horrible person. All of a sudden her behaviour makes a lot of sense.* GeniusBruiser: With 14 intelligence, she's surprisingly intelligent by Warrior standards.* GlassCannon: Strength? 18/53, a fair score. Dexterity? 17. Constitution? 9. She also focuses on using two weapons in each hand, removing the option of a shield.* IGaveMyWord: Why she will follow you, if you beat her in a fight. It certainly sets her apart from [[ConsummateLiar Eldoth]].* JustEatGilligan: Her modus operandi. She's usually also strong enough to pull it off.* KickTheSonOfABitch[=/=]PayEvilUntoEvil: Killing Eldoth is definitely something players can sympathize with.* ALighterShadeOfBlack: While still a violent and grumpy person, Shar-teel is generally one of the more morally-neutral Evil party members.* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Not that you can blame them in Shar-Teel's case.* PetTheDog: Shar-Teel occasionally tells other women in the party not to think themselves second to any man.* PsychoticSmirk: In her portrait, at least.* PutOnABus: Disappears between games.* TheReveal: [[spoiler:She's actually the daughter of Angelo Dosan, an officer in the Flaming Fist and one of Sarevok's lieutenants.]]* ShoutOut: One of her quotes is taken from [[ArnoldSchwarzenegger John Matrix]] in ''Film/{{Commando}}'': "You're such a funny man. That's why I'm going to kill you last." [[ILied She lied]] (in a way that unless you order to, she probably won't kill him).* StrawFeminist: Oh GOD, is she ever. She even praises an all-female party.** But you need to have at least one male to recruit her. Go figure.* WouldntHitAGirl: She won't fight women; the champion who fights her has to be male. Once she's joined you, though, she'll kill whoever you tell her to kill, gender notwithstanding.:: '''Eldoth Kron'''--> ''Shar-Teel, your lot in life is to bake cookies and bear children. Now shut up.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Neil Rosshttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eldothkron_2317.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Bard-> '''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil-> '''Place of origin:''' RuathymA sleazy bard first encountered in Cloakwood forest, Eldoth wants the party's help in "rescuing" Skie, a young noblewoman from Baldur's Gate with whom he's involved. Suffice it to say, he doesn't have her best interests at heart and intends to use her as he has all his previous lovers, which earns him the enmity of a few of the other characters.Associated Tropes:* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Skie prefers him to the generally much nicer Garrick.* BastardBoyfriend: If Shar-Teel doesn't kil him for his misogyny, the player will probably beat her to the punch when they see how he treats Skie* BattleCouple: with Skie... kind of.* BlackMail: What he intends to do if his plan to elope with Skie is successful.* BullyingADragon: In some of the party banter, he thinks reciting the above quote to [[BloodKnight Shar]][[StrawFeminist -Teel]] is a good idea. It almost certainly ends badly for him. * TheCasanova* ConsummateLiar: He's as dishonest with you as he is with Skie about his plans to [[BlackMailIsSuchAnUglyWord extort her father using her as a hostage]].* GoldDigger: His method of supporting himself.* HeyItsThatVoice: When not being a womanizing jerk, Eldoth is [[Franchise/MassEffect reciting entries from the galactic Codex]]. With Neil Ross on the cast, it almost makes you wonder why they chose Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson as the narrator instead of a man who is largely associated with those kinds of roles.* {{Jerkass}}: Worse yet is that while he's a low-key flavour of evil, and thus not willing to slaughter half the Sword Coast [[ForTheEvulz for shit and giggles]] like [[BlackKnight Dorn]], [[ReligionOfEvil the cleric of an evil deity]] like [[TheSocialDarwinist Viconia]] and [[AxCrazy Tiax]], a greedy money-grubbing mercenary like [[GoldFever Kagain]] or a member of an evil organisation like [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Xzar and Montaron]] and [[EvilSorceror Edwin]], Eldoth is still less likable than all of them, since Viconia is something of a TragicVillain and an excellent healer besides, Dorn, Kagain and Edwin all excel as the masters of their own niches within the party and Tiax, Xzar and Montaron are [[LaughablyEvil sufficiently amusing]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice to cover]] their deficient moral status. Eldoth, however, is an egocentric, petty sleazoid with no entertainment value and little, if any, practical use to compensate.* LoveTriangle: Between him, Garrick and Skie.* ManipulativeBastard: Pretty much described as such in his character biography.* MasterOfNone: Arguably even moreso than [[MemeticLoser Garrick]]. While Garrick's one good stat (Dexterity) at least benefits his class greatly (it makes [[FragileSpeedster him]] dodge better, a better sniper and a decent pickpocket), Eldoth barely benefits from his comparatively good strength since he can not wear heavy armor and despite his decent constitution he is not guaranteed to have better health than Garrick, because you can recruit him only fairly late into the game while the latter is available in the first chapter. Even the poisoned arrows he can create via his special ability are not very useful because only he himself can use them, and Eldoth is, from an accuracy standpoint, hands down the worst archer in the game. His only saving grace are the fact that he has the highest Charisma of all evil-aligned party members and his good lore, but since you're all but guaranteed to be swimming in gold by the time you get him, even this falls somewhat flat.* NeutralEvil: [[strike:in-universe]] He's a slick, confident {{slimeball}} who cares only about his own pleasure and is aloof and abusive towards Skie. * PoisonedWeapons: His special ability is creating poisoned arrows.* PutOnABus: He plays no part at all in the sequel. (Although he cameos in at least one mod in a typical Eldoth fashion).* TheRival: Garrick hates his guts, and so do the players.** Xan also really dislikes him. He even has a unique line if Eldoth dies.--> "I would grieve for Eldoth, if it were not for the sense of joy I now feel!"* {{Slimeball}}: Look at him! ''Look at him!''* SpoonyBard: The one thing he and Garrick have in common is that neither is particularly useful.* StayInTheKitchen: He's a raging sexist, as demonstrated by the quote above.* TallDarkAndHandsome: Skie seems to think so... The difference between this trope and the reality of what he actually is is so enormous that many players can only {{Facepalm}}.* TooDumbToLive: As the quote above also shows, he thinks absolutely nothing about getting to the case of ''Shar-Teel'', a similarly sexist and very strong warrior woman. She eventually, and predictably, responds with violence.:: '''Skie Silvershield'''--> ''I broke a nail!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Grey Delislehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skie_8254.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Thief-> '''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral-> '''Place of origin:''' Baldur's GateA naive young noblewoman who enjoys sneaking out of her family's estate, she dreams about becoming an adventurer but has rather unrealistic ideas of what that entails. She's involved with Eldoth and will call the guards when confronted by the party unless he is with them. She's one of the last characters in the game to become available for use and is always accompanied by SpoonyBard Eldoth, and for those reasons many players don't bother with her.Associated Tropes:* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: She has a perfectly {{nice guy}} waiting for her right there, but she chooses the womanizing jerk she's already with instead.* ArcherArchetype: She has maxed-out Dexterity, making her ideal for standing in the backrow and using a shortbow.** That said, she isn't a better archer than Imoen or Safana, and Alora is even slightly better.* {{Ballet}}: She happens to be a pretty good ballet dancer, according to her biography, which is the source of her 18 Dexterity, making her exceptionally agile.* BattleCouple: With Eldoth... sort of.* CantCatchUp: Like most of the characters found in the city of Baldur's Gate itself.* CityMouse: She wants to be an adventurer, but turns out to be ill-prepared for the realities of life on the road.* TheDitz: She has an INT score of 15 and a WIS score of 8, making her intelligent, with an interest in history and languages, but clueless, foolish and naive.* FallenPrincess: If you actually do break her out of her family's estate, all she does is complain about how dirty and uncomfortable the road is.* TheFashionista--> "I'm so bored. Let's go shoppiiiiiing!"* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: She really doesn't realize just how big a scumbag Eldoth is.* IBrokeANail: As quoted above.* IdleRich: What she was apparently before you came along. She didn't really do much with her life until then.** RichBoredom* TheIngenue: A fact which Eldoth uses to extort her.* LoveTriangle: Eldoth and Garrick both pursue her. The matter is never resolved in an unmodded game even if one of them is killed.* NaiveEverygirl* OddFriendship: Her unusually friendly moments with Shar-Teel, of all people, are her only significant interactions with people outside her LoveTriangle.* TheOjou: And she still behaves like one even after she isn't one anymore.* PutOnABus: As with Eldoth, no mention is made of what becomes of her after the events of the first game.* RebelliousPrincess: Similar to Nalia in [=BG2=], she's a noblewoman rather than a princess. Her rebelliousness isn't motivated as much by idealism as Nalia's is.* RichInDollarsPoorInSense: Oh boy.* ShaggyDogStory: If you take a look at what's happening to her, the poor girl's life is this. The man she's in love with treats her like garbage and actually extorts her family, she turns out to be completely unsuited for the adventuring life she longed for, her brother has been killed somewhere on the road and no one seems to care about that, and then her father is assassinated. If you try to drop her from the party, she says she has nowhere to go and nothing to do with herself. The best thing you can do is abandon Eldoth cold and never take her along.* ShelteredAristocrat: What she was prior to joining your party.* SpoiledSweet: Generally. That said, she isn't too benevolent or unselfish a person.* TooDumbToLive* TrueCompanions: If she's happy with how you go about things, she considers the party this.-->"You're the finest group of friends I ever had!"* TrueNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] The girl is mostly interested in having a fun time with her friends, whoever they happen to be at the time. That said, she's nowhere near as selfish and self-obsessed as Eldoth. * UptownGirl: For Garrick.* VirginityMakesYouStupid: It's not clear whether the literal definition of this trope technically applies or not, but the setup between her and Eldoth is a classic case.:: '''Faldorn'''--> ''I revel in the rituals of combat, and I welcome the chance to end your miserable existence.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Heidi Shannon (Baldur's Gate), B.J. Ward (Baldur's Gate 2)http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faldorn_3172.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Druid-> '''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral-> '''Place of origin:''' UthgardtFaldorn is a member of the Shadow Druids, a militant sect of druids that believe that civilization is incompatible with nature and must be opposed with violence if necessary, something about which she and Jaheira vehemently disagree. In ''Baldur's Gate'' she's surprisingly quiet and gentle, ironically coming off as less offensive and in-your-face than Jaheira, the "moderate" druid. In the sequel she shows up as a non-playable character with a much more antagonistic attitude. Most players, if they want a Druid, elect to use Jaheira instead, as she can be recruited earlier and as a multi-class fighter is much sturdier and more effective in combat.Associated Tropes:* AnimalMotifs: Note the raven's head eye tattoo, and the sharp, talon-like nails; also the wolvish teeth.* AnimalWrongsGroup: In [=BG2=], together with her Shadow Druids.* BarbarianTribe: In her backstory she mentions being descended from a tribe of Uthgardt barbarians called the Black Ravens. * BloodKnight: She quite enjoys killing rival Druids in single combat.* CategoryTraitor: Both Cernd and Jaheira regard her this way, due in part to her actions (which hurt nature as much they help it, if at all) and partly due to being part of the Shadow Druids, who are a splinter group from the main Druid Order. For her, it's how she feels about them and all "regular" druids, as the Shadow Druids think the main order doesn't do enough in nature's defense. * CreepyCrows: She has a raven's head tattoo over her left eye, a remnant of her Uthgardt barbarian heritage.* DarkActionGirl: A non-villainous example.* EvilCounterpart: To Jaheira in [=BG1=]; the two can have a lengthy exchange in which they attack each others' philosophical approach to Druidism. Eventually this will end in violence. Somewhat so to Cernd as well, although he cuts to the chase and [[ShutUpHannibal challenges her with no debates]]. * FaceHeelTurn: One of only a few characters to go from a playable character in the first game to a villain in the second.* FacialMarkings* GaiasVengeance: What she believes she's out to inflict.* GreenThumb: Inverted in [=BG2=]; her drawing energy from the forest in order to "protect" it is actually killing it.* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Her justification for her actions. Suffice it to say, Cernd and Jaheira both disagree with her.* InHarmonyWithNature: Subverted. Faldorn's obsession with protecting nature leads her to destroy it instead.* KnightTemplar: Or NatureHero Templar.* MisanthropeSupreme: Goes along with HumansAreTheRealMonsters, above.* NatureHero: Crosses the line into Nature AntiHero or worse in [=BG2=] however.* NiceGirl: Ironically, despite being the "fanatical" druid the player can recruit, she is quiet, reserved. inoffensive and polite when speaking to others, while the "moderate" druid, Jaheira, is loud-mouthed, snarky and somewhat cynical, and even more vocal about her druidism than Faldorn.* ParentalAbandonment: Her barbarian mother gave her away as a baby to an enclave of Shadow Druids. Nothing is known of her father.* PayEvilUntoEvil: In [=BG1=] her personal mission is to clear out a branch of the Iron Throne in the Cloakwood, specifically those camped in Yeslick's ancestral mine. As potential victims go, the Iron Throne are pretty asshole-ish. * RightHandAttackDog: Her special ability allows her to summon a wolf to help the party.* TookALevelInBadass: In [=BG1=] she's a nondescript druid in gameplay terms and fairly even-tempered in personality despite her philosophy; in the sequel she's much more powerful... ** TookALevelInJerkass: ...As well as much more ruthless. She was a lot nicer, too. * TrueNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] She was a better example of the balance-serving trope than Jaheira, even if she was a member of the Shadow Druids. In the sequel she acts more like NeutralEvil. * VoluntaryShapeShifting: She transforms into a panther when you fight her.* WellIntentionedExtremist: Of the eco-terrorist variety.::'''Quayle'''--> ''I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean, S-M-A-R-T!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jeff Bennetthttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quayle_7066.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Gnome-> '''Class:''' Cleric/Mage ([[MasterOfIllusion Illusionist]])-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral-> '''Place of origin:''' ?A gnomish adventurer encountered just ouside of Baldur's Gate, Quayle can join for reasons vague even as he explains them. Blessed with little talent, but a disproportionately huge sense of self-importance, most players [[TheScrappy consider him a pain of a character]].He is of no importance in [=BG1=], but is revealed as Aerie's foster father in [=BG2=]. Associated Tropes:* TheCameo: In [=BG2=]. CHARNAME doesn't even seem to recognize him unless he dies.* ChaoticNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] He obviously cares first and foremost about rubbing his brain in everybody's faces, but he's too self-obsessed to be evil. * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He can actually be quite a good spellcaster, since his low Wisdom doesn't give any penalties, and he is the only party member in the first game capable of casting both arcane and divine spells, which can be quite impressive if combined carefully. However, since Cleric/Mages tend to work based on MagikarpPower, only his disciple in the second game, Aerie, will develop the full potential of his class.