Dragon Age Character Tournament

I've received a couple of asks from newer followers who weren't around for earlier tournaments, so I figured it might be helpful to pin a list with ones we've done and their winners!

So far:

Best Character - Morrigan (runner-up: Isabela) Best Romance - Zevran (runner-up: Fenris) Best Non-PC Ship - Isabela/Merrill (runner-up: Josephine/Leliana)

If you're here for/interested in the results of the Dragon Age fandom census survey I ran through July, you can find all of the posts here!

FAQ below the cut!

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #8 / Match 6 of 6

The Arishok

"he is enormous, heavily armed, personally duels hawke, and hits hard enough that half the playerbase remembers that fight as “running in circles around pillars while a giant qunari tries to delete me”"

vs. Jowan

"He can conduct a blood ritual powerful enough to put another mage directly into Connor’s dream in the Fade. Obviously this is not his opening move in a fistfight, but it does establish that Jowan’s blood magic goes a bit further than making his fireball red and upsetting the Chantry"

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #8 / Match 5 of 6

Sera

"flask of lightning + bow. good luck catching her, idiot."

"sera would win because she has the most powerful combat instinct of all: “what would make this guy look stupid?”"

vs. Bethany Hawke

No propaganda submitted.

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #8 / Match 4 of 6

Bethany Hawke

No propaganda submitted.

vs. Jowan

"He can conduct a blood ritual powerful enough to put another mage directly into Connor’s dream in the Fade. Obviously this is not his opening move in a fistfight, but it does establish that Jowan’s blood magic goes a bit further than making his fireball red and upsetting the Chantry"

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #8 / Match 3 of 6

Sera

"flask of lightning + bow. good luck catching her, idiot."

"sera would win because she has the most powerful combat instinct of all: “what would make this guy look stupid?”"

vs. The Arishok

"he is enormous, heavily armed, personally duels hawke, and hits hard enough that half the playerbase remembers that fight as “running in circles around pillars while a giant qunari tries to delete me”"

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #8 / Match 2 of 6

Bethany Hawke

No propaganda submitted.

vs. The Arishok

"he is enormous, heavily armed, personally duels hawke, and hits hard enough that half the playerbase remembers that fight as “running in circles around pillars while a giant qunari tries to delete me”"

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #8 / Match 1 of 6

Sera

"flask of lightning + bow. good luck catching her, idiot."

"sera would win because she has the most powerful combat instinct of all: “what would make this guy look stupid?”"

vs. Jowan

"He can conduct a blood ritual powerful enough to put another mage directly into Connor’s dream in the Fade. Obviously this is not his opening move in a fistfight, but it does establish that Jowan’s blood magic goes a bit further than making his fireball red and upsetting the Chantry"

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #7 / Match 6 of 6

Emmrich Volkarin

"old man necromancer with a skeleton son. unbeatable vibes. also actual death magic."

vs. Briala

"briala killed lady mantillon when she was 20. mantillon was the woman who taught celene the game, trained assassins and had already arranged the deaths of briala’s parents. she managed to cut briala with a poisoned knife during the attack and briala STILL finished the job. people treating her as if she’s purely a political character are forgetting that her political career began with successfully assassinating one of the most dangerous bards in orlais."

"Her ability to notice tiny details is repeatedly described as better than Celene’s, and Celene was trained from childhood to survive the Grand Game."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #7 / Match 5 of 6

Carver Hawke

"carver is easy to underrate because he spends so much of da2 being the annoying little brother, but combat-wise he is a two-handed warrior who has been fighting since lothering. he’s not a civilianhe puts himself between his family and whatever the blight/kirkwall/the universe throws at them"

"carver would win because his entire personality is “i need to prove i can do this myself” and then someone handed him a giant sword"

"Grey Warden Carver gets darkspawn experience, Warden training, and the general “survived the taint instead of dying in the Deep Roads” boost to his resume. Templar Carver gets formal anti-mage training in one of the most violently unstable Circles in Thedas. Either way, he doesn’t stay a farmboy refugee with a sword, he becomes a proper combatant."

