"After I was done, I probably cried harder than I ever have in my life."
BioWare
David Gaider is considered the father of Dragon Age, when discussing the series' writing, it's almost impossible not to mention him. Perhaps the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard – the first game without Gaider's guidance – prompted him to share his insight into character creation for the previous titles.
One person who especially stands out is Dorian, the proud mage from Inquisition who has captured many hearts, virtual or otherwise, Gaider's included.
"It's no big secret I have a lot of feelings about Dorian, not least of which because he was my first (and only) gay male companion. There's a lot more to him than that, of course (as there should be), and it was quite a trip."
For this game, writers allowed artists to "take a more active role in the companion creation process," and the short "rockstar mage" description led to fantastic first sketches where Dorian reminded Gaider of Freddie Mercury. Oh, and there was a monkey, which had to be scrapped, unfortunately.
BioWare
His sexuality didn't come up until the concepts were done, and then, when brainstorming why he would leave Tevinter, the idea of a magister's son running away because he was gay surfaced.
"Homophobia isn't really a thing in Thedas, after all, so at first blush I didn't think that could work. "Rich kid gets kicked out of the house for being gay" wasn't a trope I wanted to explore. But, then again, magister families in Tevinter are *obsessed* with the appearance of perfection, so...?"
So this inability to stick to the "norm" meant a scandal: "It said weakness. It said you couldn't control your house."
Gaider was very busy at the time, so he had to work fast on Dorian. The character's conflict with his father, made more traumatic by Halward Pavus trying conversion therapy with blood magic on him, affected the writer pretty hard: "Let's be clear: Dorian's story is not MY story, but it's also not far off."
Inspired, he wrote the entire confrontation scene in one go.
"After I was done, I probably cried harder than I ever have in my life."
"I was unsure whether it was any good, however. I just didn't feel objective. I passed it over to Cori May – my friend but also Dorian's editor – and asked her to please tell me and be honest.
She read it. She walked into my office after, tears streaming down her face, and just nodded. 'It's good.'"
While both Gaider and Dorian are gay, the creator doesn't think minorities have to be written by minorities. "But if that character's story is ABOUT their experience as a minority? That's different."
"Dorian's story didn't need to revolve around his sexuality - and, honestly, it only did so as a tangent to his family issue, but they're so bound together it's probably irrelevant to split them - but my writing him meant it could be. It allowed me to SAY something."
BioWare
Dorian's voice actor, Ramon Tikaram, further solidified the mage's vision, making Gaider emotional after hearing the confrontation scene in his voice.
Now, Dorian is one of the most beloved characters in Dragon Age, although when his sexuality was made clear, many players weren't happy (but when are they ever?) but he managed to charm even straight men with his individuality – something that still pleases Gaider.
Dorian's story touched not only his creator but also a lot of Dragon Age fans – queer or otherwise – and meeting him in The Veilguard warmed many hearts, I'm sure.
Former BioWare lead writer, Gaider can share plenty of behind-the-scenes stories, and he does on his Bluesky page.
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