* DefrostingIceKing: Taking Aerie under his wing (no pun intended) seems to have made him more pleasant in the sequel; he mentions to Aerie he used to be much more of a jerk before, and players can attest to that. * DemotedToExtra: Thankfully, most players would probably agree.* {{Gonk}}: He is clearly not meant to be particularly attractive. And that Charisma score (about on par with that of an Ogre or a Mountain troll) was certainly ''not'' built for leadership.* InsufferableGenius: What makes him truly insufferable is the fact that he's far from being the game's smartest character and comes off more as just a jerk.* {{Jerkass}}* JokeCharacter: About as close as any character in these games get. You get him late in the game and with poor ability scores and low HP he's one of the weakest spellcasters in the game.* NiceHat* OurGnomesAreWeirder* RetCon: And not a particularly smooth one. In the first game there's no mention of him running a circus or having an adopted elf daughter.* TheRival: To Tiax, whom he absolutely despises in every way. He even gets a good insult in should the mad cleric die. -->''"Ah, Tiax! If any had asked I would have said that you were {{too dumb to live}}!"''* ShorterMeansSmarter: He certainly thinks so. His environment... doesn't.* ShoutOut: [[TheSimpsons Check the quote]].* SmallNameBigEgo: The one thing that he and Tiax have in common.* TookALevelInKindness: He's much less of a {{Jerkass}} in the second game.* WizardBeard* WontTakeYesForAnAnswer: Apparently he's so used to being turned down he assumes you're turning him down too, even if you're not.:: '''Yeslick Orothiar'''--> ''Watch what ye say. Good natured, I am. But I swing a mean axe when evil's concerned.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Bill Farmerhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yeslick_3633.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Dwarf-> '''Class:''' Fighter/Cleric-> '''Alignment:''' LawfulGood-> '''Place of origin:''' Cloakwood forestYeslick is a good-hearted dwarven warrior-priest, and one of few surviving members of his clan when their ancestral mines were accidentally flooded. He ended up befriending the wrong human, was doublecrossed and forced to reveal the location of his clan's mine and help reclaim it. If you rescue him he helps you in re-flooding the mine (which is a major blow to the villains' operations) and can join your party. He doesn't get along with fellow dwarf Kagain whom he finds very much to be a disgrace to dwarves due to his money-grubbing personality, while Kagain considers him an embarrassment to other dwarves due to his alleged "stupidity" and charitable nature. Like Tiax and Quayle you can only get Yeslick fairly late in the game, which makes him unpopular with many players since you normally already have a well-developed party at that point (however, they were pretty okay with his personality). A fan-made mod exists which makes him available sooner.Associated Tropes:* BadassBeard: We're talking about a [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarf]], after all.* DropTheHammer: His weapon of choice. Given that he can't use axes, it's a little odd he mentions them in the page quote.* DugTooDeep: His clan's mines were flooded when they broke through to an underground river. Well, they only hit an underground river instead of an EldritchAbomination but the effects were no less devastating.* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: It's hard to explain how he befriended [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Rieltar Anchev]] otherwise.* IdiotBall: He clearly was holding one, which caused him to trust the wrong person and get tortured. He's got an Intelligence score of 7 (where the world average is 10), too.** Intelligence is more "book learning"; Wisdom is considered the common sense stat. You would think someone with a Wisdom of 16 wouldn't be such an idiot, but he was. Maybe it was lower before you met him and freed him?* KillItWithWater: What he suggests doing to the bandits that took his clan's mine.* LastOfHisKind: Well, not quite the last of his clan, but you never encounter any of the other survivors.* LawfulGood: [[strike:in-universe]] A duty-driven, traditional dwarf with a generous streak and a good-natured personality. * NiceGuy* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Compared to Korgan and Kagain, he's really different, but Yeslick is probably the closest one you can get to classic Tolkien-style dwarves.* ThePaladin: In all but name. He's basically a dwarven paladin (fighter/cleric), except that the second edition rules did not allow non-humans to be paladins. * ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Rather subdued, but he seems to enjoy bashing in the heads of evil people.* PutOnABus: Yeslick is not encountered, or even mentioned at all in [=BG2=], so his fate after the first game is unknown.* ReligionIsMagic: Yeslick is a cleric of Clangeddin, the dwarven god of war and justice. * TheRival: Kagain. Yeslick remarks that while all dwarves are family, he refuses to see Kagain as such.* ShoutOut: One of his annoyed quotes is him singing 'Lali Ho!' from ''Disney/SnowWhite''.* StoneWall: Like Jaheira; Lots of hit points and enough strength to use Full plate and Large shields in addition to divine buffing spells, but little offensive power.::'''Ajantis Ilvastarr'''--> ''We have much evil to fight, we have no time for idleness.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jason Marsdenhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ajantis_604.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Paladin-> '''Alignment:''' LawfulGood-> '''Place of origin:''' WaterdeepAjantis is a Paladin who serves Helm and is under the Order of Radiant Heart. His superior is Keldorn (which is probably why they get along even when they worship different Gods). He's joining the Bhaalspawn's group to spread the teaching of Helm and just generally do good like how a Paladin should do. Unfortunately, he's a little unstable (in that he claims to sense evil ''everywhere'', even in perfectly peaceful towns/villages) and not very pragmatic; he has been seen turning on evil-aligned party members for the barest provocation and sometimes none at all, so people with Evil in their alignment are encouraged to steer clear of him.During the second game Ajantis gets sent to the Windspear Hills with several Paladins. However, he is later put under a spell that makes him think that a group of men who came to them are gnolls and ogres. Unfortunately, the spell also makes those who see Ajantis' group think they look like gnolls and ogres, and the group happens to be the Bhaalspawn's group, who proceeds to kill Ajantis by accident.There's also a mod in progress that makes Ajantis savable and allows him to join your party.Tropes associated with Ajantis:* BlackAndWhiteMorality: As noted by Xan, who calls him 'The Resident Suicide Monger', he lives in this.** BlackAndWhiteInsanity: In fact, he will randomly attack evil members of your party if you're not careful. Especially annoying as about one third of all available party members are evil.* {{BFS}}: Starts with a [[OneHandedZweihander Bastard Sword]], and he will pick up proficiency points in Two-handed swords as well if you wait too long.* DemotedToExtra: RedShirt, in fact.* DroppedABridgeOnHim: At the hands of the player character, no less.* FlatCharacter: Moreso than any other recruitable NPC.* ForGreatJustice: About his entire personality, shoosh.* HealingHands: Like all Paladins in the setting.* JusticeWillPrevail: He does NOT tolerate evil.* KnightTemplar: Probably the straightest example who can join your party.* LargeHam: "This [forest/city/dungeon] has a sense of EVIL about it" is his standard line whenever you enter a new place.* LawfulGood: [[strike:in-universe]] Being a Paladin and all.* ThePaladin: The only one in the first game. But yeah, he fits - a little too well, perhaps.::'''Garrick'''--> ''Brave Sir Garrick lead the way, Brave Sir Garrick RAN AWAY!!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Dee Bradley Bakerhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/garrick_7794.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Human-> '''Class:''' Bard-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral-> '''Place of origin:''' ?Garrick is a traveling Bard who held a free-will life and just joins the Bhaalspawn for fun. He may later try to woo the noblewoman Skie, even though she's all heels to Eldoth, whom he despises not just because he's his competition, but because Eldoth is... well... an evil sleazeball.Later, Garrick is no longer involved with the Bhaalspawn, but tried to woo a Female Paladin of the Order of the Radiant Heart. However, he's too shy and asks a gnome (named [[CyranoDeBergerac Cyrando]] to help him woo her. The Paladin in question ends up marrying the gnome, while Garrick ends up with someone else.Tropes associated with Garrick:* CannotSpitItOut: As Lady Irlana observes, he's awfully inarticulate for a bard.* ChaoticNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]]Though not of the batshit insane[=/=]ChaoticStupid variety; merely that of the free spirit. His alignment has more to do with his class than his actual personality.** In fact, the way he acts and his Biography both push him closer to NeutralGood or LawfulNeutral, in both cases with a tendency towards LawfulGood.* DemotedToExtra: Shows up in the sequel, but only in a very minor role.* DidNotGetTheGirl: His lot in life, it would seem.* TheDitz: When encountered and spoken to in the second game, he has ''no idea'' who the player is, nor does he remember Silke, the evil sorceress who hired him. If present, Jaheira will comment on this.* DoggedNiceGuy: Always trying (and failing) to woo the ladies.* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: His first employer says it all.* LoveTriangle: He tries to create one with Eldoth and Skie.* NiceGuy: He tries very hard. He's [[DoggedNiceGuy not very successful]], unfortunately.* PlayingCyrano: The aptly-named Cyrando is this to Garrick.* TheRival: To Eldoth, whom he HATES.* ShoutOut: To [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Brave Sir Robin!]]** Not to mention the whole bit with the paladin and the gnome is a clear take on ''CyranoDeBergerac''.** When in a city, he may also spontaneously sing, "'Tis a beautiful day in the neighborhood!", similar to the opening song of ''Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood''. He will also recite part of ''Trees'' by Joyce Kilmer ("I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree") when he's in the woods with your party. His voice is really low, though, so it's hard to hear what he's saying without turning on the subtitles.* SpoonyBard: He's not all that useful a character. Lampshaded in the sequel, where he can admit that he's not a very good bard.* TenorBoy: A standard example. Actually, he and everybody related to him could easily be stock characters in a comic opera, including their voice types, so it was probably intentional.* WalkingTheEarth: His approach to the adventuring life.* WideEyedIdealist: Unfortunately, he is very much WrongGenreSavvy.::'''Alora'''--> ''Happy happy joy joy! Happy happy joy joy!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Amber Hoodhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alora_827.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Halfling-> '''Class:''' Thief-> '''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood-> '''Place of origin:''' IreaborAlora is a Halfling thief who can be encountered during a nightly heist at the Hall of Wonders in Baldur's Gate. However, she is not really malevolent or even dangerous, but rather, as she says, merely "interested in what people have," and will be happy to join the party to share her fun a bit with somebody.Associated Tropes:* ActionGirl: Less so than some of the others, but she can still hold her own.* AwesomeButImpractical: In terms of stats, she is the best thief in the game: Halflings get the best racial bonuses, she has extremely high Dexterity and she has an Alora-only item that boosts each Thief skill by 10%. Unfortunately you get her so late in the game that most of her points have been spent into ''Pickpockets'', instead of the necessary ''Find Traps'', not to mention that you can't use her for the first couple of Dungeons.* {{Backstab}}* BrattyHalfPint: Has shades of this, but in comparison to some of the other characters mentioned on this list, she's positively harmless.* CantCatchUp: You get her so late in the first game that she's not much use. It's not so much that she can't catch up as that she's already as leveled as she'll ever get with lousy HP and her thieving skill points put into relatively useless skills.* ChaoticGood: [[strike:in-universe]]Doubters be damned, she's going to make the entire party play nice and do good things. * TheCutie* FalseInnocenceTrick: According to her backstory, she is not above exploiting her CutenessProximity to win over law enforcement trying to arrest her, and has in fact stayed out of jail this long because of it. Of course, like the other facets of her personality, it's difficulty to hold this against her for too long.* ForHappiness: Yes, and even more than Coran at that. Like in his case, this of course also encompasses her own happiness, but since she is much less mature, her deeds are also usually more harmless.* GenkiGirl: Even more pronounced than Imoen - this is her entire personality.* {{Hobbits}}: And a clear contrast to both Mazzy and Montaron, who are seemingly created as an aversion of the trope.** Although notably her backstory indicates she didn't think too much of other aspects of halfling culture, such as a love of home and hearth.* LovableRogue: She seems to think of herself this way, and she is pretty lovable.* NiceGirl: Alora is all sugar, no vinegar.* PutOnABus: Along with lots of others.** Her character files appear in the sequel and she can be summoned with the console, so she was intended to be in the game at some point. That would have made her the only pure thief in the game besides Yoshimo.* RoseHairedSweetie: She manages to get on everybody's good side, even ''[[IneffectualLoner Edwin's]]''.* ShoutOut: To RenAndStimpy, of all things.::'''Kagain'''--> ''I like it here, where the gold grows.''--> '''Voiced by:''' John Marianohttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kagain_5668.jpg-----> '''Race:''' Dwarf-> '''Class:''' Fighter-> '''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil-> '''Place of origin:''' ?Yet another dwarven fighter, Kagain runs a mercenary company in the town of Beregost which provides protection for caravans, and he can join the party looking for a wealthy customer who went missing on the road. In contrast to other evil characters, he tends to be rather quiet, although he is very obsessed with money and gold. He is at odds with Yeslick, who continually chastises his greed, while Kagain hates him for being too 'goody-goody' and stupid. Sometimes this can come to blows.Associated Tropes:* AffablyEvil: Compared to the other evil characters, at least. * AnAxeToGrind: His favored weapons are axes.* ALighterShadeOfBlack: As several of the below tropes indicate, he's small "e" evil - greedy and unpleasant, but not actively malevolent. His mercenary company is apparently rather tame by the standards of the setting as well, as it seems to focus on bodyguarding needs rather than assassination.** He also has the dubious honor of being one of only two Evil party members in the pre-Enhanced Edition who ''isn't'' some flavor of crazy, with the other being Viconia. Xzar and Tiax are raving lunatics, Montaron and Korgan are bloodthirsty sociopaths, Shar-Teel and Eldoth are raging sexists, and Edwin is mildly delusional and prone to talking to himself. Arguably, Sarevok counts as a third "sane evil" character, but he was out to make himself the new God of Murder before you killed him.* BewareTheQuietOnes: He's rather calm for a dwarf, fighter ''and'' [[TokenEvilTeammate evil companion]], considering which [[WorldOfHam game]] we're talking about.* BadassBeard* CoolHelmet: He wears a cool winged helmet, though it doesn't have magical properties aside from the immunity to critical hits common to all helmets. It's also seen in the portrait. * DiscOneNuke: He is one of the most popular party members, because most companions in the first game have rather lousy health and a proper MightyGlacier thus is invaluable. You can get him as early as Beregost, provided you enter the right building.* EvenEvilHasStandards: When he sees a caravan of slaughtered women and children, he decides it's not worth the money he'd get from salvaging it and just leaves.* GeniusBruiser: He has a 15 in Intelligence. Very high for a fighter, especially an AD&D dwarf fighter -- Intelligence is traditionally a DumpStat for fighters, especially under the AD&D ruleset. Presumably it is this Intelligence that allows him to be a successful businessman.