"Carver is not top-tier flashy, and I would not throw him at ancient gods, high dragons, or the strongest mages and expect miracles, but against grounded opponents, he’s a lot more credible than people might give him credit for. He is a trained warrior with heavy hits, enough stubbornness to keep pushing through pain, and one of the better specialisations for shutting down magical nonsense."

vs. Emmrich Volkarin

"old man necromancer with a skeleton son. unbeatable vibes. also actual death magic."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #7 / Match 4 of 6

Urthemiel

"it took all of ferelden, the grey wardens, riordan jumping onto him mid-flight, and a final sacrifice loophole to stop him. your fave may be talented but is your fave “end a blight” talented."

"The version the Warden fights isnt even operating at perfect condition. He’s wounded, grounded, surrounded by enemies, and still needs one of the last Grey Wardens in Ferelden to finish him properly."

"urthemiel would win because he can fly. i know that sounds stupidly basic compared with all the old god soul lore, but genuinely, half these people are standing on the ground with swords. problem."

vs. Briala

"briala killed lady mantillon when she was 20. mantillon was the woman who taught celene the game, trained assassins and had already arranged the deaths of briala’s parents. she managed to cut briala with a poisoned knife during the attack and briala STILL finished the job. people treating her as if she’s purely a political character are forgetting that her political career began with successfully assassinating one of the most dangerous bards in orlais."

"Her ability to notice tiny details is repeatedly described as better than Celene’s, and Celene was trained from childhood to survive the Grand Game."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #7 / Match 3 of 6

Carver Hawke

"carver is easy to underrate because he spends so much of da2 being the annoying little brother, but combat-wise he is a two-handed warrior who has been fighting since lothering. he’s not a civilianhe puts himself between his family and whatever the blight/kirkwall/the universe throws at them"

"carver would win because his entire personality is “i need to prove i can do this myself” and then someone handed him a giant sword"

"Grey Warden Carver gets darkspawn experience, Warden training, and the general “survived the taint instead of dying in the Deep Roads” boost to his resume. Templar Carver gets formal anti-mage training in one of the most violently unstable Circles in Thedas. Either way, he doesn’t stay a farmboy refugee with a sword, he becomes a proper combatant."

"Carver is not top-tier flashy, and I would not throw him at ancient gods, high dragons, or the strongest mages and expect miracles, but against grounded opponents, he’s a lot more credible than people might give him credit for. He is a trained warrior with heavy hits, enough stubbornness to keep pushing through pain, and one of the better specialisations for shutting down magical nonsense."

vs. Urthemiel

"it took all of ferelden, the grey wardens, riordan jumping onto him mid-flight, and a final sacrifice loophole to stop him. your fave may be talented but is your fave “end a blight” talented."

"The version the Warden fights isnt even operating at perfect condition. He’s wounded, grounded, surrounded by enemies, and still needs one of the last Grey Wardens in Ferelden to finish him properly."

"urthemiel would win because he can fly. i know that sounds stupidly basic compared with all the old god soul lore, but genuinely, half these people are standing on the ground with swords. problem."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #7 / Match 2 of 6

Emmrich Volkarin

"old man necromancer with a skeleton son. unbeatable vibes. also actual death magic."

vs. Urthemiel

"it took all of ferelden, the grey wardens, riordan jumping onto him mid-flight, and a final sacrifice loophole to stop him. your fave may be talented but is your fave “end a blight” talented."

"The version the Warden fights isnt even operating at perfect condition. He’s wounded, grounded, surrounded by enemies, and still needs one of the last Grey Wardens in Ferelden to finish him properly."