* GoldFever: Although he never betrays the party for it, making it a minor subversion.* {{Greed}}: His defining characteristic. -->"Gold rules the word, kid. The sooner you learn that, the better life will treat ya."* GrumpyBear: He can be polite when he feels like it (he's certainly very nice when he's hiring you) but most of the time Kagain acts like someone just trampled through his flower bed.* HatesSmalltalk: Always prefers to get straight to the topic.* HealingFactor: His constitution of 20 (which is pretty much unheard of) allows him to slowly regenerate over time.* HiddenCharacter: The door to his store in Beregost is turned backwards to the player screen, meaning that unless you just enter every single house in town or take a look at the minimap, which notes his house, there is a real chance that you won't even discover his existence.* INeedAFreakingDrink: One of his character quotes.* LackOfEmpathy: He pretty much states when hiring you that he actually doesn't care one bit that his customers were probably slaughtered by bandits, and that the only reason he bothers to look after them is that one of them is the son of the richest man in all of Baldur's Gate. * LawfulEvil: [[strike:in-universe]] Kagain can be ruthless in his eternal quest for more money and is a born miser, but he's happy to earn his money by making an honest living as a mercenary defending caravans from bandits. He also hires you to help him with salvaging a ruined caravan, offering to pay you a small but tidy sum of money in return.* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: He starts with a shield and will have ranks in Shield and Sword Style if recruited at higher levels.* MightyGlacier[=/=]StoneWall: Kagain is the tankiest recruitable character in the series, with massive Constitution, a HealingFactor and the strength to wear even the heaviest armour. He's not very competant on the damage front, but many players have pointed out that he doesn't have to be. * NoPronunciationGuide: He'll only mention his name once, and it's fairly easy to miss. Thus, it's easy to miss that his name is pronounced "kay-gin" and not "ka-gayn".* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: He's got a very different personality from Yeslick, but he's a fighter with a beard who swings an axe/hammer. 'Nuff said.* PrivateMilitaryContractors: He runs a rather shady mercenary company that seems to function primarily as an caravan escorting service.* ProtagonistWithoutAPast: Even other evil characters have biographies explaining their backstory, but literally nothing is known (or given) about Kagain other than what's on this page (and incidentally, he's happy to keep it that way).* PutOnABus: Like all the other [=BG1=] characters who didn't make the cut for the sequel.* TheRival: Yeslick. Kagain snorts that he's an embarrassment to dwarves everywhere, and the feeling is mutual. * SurroundedByIdiots: -->"If I had a copper for every moron I've come across, I could buy Baldur's Gate!"* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: It's not even obviously Scottish as you'd expect.::'''Biff the Understudy'''--> ''*sob* I really, really tried... *sob*''--> '''Voiced by:''' Rob PaulsenIn [=BG1=], if you'd murdered an NPC who was required for the story to continue, Biff the Understudy would appear magically and say his lines for him before disappearing, to keep the game (vaguely) continuous. If this happened to a potential party member, Biff could actually join the group, making him the only playable character with no portrait. In [=BG2=], the game handles plot-important [=NPCs=] dying by spawning an area-specific super-enemy that can't be defeated, or having the NPC turn invulnerable and leave the area until you come back, making Biff unnecessary. He gets a brief cameo in the second game as an unsuccessful actor.Associated Tropes:* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: His very reason for existence.* JokeCharacter: He's effectively useless in combat, if he joins your group.[[/folder]][[folder:Party Members in Baldur's Gate II]]:: '''Yoshimo'''-->''Hiiiiii yah! Heh, the tourists love that stuff.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Maurice Lamarchehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yoshimo_7963.jpg----Yoshimo is an adventurer and swashbuckler from [[FarEast Kara-Tur]], who joins your party in the first dungeon in the second game after having escaped a fate as experimental subject by whoever runs the place. Being the pre-Extended Edition game's only single-class thief, and a generally easygoing character on top of it, Yoshimo fits into pretty much every party. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he is actually a mole planted by Irenicus in the party. He is not at all very fond of his employer, but a Geas is put on him to force him to obey.]]Associated Tropes:* [[spoiler:AlasPoorVillain]]* [[spoiler:AntiVillain: Type IV]]* BackStab: Like any self-respecting D&D thief.* [[spoiler:BecomingTheMask: Despite the fact that he's [[TheMole secretly working for Irenicus]], he does come to care for the rest of the party and hate himself for betraying them. He's magically compelled to do so anyway, however.]]* BoobyTrap: As a bounty hunter, he specializes in setting them.* BountyHunter: It's his class kit, but he isn't really one, but more like something of a freelance mercenary.* TheCharmer: In a game full of people as varied as ''Baldur's Gate'', the only person Yoshimo doesn't get along with is Haer'Dalis. [[spoiler:Which is because Haer'Dalis is onto him]].* CorporateSamurai: Although he'd prefer to work on different levels of agreement with [[spoiler:Irenicus]].* CrutchCharacter: The only single-class thief in the vanilla game (Hexxat from the Enhanced edition is one as well), has no personality or alignment conflicts with anyone, and comes with very good trap disarming abilities and bounty hunter traps. The game practically pushes for you to keep him. [[spoiler:Eventually he leaves you at Spellhold no matter what you do and conveniently frees up a slot for Imoen to join.]]* DeadpanSnarker: A light case, but it's there.* EmpathicWeapon: He comes with a katana that only he can use, as it's bonded to him, though it's not very powerful.* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:Having him directly betray you at Spellhold will cause your party members to have interesting, unique responses, often to the tune of WasItAllALie and with strong overtones of WeUsedToBeFriends.]]* FakeNationality: He's voiced by Canadian actor Maurice [=LaMarche=], better known as [[PinkyAndTheBrain The Brain]]. But you really wouldn't know it.* GratuitousJapanese: Almost all his dialogue is in (perfect) English, but he does speak a few phrases of GratuitousJapanese. They [[BilingualBonus actually make sense in context]], though they don't suit his rather carefree and informal personality. Which makes sense, in a way, given [[spoiler: his cheerful persona is partly an act to disguise his [[SixthRangerTraitor true intentions.]]]]* HumansAreWhite: There are plenty of black people in Amn, but he's from Kara-Tur, the setting's [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Asia analogue]], and given his fondness for katanas and [[GratuitousJapanese Japanese]] almost certainly one of the Japan-analogues. Along with Tamoko, he's one of only two Kara-Turans in the games.* KatanasAreJustBetter* {{Kiai}}: He shouts this upon a successful CriticalHit. And he uses this as part of his GratuitousJapanese. Aside of the quote at the top of his section, there's also "Very well! *sigh* Hiiiii yah."* [[spoiler: KilledOffForReal]]: There are mods to work around this, however.* [[spoiler: LastSecondChance: The player can offer him one after he betrays the party. He can't take it, though, because he's under a geas forcing him to be loyal to Irenicus]].* LovableRogue: Part of what makes him good at his job.* [[spoiler:TheMole]]* MortonsFork: ButThouMust [[spoiler:kill him if you take him to Spellhold]]. If you don't, [[spoiler:he will be killed anyway by his {{geas}}]].* MrExposition: He has a lot of knowledge about Athkathla and the surrounding area which he will happily share with you. It's part of why people will recommend you take him along on your first playthrough. He essentially serves the role of Imoen while she is not available.* NoodleIncident: Two cases. Firstly, Yoshimo is in some manner of trouble with Athkatla's local Thieves' Guild and you have to bail him out: The exact nature of this trouble is never revealed (but is implied to be something along the lines of 'thieving without guild permission'). Secondly, Yoshimo can pull a favour to get you into Spellhold due to an unexplained and, in his own words, rather embarrasing event concerning the pirate king of the local island. [[spoiler:The latter is heavily implied to be Irenicus giving the pirate king orders to let Yoshimo into Spellhold.]]* ObfuscatingStupidity: Though not exactly 'stupid', more like 'harmless' -- Yoshimo is a lot more cunning than his carefree countenance lets on.* [[spoiler:PlotlineDeath: Whether you bring him to Spellhold or not; if you do, you have to kill him, if you don't, he fails to obey his Geas and dies as a consequence.]]* [[spoiler:PunchClockVillain]]: He most likely wouldn't have even met you [[spoiler:if Irenicus hadn't hired him. All he wants, in fact, is to regain his freedom]].* TheReliableOne: What he seems at first. Then... well, look at the white space.* [[spoiler:SacrificialLion: Possibly, depending on how sympathetic you find him.]]* [[spoiler:SixthRangerTraitor]]* [[spoiler:TemporaryScrappy]]: Subverted. He seems at first glance after TheReveal like one, but he has his own complex personality and may not be unlikeable in the least if you consider him sympathetic enough.* TranquilFury: His battle quotes are directed towards dramatic understatement, not ChewingTheScenery. --> "Pay attention... you will get no second chance!"\\"Fear is for those of no confidence!"* TrueNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] Of the self-interested but not evil, "live-and-let-live" variety.* [[spoiler:WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife]]* WordOfGod: Although thought by some to be {{Fanon}}, David Gaider has confirmed that Yoshimo is Tamoko's younger brother and came west looking for her [[spoiler: and ended up with the geas as a result of his search for revenge]].:: '''Aerie'''-->''My wings have been clipped... oh, I wish you could understand how it feels to be bound to the ground, chained and weighted like a miserable prisoner of earth...''--> '''Voiced by:''' KathSouciehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aerie_8389.jpg----Aerie is another romanceable character; a potentially powerful cleric/mage with a sweet demeanour but a very traumatic past. She's an Avariel, a winged elf, captured by slavers and had her wings clipped off to preserve her life, until the Gnome Illusionist Quayle rescued her and adopted her as his niece. She joins the player character's party when they are investigating her circus which was under the illusion of another gnome named Kalah. She struggles with life on the ground, but manages to move on eventually, ''much'' more easily if she gets romanced by a nice male player character; otherwise she has to go through disillusionment and frustration first. She doesn't get along with Korgan, and may also develop a romance with Haer'Dalis. If romanced with a male player character, she gives him his first son and has one of the happiest endings amongst the entire roster.Associated Tropes:* AbortedArc: There was supposed to be a quest that will turn her into a bird, enabling her to fly again, but instead she decides to face her troubles on the ground and [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]]. Time constraints aborted it, but the change can be seen in her lines in [=ToB=].* ActionMom: During [=ToB=] she can bear a male CHARNAME's child and carry him into battle on her back.* AllLovingHero: Although she eventually grows out of it.* ApologeticAttacker: At first. She [[TookALevelInBadass later becomes much less apologetic about it]], however.* BabiesEverAfter: In addition of giving birth to a male CHARNAME's first son, [[spoiler: she also gave birth to his daughter in the epilogue.]]* BadassAdorable: She becomes one by ''Throne of Bhaal''.* BattleCouple: With either a male PC or Haer'Dalis, potentially.* BettyAndVeronica: She's Betty. So, so Betty.* BreakTheCutie: Her backstory. Being enslaved and handicapped. She goes through a really hard one in ''Throne of Bhaal'' if you're romanced. [[spoiler: A shade will bluff her into thinking that her mother has been killed while searching for her, and she is the one to blame. It's a big, fat lie (the romance epilogue confirms this) but she ''really'' breaks.]]** StepfordSmiler: Very depressed deep down, but she tries to keep a positive outlook in spite of it.* BrokenBird: It's clear from her many romance dialogues in ''Shadows of Amn'' that she has emotional issues coming out of the wazoo. Considering she's been enslaved, sold to a circus, mistreated horribly and lost her wings, however, she can hardly be blamed. [[QuitYourWhining Not that other characters won't get tired of her moments of weepiness, mind you]]. * ChronicHeroSyndrome: Pretty much requests you help everyone you come across. Acting like this was also what got her imprisoned in the first place.* ComingOfAgeStory: Her CharacterArc is basically this.* {{Claustrophobia}}: Being underground makes her extremely uncomfortable, for understandable reasons. * CowardlyLion: Her pre-TookALevelInBadass persona. She's very timid but still a competent Cleric/Mage determined to fight injustice.* TheCutie: Oh yes.* EarnYourHappyEnding: After all she's been through, her Romance Ending is definitely one of the happiest. * FreakinessShame: She has self-image problems because she ''doesn't'' have wings anymore.* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Despite being portrayed as [[NaiveNewcomer almost]] [[TheIngenue completely]] [[WideEyedIdealist naive]] in the ways of the world, Aerie has a high WIS score and has already attained a high character level when you meet her.** Actually, Wisdom doesn't seem to measure ''Experience'' and ''People skills'' (although anybody with less than 12 Wisdom ''does'' seem to be TooDumbToLive) so much as it measures ''Belief'', ''Devotion'' and ''Piety'', of which she has plenty. No explanation for the high character level though.* HairDecorations: More of them than the rest of the party members combined.* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: She's the blonde among the romanceable female characters. She's also the sweet, feminine, innocent one.* [[spoiler: HappilyMarried: The end of her romance arc with a male CHARNAME has her demanding marriage from him. You can accept the offer or not but it won't matter since you'll be married in the epilogue anyway.]]* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Her epilogue if she's not romanced, as she goes on a vengeance spree against Sword Coast slaver rings. She eventually manages to calm down and returns to her home after springing some fellow Avariel from slavery.* HeyItsThatVoice: Voiced by the ever-sweet-voiced KathSoucie.* InnocentBlueEyes* TheIngenue: At first.* LastGirlWins: If you choose her over Jaheira and Viconia, who are both met during the events of the first game.* LawfulGood: [[strike:in-universe]] She prefers to do good within the law, but it's not as big of a deal for her as Anomen or Keldorn.* LoveTriangle: If a male PC romances her with Haer'Dalis in the party, this will result.* MagikarpPower: Starts out with a dreadful HP total and only reaches the higher-level spells (6+) by the endgame. By ''Throne of Bhaal'' Aerie is the most flexible spellcaster in the game bar none and can wield the Amulet of Power and Robe of Vecna for instant-speed healing as well as offensive mage spells; she still can't sling highest-level spells as often as Edwin or Nalia or Viconia can but she can pick and mix between both their abilities.** The best part is actually the fact that she will gain additional spells per day at a quadratic pace in comparison to the other mages. By the end of the game she will have almost ''100'' spells to cast per day, which is significantly more than even [[MasterOfOneMagic Edwin]] has.** MasterOfAll: By the end of the game she will attain the mage level 20 and have 25 levels as a cleric, which is enough that all of her spells have maximal effect and to give her her [[RingOfPower Holy symbol]]. She can also, unlike the other divine spellcasters, put her Cleric spells into spell triggers and sequencers. Suffice to say, at this point in the game, there is not a single non-Druid spell in the game that she couldn't cast with maximal prejudice.* MoodSwinger: If you pursue a romance, she becomes prone to outbursts as old traumas start coming to the surface. Though she starts to pull herself together eventually.* NaiveNewcomer: When you first meet her, she hasn't seen much of the world outside of Quayle's circus.* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead: In romantic conflict with Jaheira, Aerie belittles the deceased Khalid straight to her face. It rubbed many fans the wrong way.* OutOfCharacterMoment: If you have her and Jaheira in the same group, she will insult Khalid during the romance triangle. It's totally out of character from the otherwise goody two-shoe Aerie. ** Though not completely unexpected. She was already showing signs of being a StepfordSmiler long before the meltdown.* PregnantBadass: Strangely enough, Aerie becomes a clear cut example of this despite her [[VirginityMakesYouStupid initial]] [[WideEyedIdealist characterization]]. After Saradush she will reveal her pregnancy to CHARNAME in dialogue; she can spend a good portion of [=ToB=] as this, before becoming an ActionMom.** It gets better. There's a good chance that she'll go into labor in the middle of a dungeon. After delivering the child, she takes a few moments to patch herself up with a few healing spells, then jumps right back to fighting/traveling alongside you with baby in tow.** Becomes a discussed trope as well. Initially, you can suggest she leave to keep the baby safe while you deal with the issues affecting the wider world; she points out to you that the baby has Bhaalspawn blood like you and will be hunted just as you are, so safety isn't a possibility. As far as she's concerned, her best chance to keep the baby safe is to stick with you so you can defend it together. Similarly, she asks you not to tell the others because she's finally earning their respect after years of being seen as a TagalongKid; she doesn't want them to revert to form by making a fuss over her condition or worrying about "poor pregnant Aerie". Sadly for her, the group is not fooled; the other members of the party quickly notice the physical side-effects of her pregnancy but choose to keep quiet. * QuitYourWhining: Is sometimes on the receiving end of this from other characters, who would much rather she get on with it instead of constantly coming out in tears. At one point CHARNAME is given the option to call her [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential a "weepy, sentimental mess"]]. * RedMage: She is a Cleric/Mage capable with both healing, protective and offensive spellcasting.* RulesAreForHumans: The Cleric/Mage multiclass in 2E (and Baldur's Gate) can't be selected by elves. In-story it is justified by her mentor being a gnome cleric/mage.* {{Sex As Rite-Of-Passage}}: A gender inversion. At the end of her initial romance arc, she will ask the PC to spend the night with her so that she can "become a woman". (It's not ''the'' reason, since she's an utter romantic, but it certainly comes up.) Needless to say, this is the ''wrong'' move, because she will decide in the morning that she's not ready for such a close relationship yet and puts it on hold. Telling her that there is more than that to love and that she should wait until she's more certain of her feelings is the right move. In the expansion pack, she and a male PC [[spoiler:apparently get intimate quite a bit, as Jan will observe. She also becomes pregnant with the PC's child.]]* ShrinkingViolet: At first. She [[TookALevelInBadass gets more assertive]] later on.* SquishyWizard: Ties for second-lowest constitution in the game (9) and is a multi-class on top of it.** She also starts out with only 27 hit points at level 6, meaning that even at the end of the game, she won't have gotten much more health.* TechnicalPacifist: At first doesn't really like the concept of fighting. (Battle cry: "I... I won't let my friends be hurt!") Until she [[TookALevelInBadAss changes her mind]].* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly Girl to Jaheira's Tomboy.* TookALevelInBadass: She starts spouting out 'I'll kick your ass' style voices in [=ToB=]. As she grows more confident, she gets in some quite good lines, including the following, to Irenicus: ''I came to Hell to help my friend! Who helps you, Irenicus? Demons? You're going to die alone in Hell and you know it!''* WhiteMagicianGirl: Despite being a RedMage, her demeanour fit this trope to a T.* WideEyedIdealist* WingedHumanoid: Or former WingedHumanoid, in this case.** Annoyingly, the game doesn't give a proper HandWave for why she can't use one of the myriad options canonically available to get them back (in contrast to Khalid, whose HandWave actually ''is'' in line with what can stop resurrections). She just doesn't regenerate her wings when subject to ''Regeneration'' for no apparent reason.:: '''(Sir) Anomen Delryn'''-->''There is an evil in my heart, I have always known this and I spoke of it to you. Hate and anger, twisted and black... and I... I cannot control it.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Rob Paulsenhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anomen_8866.jpg----Ah, Anomen. Squire of The Order of the Radiant Heart. {{Jerkass}} extraordinaire. Pompous, arrogant, insufferable and vain. He's on a quest to [[IWantToBeARealMan become a full knight]]. He's the only option for a female Bhaalspawn romance. Hurrah. Still a decent character gameplay-wise, though.Associated tropes:* AbusiveParents: He has a drunkard father that abuses the hell out of him--though only verbally, now that he's extremely fit and strong.* TheAlcoholic: Or son of TheAlcoholic, as the case may be.* BadassBoast: Anomen tends to brag about awesome, near-impossible battles he saw action in, though it's very debatable that he ever participated. There's a good chance he's rather intimidated by CHARNAME's resume and is just trying to measure up.** If he's being romanced he even admits at one point that he hasn't been on many campaigns, and that the things a female CHARNAME's accomplished on her adventures are much more impressive than anything he's done.* BigScrewedUpFamily: Anomen's family is a noble one quite possibly of this type, based on the things his father says.* BlackAndWhiteMorality: At first. Part of his character development is learning to look at the world with more nuance.* BlackSheep: Anomen becomes this if he refuses to avenge his sister's death; ironically, becoming a ''better'' person is what causes his alienation.* CallingTheOldManOut: He does so practically every time he talks to his father.* CarryABigStick: His favorite weapons are maces, but it is generally accepted that training him in [[DropTheHammer Warhammers]] or [[EpicFlail Flails]] is a better idea.* CharacterAlignment: Anomen starts out as LawfulNeutral. Succeed the test and he becomes LawfulGood. Fail the test, and he becomes ChaoticNeutral.* CharacterDevelopment: Even his detractors tend to acknowledge that the various subplots which involve him give him a lot of depth.* ChurchMilitant: He's a warrior-priest of Helm.* TheComicallySerious: Jan, Imoen, Korgan and Haer'Dalis ''love'' to mess with him.** Of course, this doesn't stop a CrowningMomentOfFunny when he taunts Edwin[[spoiler:a]] about the [[spoiler:GenderBender by asking to champion "her"]].* FakeBrit: A rare case of the character ''himself'' being a fake Brit: he adopted the accent because he thinks it's more knightly. Notably, his father has no such accent. You can call him on it if you want, but all it'll do is annoy him.* FantasticRacism: Particularly aggravating when directed at Mazzy, who is far nearer to the Paladin ideal than he could ever be, race restrictions or not.* TheFettered: Though less so if he fails his test. * FeudingFamilies: His family has an ongoing feud with another noble family in Amn, which leads to his character-specific {{subquest}}.* FreudianExcuse: Much of his [[{{Jerkass}} jerkassery]] is suggested to be a result of his family background.* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: His CharacterDevelopment and growth as a person are symbolised by a boost to his Wisdom score. * GameplayAndStorySegregation: Anomen is deeply concerned with honor and the law, and wants to be a noble paladin. But because his alignment starts out as a variation of Neutral, the game engine will make him start complaining if you do too many good deeds.** There's also the fact that he's a Fighter/Cleric dual-classed character with a WIS score of 12. It suits his character, but under the rules of the game it shouldn't be allowed.*** He gains a substantial wisdom boost if he passes his test.** Furthermore, he has lines like "Point the sword and I shall strike!" but as a fighter/cleric, he can't use any type of sword.*** [[PaintingTheMedium It's because the mouse cursor becomes a sword when you hover over the enemy.]]* HeroWithAnFInGood: He becomes this if you advise him to take vengeance on his sister's murderer. * HeyItsThatVoice: [[PinkyAndTheBrain "NARF!"]] Sadly, his dialogue with Yoshimo contains no ActorAllusion.* HolyHandGrenade. What he's best at. He has many Anti-Undead spells such as ''[[HolyBurnsEvil Holy Smite]]'' and ''[[WeakenedByTheLight Sunray]]'' at his disposal and can wield the Mace of Disruption. He is also the only NPC who can use TurnUndead to effectively kill a lot of undead enemies (Keldorn as an Inquisitor can't, Aerie's level progression is too slow, and Viconia, being evil, achieves [[MindControl a wholly different effect]] by turning them).* {{Hunk}}: A very straight example.* {{Hypocrite}}: In a sense. In his blind passion for his own knighthood ideal he completely fails to realize that others such as [[SquareRaceRoundClass Mazzy]] or even [[TheChampion Minsc]] come much closer to the actual image of a paladin. His religious zeal also causes him to berate [[NatureHero Cernd]] for using the word duty in his presence, claiming that druids wouldn't know anything about duty. He is also unwilling to accept criticism from people like [[OldMaster Keldorn]] who try to rerail him onto the right path. * IHaveNoSon: If he refuses to take revenge for his sister's death, his father disowns him.* ImpoverishedPatrician: Not quite, as his family still has a rather posh estate in Athkatla, but his father is in financial trouble and they seem to be on their way to this.* IWantToBeARealMan* {{Jerkass}}: Good grief. This trait has made Anomen top the list of people the fanbase [[TheScrappy just plain hated]] on more than one occasion. To begin with, he's proud, egotistical, vain, and quite loud in his expression of those traits. But all of that could be easily forgiven compared to some the stuff he comes out with. ** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: But apart from all the above, he's also a basically good-hearted, idealistic guy with the best of intentions.** He becomes less of a jerk if he's knighted, and/or being romanced by a female PC.* KarmaHoudini: In order to pass his test of knighthood, he has to [[spoiler:let the murderer of his sister go unpunished.]]** [[spoiler: Or, at least, the man he ''thinks'' is her murderer. Part of the test is learning to control his look-before-you-leap tendencies and rage.]]* KnightInShiningArmor: He likes to present himself as such; if you guide him in the right way through his personal crises he can actually become one for real.* KnightTemplar: At first, it's what he thinks the ideal knight should be. He only actually becomes a knight if you convince him otherwise.* LameComeback-->'''Anomen:''' I have failed at nothing! I was chosen to squire for my courage and nobility.\\'''Jan:''' Of course you didn't 'fail'! They have to tell the failures something to keep up blind obedience, that is to say, morale.\\'''Anomen:''' Just leave me be you icky little man!\\'''Jan:''' 'Icky"?? (ha ha) Did you think of that on your own? (ha ha ha ha)* LawfulStupid: At first. The quest involving his family forces him to consider the limitations of inflexible moral codes.* LordErrorProne: At first. He either grows out of it, or abandons it, depending on the player's actions.* MilesGloriosus: He's prone to bragging about things he couldn't possibly have done, but in his defense, he IS pretty powerful and only rarely are his "exploits" truly unbelievable.* ThePaladin: He would like to be. Whether he becomes one for real or not is up to you. Gameplay-wise he will never be one, no matter how hard he tries.* TheResenter: If he fails his test he becomes this towards Keldorn, eventually lashing out at him. * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He wants to go on one after Saerk murders his sister. You can convince him not to, however. [[spoiler: Saerk isn't guilty, either, which will only torment the poor guy more if Saerk's been murdered when he finds out.]]** It's kinda worse than that. [[spoiler: Initially there's not enough evidence to determine whether Saerk killed Anomen's sister or not. If Anomen murders Saerk, later it turns out Saerk isn't guilty. But if Anomen doesn't go after Saerk... guess what, it turns out Saerk hired the men who killed her.]]* SmallNameBigEgo: He boasts incessantly about both his status as a member of the Order of the Radiant Heart and the many battles in which he's fought, but he's still a squire and hasn't even been knighted at the time he's encountered.* TautologicalTemplar: His reasoning for why he is supposed to be morally superior to his environment is basically "[[YouKeepUsingThatWord Because I'm a Paladin!!!]]" Apparently, he didn't get the message that Paladins have to at least somewhat live up to their reputation.* TragicDream: His wish to become a Paladin comes ''very'' close to this. Basically, his quest for knighthood is a desperate attempt at trying to escape a vicious cycle within [[AristocratsAreEvil a rotten environment]] that threatens to completely consume him if he doesn't succeed, and it is a testament to his sheer determination that he came even as far as he did (for comparison, look at [[FailureHero how far]] Nalia came with her idealistic dream), especially considering that he is not only [[IdiotHero not very bright]], but also step by step violently opposed by the environment he is trying to leave behind. Essentially, he has already sacrificed almost all of his previous existence for his goal, and he is impatiently waiting for the reward for all his trouble. Rendering all of his effort for naught ([[VideoGameCrueltyPotential which you can do]]) understandably upsets him a little.* WellDoneSonGuy: Anomen has daddy issues up the ass.:: '''Korgan Bloodaxe'''--> ''Those grog-blossomed prickmedainties 'ave crossed me one time too many! We've some walking undead to dispatch, now, and then some live dead to find and bury!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Bill Martinhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/korgan_7052.jpg----A bloodthirsty dwarven berserker, essentially the evil {{Foil}} to Minsc. He can be first recruited as a mercenary in [=BG2=], and later follows the main character. He is generally considered a pain to deal with by other teammates, particularly the women. Ironically, he is sexually interested in Mazzy, the closest thing there is to a Halfling Paladin. Bizarrely, of every character in [=BG2=], Korgan is the only one who has no special ability or unique item, being ''only'' a dwarven berserker.Associated Tropes:* AffablyEvil: Korgan is boisterous and genial when you meet him, and befriends more characters then most of the other Evil party members. Having said that, he's also a bloodthirsty maniac who kills for coin and also because he gets bored sometimes, who probably killed a bunch of his old adventuring party members in their sleep.* AnAxeToGrind: His preferred weapon, not to mention his preferred way of threatening people. As a statistic he starts with 5 ranks (or Grand Mastery) in axes, which is the highest possible proficiency rank for a weapon in-game and part of what makes him so useful. * AxCrazy* {{Badass}}: Korgan [[ChaoticEvil may]] [[TheBerserker be]] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness many]] [[TheStarscream things]], but few can deny he's a badass. ** BadassBeard / BeardOfEvil: An impressive one at that.** BadassNormal / MagicallyIneptFighter: Apart from [[CrutchCharacter Yoshimo]], he is the only party member in the second game completely incapable of casting some sort of spell. He makes up for this with extremely high physical stats, [[AnAxeToGrind a good niche]] [[DropTheHammer weapon selection]] and [[BerserkButton a single special ability]] (granted by his class) which makes him completely immune to the vast majority of StandardStatusEffects.* TheBerserker: It's his character class.* BloodKnight* BoisterousBruiser* CainAndAbel: Murdered all of his brothers to secure his inheritance.* CardCarryingVillain: He's completely blasé about his brutish world-view, and outside a few banters with Mazzy completely unapologetic about it too.* CasanovaWannabe: Mazzy's not the only woman Korgan hits on, though hers is pretty much the typical reaction he gets.* ChaoticEvil: [[strike:in-universe]] Probably balances both sides of this trope. For Korgan, committing evil deeds and the freedom to commit evil deeds seem to be just as important.