"urthemiel would win because he can fly. i know that sounds stupidly basic compared with all the old god soul lore, but genuinely, half these people are standing on the ground with swords. problem."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #7 / Match 1 of 6

Carver Hawke

"carver is easy to underrate because he spends so much of da2 being the annoying little brother, but combat-wise he is a two-handed warrior who has been fighting since lothering. he’s not a civilianhe puts himself between his family and whatever the blight/kirkwall/the universe throws at them"

"carver would win because his entire personality is “i need to prove i can do this myself” and then someone handed him a giant sword"

"Grey Warden Carver gets darkspawn experience, Warden training, and the general “survived the taint instead of dying in the Deep Roads” boost to his resume. Templar Carver gets formal anti-mage training in one of the most violently unstable Circles in Thedas. Either way, he doesn’t stay a farmboy refugee with a sword, he becomes a proper combatant."

"Carver is not top-tier flashy, and I would not throw him at ancient gods, high dragons, or the strongest mages and expect miracles, but against grounded opponents, he’s a lot more credible than people might give him credit for. He is a trained warrior with heavy hits, enough stubbornness to keep pushing through pain, and one of the better specialisations for shutting down magical nonsense."

vs. Briala

"briala killed lady mantillon when she was 20. mantillon was the woman who taught celene the game, trained assassins and had already arranged the deaths of briala’s parents. she managed to cut briala with a poisoned knife during the attack and briala STILL finished the job. people treating her as if she’s purely a political character are forgetting that her political career began with successfully assassinating one of the most dangerous bards in orlais."

"Her ability to notice tiny details is repeatedly described as better than Celene’s, and Celene was trained from childhood to survive the Grand Game."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #6 / Match 6 of 6

Ghilan'nain

No propaganda submitted.

vs. Athenril

"Athenril is an elven woman openly running a criminal operation in Kirkwall, a city where the guard, the merchants and the established underworld are all stacked against her. She did not inherit that position or get handed it by some noble family. However she got to the top, I doubt it involved losing many fights."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #6 / Match 5 of 6

Fenris

"Fenris can phase his hand through someone’s chest. I feel like that should maybe count for something here."

"Armour? He can phase through it. Shields? Depends how solid he feels like being today. Distance? He’s fast enough to close it and strong enough to make the hit hurt when he gets there. A lot of fighters rely on keeping their vital organs safely behind metal, and Fenris is one of the worst people in the setting to try that against."

"He’s a two-handed fighter with years of being used as Danarius’s personal weapon, then years of surviving as a fugitive with slavers and bounty hunters after him. Add Lyrium Ghost, Spirit Pulse, and the general DA2 warrior kit on top, and he has both the raw physical damage and the weird Fade-adjacent nonsense."

vs. Nathaniel Howe

"He’s a Grey Warden rogue with assassin training and a longbow. Darkspawn experience, Warden endurance, precise ranged damage, and the ability to fight dirty if the situation calls for it."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #6 / Match 4 of 6

Nathaniel Howe

"He’s a Grey Warden rogue with assassin training and a longbow. Darkspawn experience, Warden endurance, precise ranged damage, and the ability to fight dirty if the situation calls for it."

vs. Athenril

"Athenril is an elven woman openly running a criminal operation in Kirkwall, a city where the guard, the merchants and the established underworld are all stacked against her. She did not inherit that position or get handed it by some noble family. However she got to the top, I doubt it involved losing many fights."

Dragon Age Fight Club — Group #6 / Match 3 of 6

Fenris

"Fenris can phase his hand through someone’s chest. I feel like that should maybe count for something here."

"Armour? He can phase through it. Shields? Depends how solid he feels like being today. Distance? He’s fast enough to close it and strong enough to make the hit hurt when he gets there. A lot of fighters rely on keeping their vital organs safely behind metal, and Fenris is one of the worst people in the setting to try that against."

"He’s a two-handed fighter with years of being used as Danarius’s personal weapon, then years of surviving as a fugitive with slavers and bounty hunters after him. Add Lyrium Ghost, Spirit Pulse, and the general DA2 warrior kit on top, and he has both the raw physical damage and the weird Fade-adjacent nonsense."

vs. Ghilan'nain

No propaganda submitted.