* ChaoticStupid: The other party members imply that he could become a respected person in society if he just learned to control himself a little. It would also definitely earn him more Love points with [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Mazzy]].* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: PlayedForLaughs. His former adventuring band drop the first hints of it when they accuse him of killing members of their group in their sleep (his altogether unconvincing glossing over of this doesn't help), and later cemented when he'll promise to kill you if you ever become an invalid, assuming you'd do the same to him.** He plays it down with the notion that he's giving out [[MercyKill mercy kills]]. * DarkAndTroubledPast* DeadpanSnarker: And completely unsubtle about it.* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Korgan shares his surname with real-life viking king Eric Bloodaxe, a man known for his cruelty who killed his brothers so he could rule their kingdom alone. Huh. * DoubleEntendre: He drops a few of them, particularly if Mazzy's around.-->Just so's ye know, I have somethin' long, hard, and low to the ground yer free to touch and fondle if ye wish. No need to glare, girlie: I was talkin' about me axe!* DropTheHammer: His secondary weapon, unsurprising considering [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame his race]]. It's very good if you want to give [[InfinityPlusOneSword Crom Faeyr and/or the Runehammer]] to a warrior and don't have [[TheScrappy Anomen]]. It's also very good if you are in need of some good blunt damage, such as to damage Golems or certain slimes.* ElvesVsDwarves: With all of them, including half-elven [[VolleyingInsults Jaheira]], but especially with [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers Aerie]]. Also [[EvilVersusEvil with Irenicus]], by necessity.* EvenEvilHasStandards: One of the ''very'' few decent things you ever hear him say only occurs if you pursue Jan Jansen's personal quest to help his friend's child. When it comes to light that the little girl's catatonia stems from being physically abused by her father, Korgan -- who we must remind you is an AxCrazy murdering bastard -- condemns the actions leading to her condition:-->'''Korgan:''' Ehhh, there be many things I would do gladly. Harming children be not one of them. Her man be a cur and not worthy of the spittle on me boot.* EvilCounterpart: To Minsc.* {{Expy}}: Seems to have been the inspiration for [[Franchise/DragonAge Oghren]], another dwarf berserker companion with a comedic side, a sweet tooth for beer and BloodKnight tendencies, as well as CasanovaWannabe traits. ** In particular, Korgan seems to be an {{Expy}} himself of all the HackAndSlash protagonists in First-Person RPG's out there. No flashy moves, spells or missile weapons, just a trusty axe, enormous physical power, and an extremely outspoken penchant for gratuitous violence and bloodshed.* FantasticRacism: Hates us Longlimbs, especially drow. But then, everyone hates the drow. * FreudianExcuse: Lost both his parents to inter-clan warfare and claims to have been negatively influenced by spending too much time amongst humans. Mazzy is less than convinced about the latter, but expresses sympathy for the loss of his parents.* GeniusBruiser: His bloodlust makes it easy to forget that Korgan is a smart enough guy, when he's not fulfilling dwarven stereotypes or threatening someone. Both Edwin and Rasaad will comment on him being an intelligent man. * GradualGrinder: While Korgan is without a doubt the most powerful party member in close combat, his fighting style is admittedly limited to "walk up to the target and hit it 'till it dies." Not particularly problematic with most enemies, but it can be a bit of a problem when confronted with a ''Stoneskin'' or ''Protection from Magical Weapons'' spell.* HairTriggerTemper: Berserker. Any wonders?* TheHedonist: A very mixed example. It is made clear that Korgan's Hedonism (and, especially, his bloodlust) is actually his nastier side since it can occasionally turn him into TheUnfettered. But it is also made clear that it is a substantial part of his personality and that without it, he would be far from the same person he is now, and both he and the other party members doubt that he can so easily get rid of it.* HeroesWantRedHeads: Or in Korgan's case, Psychotic BloodKnight wants red-headed halflings.* HeroicComedicSociopath: His brutishness and sociopath personality is mostly PlayedForLaughs, barring a few banters with Mazzy.* HiddenDepths: Surprisingly adept at poetry.* {{Jerkass}}: He may mellow out more if he gets to know you better, but his first reaction to anyone is to insult him/her. Also, it takes at the very least some deliberate effort on your part to reach a Charisma score of ''7''.* LadyMacbeth: He frequently urges you to take on the darker path choices, though mostly because they tend to have a greater [[OnlyInItForTheMoney monetary gain]].* LargeHam: Of the AxCrazy sort.-->''on a CriticalHit''-->'''A SKULLBREAKER!'''* [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero Licensed Sexist]]: As the quote above illustrates, he's quite boorish to women.* LightningBruiser: As a raw fighter, he will eventually get up to 3 attacks per round with any weapon he has Grandmastery proficiency with, and he will hit ''hard'' with it, what with his Strength. In addition to this, he is also the party member with the most hit points in the second game. That said, he won't ''move'' faster than any of your other units.* LukeNounVerber* MeaningfulName: Korgan Bloodaxe.* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: In one banter with Mazzy he sneers at his own race's inter-clan warfare, considering it to cause widespread suffering and death with minimal gains and to happen for stupid reasons. * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast* NominalHero: He may help you fight your monstrous AlwaysChaoticEvil enemies and [[BigBad Irenicus]], but he's about as far away from being a hero as Minsc is from composing poetry.* TheNapoleon: Played straight.* NotSoDifferent: Korgan observes that he and Edwin aren't that different in a banter.* OddFriendship: With Jan. They only have two dialogues, but both times Jan spins yarns that end with Korgan's definite approval. ** Also with [[KnightInShiningArmor Keldorn]] of all people. [[BashBrothers It's almost enough]] to qualify as HoYay. In general, Korgan gets astonishingly well along with some other party members for being [[TokenEvilTeammate evil]] and for having such a low Charisma score.* OnlyInItForTheMoney:-->'''Korgan:''' Aye! Great! Blasted bloody wonderful! Aye, let's go take on bloody trolls to get this man's gong back... and for NO REWARD, mind ye! I've a mind to go back to yon tavern and kick his BLOODY ARSE!* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: All except his insanity.* [[spoiler:ParentalAbandonment: It's revealed in his dialogs with Mazzy that he witnessed the murder of both his parents.]]* PetTheDog: Does, believe it or not, genuinely feel something for Mazzy, in his own screwed-up way.* PsychoForHire: He makes his living this way before you encounter him and seems to thrive on a ruthless reptutation. If you kick him out of the party after completing his personal quest, you have to pay him off to convince him to rejoin.* PsychoSupporter: He hints he would become this to you if you chose to become a god - just so long as you remembered your buddy Korgan, of course. * SecretTestOfCharacter: If he's in the same party as Aerie, he will relentlessly insult and belittle her. In the original release of [=BG2=], this would cause her to leave the party after awhile, but if the expansion is installed, she will eventually snap and insult him right back. At this point, he announces that his abuse was a SecretTestOfCharacter and now that she's proven she will stick up for herself, he's got no problem with her.** Usually insults characters after meeting them, and befriends those that insult him right back. Including [[NeutralGood Imoen]]. * TheSocialDarwinist: He despises "weak" people like [[FragileFlower Aerie]] and [[UpperClassWit Nalia]]. Nalia can take his insults. Aerie [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers can't]].* TheStarscream: One of his in-game lines is a threat to disembowel you. In his epilogue [[spoiler:he pulls off a Starscream gambit for real.]]* {{Troll}}: He insults Aerie. He makes crude come-ons to Mazzy. He tries to bond with Valygar over both having had to kill their own family. He sprouts ethnic slurs at Viconia. And, if Anomen fails his knighthood test, Korgan will cheerfully remind him of it. His 'favourite' party members are Imoen and Jan, who are able to give as well as they get.* TokenEvilTeammate: Sometimes.* VillainousFriendship: If your PC is evil and takes Korgan's suggestions to heart, then the relationship between the two of you becomes this. Korgan also gets along famously with Dorn, [[spoiler:Sarevok]] and Edwin. * VillainWithGoodPublicity: After the events of the game, [[spoiler: Korgan goes down in history for leading a doomed crusade against the drow. This wasn't because he disliked the drow, he just wanted to kill as many sentient beings as possible. Oh, and was it mentioned that he got a hold of the forces he used to support his bloodlust by killing their leader and sticking the blame to "a target of his choosing"?]] Rare that someone so nuts can get such a wonderful reputation.* ViolentGlaswegian: Since OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame, Korgan has an accent somewhere between Scottish and Welsh. Oddly, he is voiced by Bill Martin, who used to be a producer for TheMonkees.* VitriolicBestBuds: With Edwin. If you keep them both around until ''Throne of Bhaal'' they'll form a 'pact' of sorts and try to take over the band to get a bigger share of the loot. It lasts only until you ask them how they plan on distributing their joint share.* VulgarHumor: About 60% of his dialogue consists of this.:: '''Jan Jansen'''--> ''It's not every day that a gnome finds himself fighting in the Abyss and talking to a solar. I haven't done that for at least a year, now.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jack Rothhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jan_jansen_631.jpg----Jan Jansen is a gnomish peddler of turnips and illegal weaponry (but he's really more interested in the turnips). Much beloved by the fandom for his many quotes as well as his interactions with the other fan favorite character, Minsc, Jan is one of Baldur's Gate II's most recognizable characters.Associated Tropes:* AbnormalAmmo: His "Flasher Master Bruiser Mate" shoots toy skulls packed with explosive powder. Or normal crossbow bolts, depending on which you have equipped. How it's capable of firing both equally well is not explained.** And with a certain mod installed, he eventually gains the ability to fire bolts loaded with ''insect swarms''.** Given how ridiculously overengineered that thing's portrait appears, it's not hard to imagine it might have multiple barrels. For that matter, it probably has a hat shop, lemming farm, and kitchen sink.* AerithAndBob: Almost everyone else in this world has a fantastic name (or two): both of his are fairly common real world names.* AutomaticCrossbows: His WeaponOfChoice. When encountered, he comes with his personal one (which looks actually more like a mechanical Railgun) named ''Flasher Launcher'' which can shoot above-mentioned AbnormalAmmo.* BlatantLies: Jan's not above lying to you at first if it'll get you to listen to rest of his story.* BunnyEarsLawyer[=/=]{{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Vies with Minsc for nuttiest member of the party, though it's uncertain just how much is actual lunacy and how much is an act. They have a lot of banter, including Jan's bizarre attempts at stealing Boo.* ChaoticNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] The stories he tells indicate a personality bordering on ChaoticStupid, though he doesn't act that way when in the party.* DeadpanSnarker: Towards Edwin.-->'''Jan''': Truth be told, I feel a bit sorry for you. It must be frustrating to see your entire life's goals amount to absolutely nothing.\\'''Edwin''': What do you know of [[TakeOverTheWorld my goals]], gnome?\\'''Jan:''' By the gods, Edwin, you talk about them often enough. Oh! Looks like I've hit a vein. Sorry about that.\\''Edwin:''': One, day you will bow before me, gnome. That shall be a time of reckoning.\\'''Jan''': If you say so. Let me know when it's time to bow. I might not notice it.* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: In his ending [[spoiler:he manages to control a pack of knife-wielding gibbons to kill [[AssholeVictim Vaelag.]] Anything is possible with that many knife-wielding gibbons.]]* ExpansionPackPast: Most of it probably made up.* FountainOfExpies: Well, [[VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2 Grobnar]] and [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Varric]] are definitely partially modeled after him.* GadgeteerGenius: He's managed to invent a high tech explosive crossbow, vision-enhancing goggles, and an energy absorbent suit. Not bad for a pseudo-Renaissance setting.** With the Banter pack mod installed, Jan will invent a number of other things, like a monstrously overengineered crossbow for Valygar which he dubs 'the permanent solution to his wizard problem'. Valygar, in a rare moment of GenreSavvy, asks if this will be one of those weapons that shoots the bolt around the world and hits the firer in the back. Jan replies that it's 100% guaranteed. Try to use it in-game and you'll find this is entirely accurate.* GenreSavvy: Jan is surprisingly insightful and aware he's in a story if you're willing to actually listen to him.** Actually, something that should tick you off from the get-go is his unnaturally high Wisdom stat, which at first glance doesn't fit his personality.* HurricaneOfPuns: He unleashes them upon occasion.* ItRunsInTheFamily: The rest of the Jansen clan is practically as weird as he is.* IveNeverSeenAnythingLikeThisBefore: Only once: when Jan and the party literally go to Hell.-->''Whoa! This place looks just like...it reminds me of...this is just like that time I...hmm. I don't think anything like this has ever happened to me before...''* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Jan's personal quest will eventually end like this if you get the best result: The love of his life, Lissa, gets back together with her evil, wife-beating husband Vaelag [[BlatantLies who promises he'll change]]. Jan doesn't believe Vaelag for a second, but knows Lissa loves him.** Subverted in his Throne of Bhaal ending: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that he trained a horde of monkeys to attack Vaelag's estate. In the end, he ends up with his lover.]]* LethalJokeCharacter: At first, Jan comes across as a fairly useless character [[PluckyComicRelief included primarily for amusement value]] (with even the [[StrategyGuide Official Perfect Guide]] having him as the lowest rated character, claiming there's nothing good to say about him), but used correctly he's actually quite capable of holding his own against other, more obviously powerful characters.** He also gets quite lethal in ''Throne of Bhaal'' since he's the only one of two [=NPC=]s who can get thief High-Level Abilities, and has illusionist magic and mage [=HLA=]s on top of it.** Jan may admittedly be the least powerful party member when it comes to combat, but he has quite an arsenal of special abilities if you know how to use him right. His Illusionist spells come in very handy, and he can make excellent use of the otherwise often-forgotten secondary thief skills such as ''Pickpocket'' (saves you tons of money if used right), ''Detect Illusion'', a very useful combat skill because of how many mages love invisibility spells, ''Set Traps'', a fantastic preparatory skill for big battles, and he can also {{Backstab}} for massive damage. Beyond that, one fact makes him almost necessary for any party, unless CHARNAME is a thief. Why? Because Imoen and Nalia, the only other thieves who are permanent members of the party, are ''dual-classed''. This means that their thief levels are set, so they can't ever improve their thieving abilities. The multi-classed Jan is the only thief follower in an unmodded game who is capable of advancing his thief skills, allowing him to keep up with the increasingly high demands for detect/remove traps and open locks.*** With a score of 80 you can disarm almost any trap in the game and open almost every chest and door (and then, if that doesn't work, you can always use bashing). Also, as of the Enhanced Edition, Imoen comes with 100 Open Locks and 95 Find Traps. And this is not even mentioning the Rings which improve these skills which you can find.* LetsGetDangerous: He's generally incapable of taking things seriously, but in the sidequest during which his former love and her child are endangered he credibly threatens to open up a can of whoopass on his antagonist.* MeaningfulName: Shares the name of a PlaygroundSong that plays out the same way as '[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_song_that_never_ends The Song That Never Ends]]' -- that is to say, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yon_yonson it never does]]''. Neither, of course, does his rambling.* MotorMouth: Talks more than just about any other character, usually just to tell another pointless story involving turnips. Luckily, most of them are [[PluckyComicRelief pretty]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny amusing]].* TheMunchausen: And how.* NamesTheSame: Jan Jansen does not come from Wisconsin.** Nor does he work in a lumber mill there, despite any claims to the contrary.* NoodleIncident: Quite a few of the crazier events he makes reference to in his stories go unexplained.* ObfuscatingStupidity: Don't take Jan's turnip fixation, bizzare inventions and tendency to tell random stories for idiocy.** During his somewhat more lucid moments, mostly during Jan's sidequest with his old girlfriend, Jan puts the (hilarious) storytelling aside and reveals that he is actually very, very much aware of what is happening around, knows how to fix it, and is [[BewareTheNiceOnes totally pissed]] that Vaelag is trying to interfere with his girl, even if she isn't really his girl anymore. Furthermore, I think we all know that Jan would have been perfectly capable of turning Vaelag and his goons in to charred, bite-sized Chunks'O'Gnome, and that the only thing that stopped him was [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy the lady's protest.]] Jan Jansen knows where you live.* NonActionGuy: He is the party member least suited for combat in the second game. He only get's a single attack per round with his crossbows, his wizard level progression is slower than that of anybody short of [[MagikarpPower Aerie]], as an Illusionist kit he misses out on the game's two best damage spells, ''Skull Trap'' and ''Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting'' (as well as a couple of other very useful spells such as ''Animate Dead'' or ''Death Spell''), and he also doesn't sport the hit points to survive long enough in the thick of combat. He makes up for it with his sheer utility and versatility, as he can use almost every item in game (and, with ''Use Any Item'', he '''can''' use ''every'' item).* OddFriendship: With Korgan, bizarrely. Most characters find Jan's stories to be annoying, but Korgan enjoys the bloodier ones.* OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments This exchange]]:-->'''Minsc''': You! The tiny, tricky gnome! Minsc knows it was you who stole Boo! You cannot fool Minsc! What is that bulge moving about within your trousers?-->'''Jan''': This bulge here? Why that's (ha-ha) that's nothing. I'm just happy to see you, Minscy. (giggle)* OurGnomesAreWeirder: INDEED.* OutOfCharacterMoment: Jan's quest gets started when one of his cousins finds him to deliver a message. The converstaion is at first fairly lighthearted and silly... until he hears that his former love and her child are holed up at his house.-->'''Jan''': Did he hurt her?** OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Jan refusing to slip back into his regular persona during the quest underlines just how serious things are (you know, just in case the dying child and the domestic abuse didn't do that already).* PaintingTheMedium: Jan is a gnome. Gnomes get infravision at night and underground, which highlights creatures with a red glow. He mentions this in one of his more meaningful tales. -->'''Jan:''' [after sunset] I've had this little problem ever since I was a wee gnome. When it gets dark, everybody glows red. Frightens a child something fierce...* PluckyComicRelief: Along with Minsc, he's the primary source of it in [=BG2=].* SadClown: Jan may crack more jokes than anybody else in the party short of maybe Imoen, but he's actually [[StepfordSmiler not a very happy person]].* SpoofAesop: Occasionally he suggests one at the end of his long-winded stories.** This is subverted in one of his banters with Mazzy, which starts out on the subject of potatoes and ends on a note of how Mazzy reminds him of a halfling potato farmer living near his family's homestead who had been captured, enslaved and abused by bandits at a young age before escaping, whose work ethic, optimism and appreciation of good honest toil had always inspired him.* TrademarkFavoriteFood: As noted in the description above, Jan is quite obsessed with turnips, though it's not clear he craves them as food. He does like turnip beer however, which has wondrous medicinal properties in addition to its fine taste.** Note that he ''claims'' it has medicinal properties; the context in which he mentions it implies it's overindulgence in turnip beer that may be at least heavily responsible for why he ''is'' such a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. Turnips are also an obsession of all gnomes in the game.* {{Troll}}: Jan enjoys getting a rise out of other members of the party, with only Korgan coming to appreciate it. Even [[spoiler:Sarevok]] is not safe from Jan's trolling. * UnfazedEveryman: You won't find too many people (or gnomes even) quite as eccentric as Jan, but even he's quite mundane in comparison to the adventures you take him on to.* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: As his personal quest reveals, he was one to Lissa. Jan at one point says he would have given her the world if he could, but she ended up marrying a richer gnome called Vaelag after he wooed her away. Vaelag later turned out to be a psychopath who beat her and their daughter. [[spoiler:Subverted if you bring him with you through Throne of Bhaal, as Jan trains a pack of knife-wielding monkeys to kill Vaelag and gets together with Lissa in the end.]]* YoungerThanTheyLook: Between his voice actor and his portrait, it's easy to forget that Jan is probably not very much older than CHARNAME and Imoen.:: '''Haer'Dalis'''--> ''My dear raven, valiant as always. You are poetry, you are song!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Michael Bellhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/haerdalis_1165.jpg----Haer'Dalis is a Doomguard: essentially he knows the universe is going to end no matter what he does, so he's just enjoying himself until that happens. He's a bard in a traveling actor's troupe who joins you after you rescue him, perhaps sensing there are tales to be had following in your footsteps.Associated Tropes:* AbortedArc: Valygar, Haer'Dalis and Anomen were going to be the romanceable choices for female characters, but due to time constraints Haer'Dalis' romance was cut.** Its absence is noticeable too. When picking up Haer'Dalis he will seem very interested in a female PC, which will suddenly stop in later dialogs. That initial friendliness was supposed to have been a segue into a romance.** There is a fan mod that adds a Haer'Dalis romance, but it also blocks the Haer'Dalis/Aerie romance from starting, rather than adding the planned romance conflicts.* BattleCouple: With Aerie, potentially.* BiTheWay: He's the only male character able to have (off-screen) sex with a male drow slave. WordOfGod says it's intentional.* BladeSpam* BunnyEarsLawyer: Haer'Dalis speaks halfway in riddles and strange metaphors and has a mind fixated almost entirely on entropy and theater, which causes many [=NPCs=] to think him an oddball. [[spoiler:He's also the only party member to see through Yoshimo]], and displays a surprising amount of insight on multiple occasions.* ChaoticNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] Puts the "Chaotic" into this alignment. He isn't actively malevolent, but [[spoiler:Saradush's destruction]] will remind you that he is still a NietzscheWannabe who enjoys the idea of destruction. * DisproportionateRetribution: His troupe performed a play that satirized [[{{Planescape}} Duke Rowan Darkwood, Factol of the Fated]]. Darkwood sicced a demonic bounty hunting crew on them. [[AllThereInTheManual For those in the know of the Planescape setting]], this is perfectly in-character for him.* DualWielding* {{Expy}}: Exotic, tattooed, bisexual, dual-wielding, rogue-esque (part-)elf with fatalist views and associated with birds? Are we talking about Haer'Dalis or [[Franchise/DragonAge Zevran]] here?** That should be the other way around - Our lovable Blade can't be the expy if he came 10-odd years before Zevran. Aside from aesthetics, they're actually quite different characters.* FighterMageThief: Bards were basically this in 2nd edition.* FragileSpeedster: His ''Offensive Spin'' gives him the ability to deal a ton of damage extremely quickly (especially by Bard standards) and to move at twice his normal speed, but the fact remains that his health is very, very bad.* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Averted as Haer'Dalis is a Blade, a specific type of Bard that specializes in theatrical, balletic fighting. By profession he's an actor who apparently specializes in action-oriented leading man roles.* GentlemanThief: He presents himself as such when first encountered. He becomes available after being rescued from a powerful wizard, who had caught Haer'Dalis in the act of burglarizing his home to steal a gem, and magically enslaved him. When you free him from this condition, Haer'Dalis admits that he'd come to acquire the gem but takes offense if you call him a thief.* GlassCannon: Strength? 17 (on a scale of 2-19). Dexterity? 17. Constitution? ...9.* [[HalfHumanHybrid Half Elf Hybrid]]: Haer'Dalis' race is stated as 'tiefling' (a human with demonic ancestry); according to himself his father was an elf and his mother "no human". Probably some type of cambion.* InLoveWithYourCarnage: After Saradush [[spoiler:is ignominously destroyed]], many characters will react with sadness, especially Aerie. Not Haer'Dalis. He loved it, due to being part of the Doomguard (see NietzscheWannabe below). In fact, if his relationship with Aerie has progressed to love, Saradush will become a point of divergence between them and Aerie will break off the relationship. * LargeHam: Though, that's no real surprise; he is a stage actor.* LoveTriangle: With the PC and Aerie, possibly.* MagicKnight: The Blade kit essentially boils down to this. Although he still has some roguish features.* MurderTheHypotenuse: If both you and Haer'Dalis love Aerie and she hasn't yet pledged her love to you, Haer'Dalis will challenge you to a duel for her love. ** IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: If she has on the other hand, he won't; he will instead wish Aerie well and even offer to play music at her wedding. * TheNicknamer: Haer'Dalis will call most people by their real names. Often, though, he'll create a nickname for them too: CHARNAME is "Raven", Aerie is "Dove", Sarevok is "Hawk", and Haer'dalis himself is "Sparrow". Breaking the bird themed names, Minsc and Boo are "hound and hamster".** He does, in fact, have nicknames for all the main party members (modders carried on this trait too). Spellhold Studios has a [[http://www.shsforums.net/topic/25526-haerdalis-bird-names/ complete list]].* NietzscheWannabe: Haer'Dalis is one of the Doomguard, a faction in the ''Planescape'' setting that practically revels in the idea of entropy.* PerkyGoth: Rare male example.* RulesAreForHumans: He has two-star weapon specialisation in short swords, which bards normally aren't allowed to have.** There's also his resistances to certain types of damage, courtesy of his semi-planar heritage.* ShipperOnDeck: Added by the Banter Pack, Haer'Dalis ships ''Jaheira and Edwin'' into a BelligerentSexualTension relationship... Though it ''might'' have been just for the sake of screwing with them. Naturally, neither of them are amused.* ShowWithinAShow: Or "Show Within A Video Game." He was set to play the lead in Raelis Shai's play, before his abduction.* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is variously given as Haer'Dalis, Haer Dalis', [=HaerDalis=]', Haer-Dalis'...* SpoonyBard: He is a Blade, which gives him some special abilities, but is often considered to downplay the only aspects that could even make a bard worthwhile such as high lore.** It does however allow use of the ring of free action bug, which regardless of the fact that he is a numerically poor character makes him very powerful in defensive stance.* StoneWall: As [[GlassCannon weak as he normally is]], his "Defensive Stance" ability can turn him into this. They made it so you couldn't move while in that stance for a reason.* UnevenHybrid: As the child of an elf and a fiend of some flavour.* WarriorPoet: All bards are to some extent, but he even moreso.* WhatCouldHaveBeen: He was originally intended to be a romance option for female [=PC=]s, but it was cut due to time constraints. A game mod adding a fan-made romance has since been created. * WordOfGod: He's got a forked tongue.* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Justified in that he's not human.:: '''Valygar Corthala'''--> ''We're all filthy. We're all unwashed and tired and hungry. Shut up and tell someone who cares.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jeff Osterhagehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/valygar_4861.jpg----Valygar is from a long line of mages, started by his insane evil dimension-traveling necromancer ancestor Lavok. Magic destroyed every single member of his family except himself, and as a result he became a ranger to put an end to his immortal evil ancestor.Associated Tropes:* AbortedArc: Another romance option for female [=PCs=] that was cut short. You can even see some of the leftover romance dialogues in the game file.* AmbiguouslyGay: The entire party thinks he is. Even ''Cernd'' gets a few jokes in about it. Mostly this is due to his [[CantHaveSexEver forswearing to ever pass on his genes]], but he claims that he likes women "well enough" if pressed. * AngryBlackMan: Valygar Corthala will take precisely none of your shit.** Wonderfully done when Jan Jansen begin yet another tale by starting to talk about his mother. Valygar cuts him off by very pointedly telling Jan about ''his'' mother and the things she did before he managed to take her down. Jan wisely shuts up.* {{Backstab}}* BlackMagic: Valygar believes this stains his soul, but it really doesn't.* ByronicHero: As close as you can get in this game, anyway. Valygar has a better idea than most of the other good-aligned characters what it means to be a HurtingHero and what it can demand of you and your environment to do the right thing. Arguably qualifies also for KnightInSourArmor.* CameBackWrong: His father, when his mother tried to revive him.* CantArgueWithElves: Averted in that, well, he can. Although Valygar will argue with anyone with whom he disagrees.* CaptainErsatz: Let's see... black, taciturn, uses a katana, killed his mother, sworn to hunt down others who share his lineage/curse... [[{{Blade}} Hmmm...]]* TheComicallySerious: Especially against Jan, Imoen, and Haer'Dalis.* CoolSword: His starting weapon, his family blade, is quite a good weapon, especially against spellcasters, because of the ''Bleeding'' effect it causes. Spellcasters hit by it essentially have their concentration broken for two rounds, and because it isn't a poison effect, it works against liches as well.* DeadpanSnarker: With emphasis on the 'deadpan' and not so much on the snarker, but surprisingly witty when he wants to be.* DoesNotLikeMagic* DualWielding: [[KatanasAreJustBetter Katanas]], no less.* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Averted in how Valygar comes from a family of mages and had training as a child even before he became a ranger. His class, Stalker, gains some mage spells in addition to the druid spells all other ranger kits get.* HeartbrokenBadass: [[spoiler:In ''Unfinished Business'', after Irenicus kills his lover.]]* HiddenDepths: Surprisingly adept at punning.* HumansAreWhite: Not so uncommon in these games, as he's one of three black [=NPC=]s (that's counting Viconia, who is a wholly different kind of black) you can recruit throughout the story, but as one of the only playable characters in the second game who's a native of Amn, which is a FantasyCounterpartCulture of medieval Spain, it's a bit odd. He could be a moor-equivalent.** Not that unusual, given that Amn was historicaly ruled for a long time by the Calshite Empire and Calishites are somewhere between Arabia and Turkey. Likely the Corthalas are descended from Calishites. Doubly sensible as many Calishites have genie blood that encourages magical skill.* TheHunter: Due to his background, he's dedicated his life to hunting down and destroying practioners of evil magic. As a class, he's a Ranger, the Stalker kit he uses lending itself to tracking and scouting in particular. * {{Hypocrite}}: For having mage training (and possibly using magic spells if you set him up that way) despite his constant growling about the evils of magic. Edwin picks up on this and calls him out on it. ** That said, these mage spells count in his spellbook as divine spells. And with a family like that, he likely hadn't much choice in the matter whether to learn some magic or not.* InTheBlood: The way he feels about his family's legacy of magical power/insanity.* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler:After his lover's death in ''Unfinished Business'', he becomes one of the many people who want Irenicus' head.]]* KatanasAreJustBetter* LamarckWasRight: Valygar believes his family is cursed to become mages: after Lavok became a necromancer, his entire family line was made up of wizards until he decided to become a ranger. For him this trope still holds true, but in a different way, as his father was apparently a ranger as well. * LukeIAmYourFather: Well, descendent actually, but this is how Valygar introduces himself to Lavok.* MistakenForGay: Bizarrely, it happens to him a few times.* NayTheist: He lives in a world where the gods are an inarguable fact of life--heck, he's travelling around with the child of a dead god! But he also notes that many gods are psychotic [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkasses]], so he needs a better reason than their existence to worship them. Which is a pretty gutsy stance, considering the atheist afterlife in the Realms is to be shoved into a teeming wall of slowly-decaying souls for all eternity.** That said he's capable of casting divine spells which means, by the rules of the setting, that he ''has'' chosen a patron deity to some extent at least.* NeutralGood: [[strike:in-universe]] Valygar is a type 1, mostly wanting to move through the game's story at a regular, even pace but happy to pitch in and do the right thing when possible; he doesn't feel strongly about the rule of law or the defiance of it either. * OddFriendship: Valygar will, against his will, become Mazzy Fentan's squire, though he doesn't really resist and comes to enjoy it.** Even odder? [[spoiler:He's the only good character who will regard Sarevok with respect. When Sarevok asks why he hasn't jumped on the bandwagon, Valygar outlines his reasons: Sarevok [[{{Badass}} is a damn good fighter]], [[BloodKnight his cruel and violent streak]] isn't that unusual (especially if [[BlackKnight Dorn]] or [[ViolentGlaswegian Korgan]] is around), [[BadassNormal he doesn't use magic]] (which Valygar distrusts and fears) and [[BigBad whatever he did before]], [[PromotedToPlayable he's working for the good guys now.]] Sarevok is utterly stunned by: but appreciative of: the trust and respect invested in him.]] * TheQuietOne: He'll talk, but usually only when other characters talk to him first.* SelfMadeOrphan: Not that his parents gave him much of a choice.* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Occasionally the Manly Man to another guy's Sensitive Guy, like [[ReligiousBruiser Rasaad]] and [[NatureHero Cernd]].* StealthExpert: Any party using him is likely to employ him as this. He can also {{Backstab}}.* TheStoic: Valygar would prefer to be this, but he always has to voice his opinion.* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Edwin accuses him of having some magic training despite his vocal hostility towards it. His attempts to shrug off the accusation don't convince the Red Wizard, and the player shouldn't buy it either. --> '''Valygar''': I am no mage! You... you are mistaken in your observations.\\'''Edwin''': Yes. Yes, of course I am. :: '''Mazzy Fentan'''--> ''I won't seem so cute if I break your legs.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jennifer Halehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mazzy_4102.jpg----Mazzy is a halfling fighter who would be a paladin if 2nd edition allowed it. As it is, she's the closest thing to a halfling paladin possible. She's beyond good, among the goodest of {{NPC}}s, and traveled with an adventuring party until its destruction. She follows you mostly because you saved her life.Associated Tropes:* ActionGirl: She's a full-plate wearing, sword-and-shield wielding fighter by class who aspires to be a paladin. It comes with the territory.* BadassAdorable: Not that you want to [[BerserkButton point it out to her]].* BerserkButton: She's generally quite even-tempered, despite being a {{Badass}}. Just don't make the mistake of calling her "cute".* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Both during the game, and in her character epilogue.* TheComicallySerious: She's not amused by Korgan's crude come-ons.* CuteBruiser: If you're going to call her that, make sure to do it where she won't hear you.* DavidVersusGoliath: A very minor quest has her solo an ogre, but given [[PintsizedPowerhouse how powerful she is]] and [[CurbStompBattle how quickly the fight is likely to end]], this likely counts as a subversion.* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: [=NPC=]s are constantly commenting that they didn't expect such a renowned hero to turn out to be a halfling, which gets on her nerves.* FakeBrit: A rather posh one at that. As noted below, she's voiced by Canadian actress Jennifer Hale.* GlacierWaif: Usually the toughest members of a party don't tend to be [[{{Hobbits}} Halflings]]. She also the character capable of achieving the best armor class in the game without any magical items (She can wear full plate ''and'' has 18 Dexterity).* ForGreatJustice: Though she tends to be a bit more subtle about it than Minsc or Keldorn.* HealingHands: One of her paladin-like powers.* HeyItsThatVoice: Jennifer Hale also voices Dynaheir, [[PlanescapeTorment Fall-from-Grace]], [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Bastila Shan]], [[Franchise/MassEffect (Female) Commander Shepard]], [[VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]], [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar Kyoshi]], and (most ironically of all) [[JusticeLeague Giganta]].* {{Hobbits}}: And a nice variation from the typical good-hearted-but-mischievous-rogue type.* HopeBringer: One of her unique special powers is the ability to inspire courage in allies.* IdealHero: Contrasting the other shorty fighter, [[NominalHero Korgan]].* KnightInShiningArmor: Moreso than any other character in the series, with the possible exception of Keldorn.* LadyOfWar: She's got the personality and the ass-kicking ability in spades, but because of her stature other characters don't seem to take her so seriously.* LawfulGood: [[strike:in-universe]] The most honorable and morally upright kind imaginable, without being LawfulStupid.* LongRangeFighter: The only warrior NPC in the second game who clearly favors her bow over her sword. Doesn't mean she's a slouch when forced into melee combat though. Quite the opposite, in fact.* LovePotion: Her main sidequest involves one of these. It turns out to have been a specially created poison. * TheNapoleon: She doesn't like it when people picks on her due to her size, but she doesn't overcompensate for it. When Minsc compliments her on being so powerful in spite of being so short, she accepts it as a compliment after realizing that Minsc is too earnest to use DoubleSpeak to insult people.* NoFourthWall: At one point, Aerie asks why Mazzy isn't officially a Paladin, to which Mazzy will reply that halflings can't become Paladins. Aerie comments that, not long ago, all halflings seemed to be thieves (like in first edition D&D) and that another paradigm shift might come along, and Mazzy's response is that the gods aren't just going to come out and make a 'third edition' of the world.* OddFriendship: She will, completely of her own accord, appoint Valygar as her squire.* PintsizedPowerhouse: One of the best fighters in the game, despite being the size of an eight-year-old girl.* ThePollyanna* RainOfArrows: Almost inevitably, Mazzy will end up the party member with the highest amount of Attacks per round when she is using a Shortbow (no less than 4 by Level 13, when most of your other party members are stuck with ca. 2.5). Give her the ''Tuigan bow'' and she will have ''5''.* RedHeadedHero* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: Another one of her personal special abilities, that temporarily boosts her strength to an amount higher than most of your other warriors'.* TragicMonster: What becomes of her former companion Patrick -- he is transformed into an ethereal undead being of living darkness, called a Shadow. Especially tragic as it's clear that they were romantically involved.:: '''Lord Keldorn Firecam'''--> ''Do not take honor in fighting with my presence. Take honor in that you fight for good, for that is my source of strength.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Roger Jacksonhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/keldorn_8786.jpg----Keldorn Firecam is ''the'' paladin of the Baldur's Gate series. The classical KnightInShiningArmor, Keldorn strives for good but when the law directly affects him and his family he gets slightly hesistant to act.Associated Tropes:* AscendedExtra: Sort of. He's the only non-playable character from [=BG=] who becomes playable in [=BG2=]; He doesn't actually appear in the first game but he's mentioned in Ajantis' background.* BadassGrandpa: He isn't technically a grandpa yet, but as a gray-haired fiftysomething with a late teenage daughter he's not far off. He's also one of the highest-ranking paladins in Amn, swings a [[{{BFS}} mean greatsword]], smites evil left and right with extreme prejudice, and, in his character epilogue, [[spoiler:dies heroically after single-handedly fighting off an army of giants]]. So he's definitely {{Badass}}.** [[spoiler:So Badass, in fact, that his patron deity (that of protection and strength, among others) ''personally claimed him'' upon his death.]] That can't happen too often.* {{BFS}}* [[spoiler:ButNowIMustGo: In the good ending to his personal quest, he leaves the party in order to stay with and reconcile with his formerly estranged family. That said, you have the option of subverting this by returning to his mansion the next day. He and his family will happily tell you that their problems are now cleared up, leaving him free to join your party again.]]* TheComicallySerious: He's a pretty serious guy and fairly humorless compared to Jan, Imoen, Yoshimo, and the like.** His humour is a lot more subtle and less frequent than the others, but it's most definitely still there. Heck, at one point Yoshimo starts singing a... Rather ribald verse he claims to have found scribbled in the margins of a holy text, then halfway through stops and apologises to Keldorn for his language. Keldorn promptly finishes the verse, much to Yoshimo's astonishment, and implies he was the one who scribbled it in the book while an initiate several decades earlier.* CoolOldGuy* [[spoiler:DyingMomentOfAwesome: His OneManArmy ending earns him a place at the right hand of the freaking ''god of honour''.]]* FantasticRacism: The one chink in his otherwise impeccable morality: he is utterly unable to abide the Drow Viconia and will actually try to kill her if you keep them together in the party for too long. Granted, she ''is'' evil, but it's not like she does anything particularly death-worthy in front of him. Unless you ''tell'' her to.** And even then, the way he fanboys over Drizzt Do'Urden suggests he might have eventually been able to look past her race if it weren't for her attitude and [[ReligionOfEvil choice of deity]].** It's important to note that in the first scene he sees Viconia, she offers a public prayer to Shar, the GoddessOfEvil. ** He has a similarly dim view of sahuagin, suggesting that you simply KillEmAll rather then take a side in their civil war. Given that some of them are actually pretty reasonable and decent individuals this one is much harder to justify. * TheFettered: Naturally. * ForGreatJustice: Does a paladin need any other motivation?* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: His wife's cheating on him, and the "good" way to handle it is to suggest that there's a distinction between the two. He eventually forgives her and they move past it as a couple. As for the "bad" way, you force him to make it a public matter by taking it to the courts, which gets his wife thrown in jail and her lover executed, not to mention making his children hate him forever. ** One important note: The lover? He is IMPOTENT. It was purely an emotional affair. * GoodScarsEvilScars: He's literally and figuratively scarred from a lifetime of battling evil.* InfinityPlusOneSword: He's the only recruitable character capable of wielding the Carsomyr, the Holy Avenger.* JusticeWillPrevail: It's the ideal to which he's devoted his life, but he seems unsure of it at times.* KnightInShiningArmor: Somehow even more than Mazzy.** KnightInSourArmor: He's more world-weary than outright cynical, but it's close.* KnightTemplar: Subverted: his class (Inquisitor) lends itself to this image, his abilities are all anti-magic and he lives in a heavily anti-magical city, and he follows extremely strict rules he doesn't hesitate to enforce, but he's no Knight Templar.-->Where men gather, a bustle of chaos ensues. I would save them all, if I could.** Except if Viconia is around, Keldorn might come to blows on her due to being Drow.* LawfulGood: [[strike:in-universe]] Obviously. And a spectacular example of a paladin who isn't LawfulStupid. Most of the time anyway. * LawfulStupid: He subverts the trope awesomely, managing to be righteous in almost every sense of the word. But even he has his flaws; just ask Viconia.** In fact, his conversations with Anomen seem like a direct TakeThat to the Lawful Stupid trend.* MageKiller: His class kit, the Inquisitor, specializes in this. They trade the majority of the classical Paladin features for a small number of incredibly powerful AntiMagic abilities, which provide an easy shortcut for dispelling their protections. Since many players struggle with the many Mage fights in the second game, Keldorn tends to end up Top tier on many NPC ranking lists. More experienced players generally know ways to defeat spellcasters without his help.* MarriedToTheJob: Quite reluctantly so, as his main sidequest makes clear.* OddFriendship: Keldorn and Minsc. Despite being opposed on the Law/Chaos scale, Keldorn can respect anyone who pursues justice.** Even odder one he has with Haer'Dalis. They trade barbs, but with apparent genuine humor and warmth.* OneManArmy: In his ending, Keldorn [[spoiler:faces down a horde of giants by himself, albeit being fatally injured and dying in the end. Even the gods are impressed by that one. Heck, after he dies the ''hand of the god of Justice'' personally reaches down and carries him to the afterlife.]]* OverratedAndUnderleveled: He is some 30-40 years older than most of the other cast members (and it is clearly stated that he was [[FrontlineGeneral very active]] the whole time), but he doesn't have much more XP points than your other party members and is the same level as you, a 21-year old adventurer who has travelled for only one year. Ironically, the much younger Anomen has actually ''more'' XP points than him, being a Dual-Class character.* {{Retirony}}: In his character epilogue.** Not entirely though, since he was ''already'' retired at the time and had been for a good five years, but was press-ganged into fighting anyway due to the urgent need for skilled fighters.* ShellShockedVeteran: Still fighting hard, though.* SilverFox: Imoen distracts him from one of her pickpocketing operations by hitting on him, and his flustered reaction implies that it's not uncommon.* TeamDad: He acts this way toward Anomen, Mazzy, the PC, and several other characters.* ToBeLawfulOrGood: In his sidequest, his less-than-ideal domestic situation forces him to choose between Lawful - designated as the bad choice - and Good - [[CaptainObvious designated as the good one]]. * TokenGoodTeammate: Evil-aligned players sometimes try to keep him around for his anti-mage tanking capabilities and his ability to wield the game's InfinityPlusOneSword, but it's hard to pull off since he is liable to [[WhatTheHellHero protest when the protagonist does something wrong]] and [[FantasticRacism doesn't like Viconia]].* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: In the subplot with his wife, who has [[GoodAdulteryBadAdultery taken a lover because she's lonely]], it's possible for the PC to get his wife put in jail and her lover executed. This causes Keldorn's children to hate him forever.* WhatTheHellHero: As is [[JustifiedTrope suitable for]] [[LawfulGood a]] [[KnightInShiningArmor Paladin]], he will complain vociferously and/or leave the party forever if you don't behave uprightly.** A good example is that should CHARNAME take up [[ObviouslyEvil Bodhi's]] offer as opposed to [[LesserOfTwoEvils the Shadow Thieves]] Keldorn will leave the party ''promptly'' and will ''not'' be [[LostForever recruitable again]].:: '''Cernd'''-->''A bird in hand gathers no moss... or... some such.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jason Marsdenhttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cernd_4651.jpg----Cernd is a druid who intentionally inflicted himself with lycanthropy for... some reason. Despite being an okay guy, his lack of personality quirks and defining traits beyond lots of nature similes makes him quite... hmm... wait, whom were we talking about again?Associated Tropes:* AwesomeButImpractical: Many players have noted that his werewolf form, while cool, doesn't suit his stats at all - or line up with his personality. A small but popular game mod exists that turns him into a Totemic Druid (who summons animals instead of shapeshifting) instead.* BadPowersGoodPeople: His chaotic, vicious werewolf side doesn't really match Cernd's mature and easygoing demeanour.* BenevolentBoss: Towards a druid CHARNAME and Jaheira. Technically, Cernd is the most senior druid in the party since he's served nature longer than either, but says to Jaheira he considers her an equal in the group and asks that she reserve any boss-employee mannerisms for official druid functions. He also picks up on the fact that CHARNAME is a Bhaalspawn but chooses not to hold it against him/her, reasoning that being a Bhaalspawn doesn't get in the way of being a good person. * BewareTheNiceOnes: As friendly as he is, screwing around with nature makes him ''mad'', and he happens to be very hammy when battle comes along.* BlueAndOrangeMorality: How some of the other party members seem to see him, not helped by his many {{Koan}}s. He himself is used to it.* BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins: Though Cernd's race is not clear, he does dress like a MagicalNativeAmerican, at least in his character portrait.* CategoryTraitor: His attitude towards the Shadow Druids; Faldorn's recklessly destructive use of her talents gives an idea why. * DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Or at least thinks he did. Nobody else thinks so. [[spoiler: Not even his son, who takes his constant ignoring him so bitterly he becomes an evil wizard pretty much for the sake of wiping out druids.]]* DisappearedDad: Not something you traditionally associate with druids, but that is in fact his subplot.* DudeWheresMyRespect: Several party members diss him for being a druid.-->'''Dorn''': Perhaps the phrase "druid fool" is redundant.* ExtremeDoormat: While trying to track down his wife and son he gets some serious abuse from the people he talks to, including an invocation of ThatManIsDead from his old neighbour Igarol. Cernd puts up with it, however, admitting their contempt and venom towards him is well-earned. * {{Foreshadowing}}: While talking with CHARNAME about their Bhaalspawn heritage he says, in metaphor, that parents have to accept that they can't control how their children end up. This has all kinds of overtones for his relationship with his son.* GaiasVengeance: In thoery he could draw upon some seriously destructive abilities, such as storms, earthquakes and wildfires. Dorn asks why he will not make use of these [[CoDZilla destructive]] powers to wipe out civilization in nature's defense. Cernd reasons that "the Mother" (namely, his patron deity Chauntea the Earthmother) loves all life, not just wildlife, and that killing sapient creatures without real cause would be immoral.--> '''Dorn:''' You are weak.\\'''Cernd:''' Perhaps, [[ShutUpHannibal but I am no murderer]]. * TheGenericGuy: Probably the least memorable playable character of what was by-and-large a very memorable cast. Especially when you consider that almost everything he can do, Jaheira can do better. That said, he's not necessarily ''bad'', just... a bit bland.* GlorifiedSpermDonor: How his former wife and son end up feeling about him.* GreenThumb: Part of being a druid. * HeroWorship: Jaheira apparently fawns over him since he's a higher ranking druid; he asks her to cut back on it.* HeyItsThatVoice: Jason Marsden does a lot of cartoon work these days, which may make it something of a weird experience if you pick up the game now.* InHarmonyWithNature: Standard operating procedure for a druid. He actually has a unique cloak made of leaves that exists because, after walking outside in a storm with no protection, Nature essentially told him he didn't need to be in ''that'' much harmony.* {{Koan}}: Cernd makes frequent use of these in conversation, some of which are meaningful, some of which are meaningful but pointlessly elaborate, and some of which are [[IceCreamKoan just plain gibberish]].** Sometimes he is called on it...-->'''Cernd:''' As the trees are buffeted and snapped in the face of the gale, I shall be as the bamboo and flex.-->'''CHARNAME:''' Oh shut up.** and sometimes he [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness phases out of them abruptly for emphasis]].-->'''Cernd:''' As the simple wasp must coerce the flower to release its nectar, so will I rip your throat from its moorings and drain your lifeblood if I do not see Deril and my child! UNDERSTAND?!\\'''CHARNAME:''' Odd time to grow a spine, Cernd.* {{Malaproper}}: Cernd's most notable characteristic is his bad habit of mixing and matching sayings.* MarriedToTheJob: [[StatisticallySpeaking Despite having a top-notch Wisdom score]], Cernd continually makes the wrong choice when it comes to choosing between his duty to nature and his family. This comes back to bite him in the ass in his epilogue: [[spoiler: his son becomes an evil wizard, assembles a huge army and goes on a rampage, forcing an ashamed Cernd to abandon his position as High Druid and confront him. It ends in a MutualKill]].* MoodWhiplash: Given his nigh-eternal calm and peace-on-earth attitude, it's a bit of a shock when he turns out to be just as hammy as the rest when it comes to combat shouts. --> "THE SILENCE OF NATURE WILL CLAIM YOU!"--> "Nature strikes!"--> "''For the greater balance!''"* MysteryArc: Cernd is encountered in the middle of investigating mysterious goings-on at the local Druid Grove, which coincided with hordes of wild animals [[ZergRush Zerg Rushing]] the town of Trademeet. In the doing, it is revealed the Shadow Druids have taken over the grove, to Cernd's anger and dismay. * NatureHero: Moreso than Jaheira.* NewAgeRetroHippie: The TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons equivalent. He still kills people when necessary.* [[spoiler: OffingTheOffspring: Cernd is ultimately forced to do this to his son, Ahsdale (Ashdale?), who is attempting to engage in an epically indiscriminately destructive form of CallingTheOldManOut. Doesn't stop him committing {{Patricide}} on Cernd after being struck down.]]* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Despite the fact that werewolves are canonically AlwaysChaoticEvil in this setting, Cernd's a pretty peaceable guy. * ParentalAbandonment: Cernd was the one doing the abandoning, though he didn't know it at the time. * PromotionToParent: Cernd initially takes responsibility for his son after his ex-wife is murdered, but then quickly [[WhatTheHellHero abandons him at the Druid Grove to go adventuring again]]. [[spoiler:In the epilogue he does return to his son, but tends to put his duty to nature first, which the poor kid doesn't appreciate in the slightest.]]* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: In banter, he's usually the Sensitive Guy to the other guy's Manly Man, especially [[ForestRanger Valygar]].* SimpleStaff: The Staff of the High Forest, which grew from an oak sapling situated beside Cernd during one of his meditation sessions. Like his cloak, a gift from Nature.* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Implied as part of his druid spiel. PlayedForLaughs in a conversation with Haer'Dalis, where Cernd cheerfully tells the bard that a rather animated squirrel gesturing at them is actually hurling a ClusterFBomb at Haer'Dalis for [[UnEntendre stepping on]] [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything his nuts]]. * StealthInsult: He gets an epic-level one against Edwin.-->'''Edwina:''' Why do you stare so, Cernd? No doubt you are to laugh at my predicament, so get it over with!\\'''Cernd:''' Why does the King protest? His forests are pilfered, leaving just hills and scrub, but what loss is it? How can it be of value when it was never put to use?\\'''Edwina:''' (There is an insult in there somewhere, I am certain. Would that I could stop time and kill them ALL first.)* TrueNeutral: [[strike:in-universe]] He's the balance-serving, compromising kind. Cernd is concerned about striking a balance between law and chaos, and is not as altruistic as Good-aligned companions but isn't a bad person either.* VoluntaryShapeShifting: Due to his choice in class kit, but for his ability to transform into a werewolf he'd have no distinctive abilities.:: '''Nalia De'Arnise'''--> ''I'm going to be someone that gives to the poor and takes from the rich, I am. We've got lots to spare... and it's fun, too.''--> '''Voiced by:''' Grey Delislehttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nalia_7037.jpg----A runaway noblewoman who hates her arranged marriage and wants to support the peasantry, she nevertheless tends to unintentionally think of herself as above them. She joins the party after they destroy the trolls and Yuan-ti that invade her keepAssociated Tropes:* AbortedArc: After rescuing her from her evil fiance and discrediting him to the city guard, he swears revenge. Which is never mentioned again, ever.** However, if CHARNAME is a fighter [[spoiler:and chooses to keep the D'Arnise estate, the Roenall family later lays siege to the estate.]]* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Her family's estate has been taken over by a pack of trolls. [[spoiler:It's later intimated that this was the doing of Isaea.]]* AristocratsAreEvil: Nalia herself is an aversion, but her fiance and ArchEnemy Isaea plays the trope straight.* ArrangedMarriage: Part of what she's rebelling against. Of course, given the [[SmugSnake kind]] [[AristocratsAreEvil of]] [[NeutralEvil person]] [[VillainWithGoodPublicity her]] [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections fiance]] is, her reluctance to marry him is perfectly justified. * BlackMagicianGirl: And in [=ToB=], she won't let you forget it.* BlueBlood: Despite her altruism and favorable disposition toward the common people, she still displays some aristocratic attitudes at times.* BrattyHalfPint / NotNowKiddo: How some of the less patient party members such as [[KnightInSourArmor Jaheira]] and [[TheHedonist Korgan]] treat her.* BreakTheCutie: In [=ToB=], she realizes that rushing into the world to do generic goodness won't really accomplish much, and though she remains a good person, she gets more vindictive and sarcastic. She also mentions that the world's harshness and cynicism is causing her to question her ideals constantly. * ChaoticGood: [[strike:in-universe]] A classic case, at least at first, due to her stated desire to mimic Robin Hood, a poster boy for this alignment.* DaddysGirl: She greatly admires her father, but rarely even mentions her mother.* DamselInDistress: Her subplot ends up with the PC having to rescue her after she's abducted by her fiance Isaea.* {{Expy}}: She started out as a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for Imoen, whom the developers originally planned to have Irenicus kill off/drive permanently insane. When Imoen's popularity among players convinced them to reconsider, they didn't change the "red-haired do-gooder thief/mage" thing much.* FieryRedhead: Not always, but she is one of the more passionate characters in terms of personality.* FreudianExcuse/ItsAllMyFault: Conversations with Mazzy have the halfling remark that Nalia blames herself for her father's death, and becomes more careful with her magic as a result.* TheHero: Nalia thinks of herself as this, but she's really more TheChick.* HeroesWantRedheads: Averted. Of the female [=NPC=]s who aren't either halflings or related to the main character by blood, she's the only one who can't be romanced.** You can offer to marry her, to keep the De'Arnise estate out of Roenall's hands, but she turns you down.* HeyItsThatVoice: Averted. She is voiced by the same actress as Viconia, despite the fact that the two are near polar opposites in personality, but unless you know that you'd have a hard time telling.* InsufferableGenius: Shows shades of it in [=ToB=].* InsultToRocks: In reference to Isaea:-->"He is a complete and total ''bastard'', and calling him that insults bastards everywhere!"* JustLikeRobinHood: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by her quote above, not that we actually see her do much stealing (although she is a thief/mage dual-class).* NeutralGood: [[strike:in-universe]] In [=ToB=], she mellows out and becomes NeutralGood.* PoliticallyActivePrincess: Almost inevitably, given that the noble houses of Athakatla seem to be in latent state of Cold War.* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Drops one on Hexxat in response to her calling Nalia's ideals [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids childish]]. --> '''Nalia''': [[YouMonster You're an evil woman]]. You know, you talk as though the world has done you some great wrong, and the women you killed somehow deserved what they got. Do you know what I think? [[YouKeepTellingYourselfThat I think you're lying to yourself.]] Because it's easier than facing up to the truth of your own existence. I think you're pathetic. And this conversation is over. * RebelliousPrincess: She's a noblewoman, not a princess, but yeah.* RichBitch: Many of her relatives and family acquaintances are straight up examples, but Nalia usually tries to avoid it.* SpoiledSweet: She's a bit naive about and obliviously condescending towards the common people at times, but she is nevertheless a genuinely good person and does care about them.* StrawmanPolitical: She can be interpreted as a [[FantasyCounterpartCulture fantasy counterpart]] to your typical "limousine liberal", ineffectual good intentions and all.* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Originally, she was created as such for Imoen, whom the developers planned to [[KilledOffForReal kill]] [[PlayerPunch off]] in [=BG2=]; she can still function as one during the part of the game that Imoen isn't around.* TookALevelInBadass: In [=ToB=].* WeHelpTheHelpless* WideEyedIdealist: In [=SoA=], not [=ToB=].::'''Lilarcor'''--> ''I dunno what you were expecting, but as a sword I'm pretty one dimensional in what I want!''--> '''Voiced by:''' Jason MarsdenA sword imbued with the soul of a dimwitted warrior named Lawrence "Larry" Lilarcor. His favorite hobbies are killing things, mouthing off to his owner, killing things, complaining about ''not'' killing things, and, oh yeah, ''[[RuleOfThree killing things]]''.* AndThisIsFor: "my grandma, who said I'd never amount to anything more than a butter knife!"* BloodKnight... Sword... Errr..* CatchPhrase: "So, are we gonna kill something now?"* TheDitz: To the degree that his backstory reveals what he was best known for as a human was as an idiot.* EvilLaugh* HeroicComedicSociopath-->'''Nalia:''' Mr. Lilarcor, have you always been a sword? Have you ever wanted to be anywhere else, like with family or loved ones?\\'''Lilarcor:''' Nah, I like it in here 'cause the killin' is easy!\\'''Nalia:''' What I mean is, do you remember being a person? Do you remember a time when you were not only made to kill things?\\'''Lilarcor:''' Kill one man and you're a murderer, kill a million and you're a god! A sword god! Muahahah!* HeyItsThatVoice: Performed by the rather prolific [=VA=], Jason Marsden, who also voices Ajantis and Cernd.* KillEmAll: His default answer to every obstacle.* LampshadeHanging: If the player character talks to him, he will point out how odd it is that someone would actually initiate a conversation with a freaking weapon. Granted he's a TalkingWeapon, but still...* LargeHam* NoIndoorVoice* ShoutOut: [[{{Wolverine}} I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain't pretty.]]** "My brother's a +12 {{Hackmaster}}!"* TalkingWeapon* WasOnceAMan: It's unclear whether it's the actual spirit of Lilarcor that lives on inside the weapon or if it's just a constructed personality modelled after the human. Or whether or not that would make any difference in the slightest.* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Really, he's a sentient sword. It's only natural that his answer to every problem is "stab it until it dies."* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: He ''really'' doesn't like forges.--> "FORGE?! Did someone say forge?! Get it away from me, man! It BUUUUURRRRRRRNNNNSSSS!!"* WordOfDante: With Minsc's tendency to go berserk with two handed swords and Lilarcor's cool abilities it's become standard procedure to let Minsc wield Lilarcor. Of course, there are mods which allow Minsc [[AndZoidberg and Lilarcor]] to banter with other party members.-->'''Minsc:''' I have asked Larry many times why he is my sword. I say, "Larry, why are you Minsc's sword?" and he says--\\'''Lilarcor:''' Because you got the grip and I got the rip! [[QuipToBlack Yeeaaaaaaahhhh!]][[/folder]]----