Ultima is one of the Evanuris FFXVI-Dragon Age AU
This madness was born from a conversation with @senshidiot Spoilers for the whole Dragon Age franchise and FFXVI (only the game - I didn't read Ultimania, so this post doesn't incorporate anything from that).
FFXVI introduced a canon multiverse (with the interdimensional darkness, where Ultima pulls Clive and Joshua), which makes it uniquely suited for bad crossovers. So here is an idea for one with Dragon Age. Thedas and Valisthea have a lot in common (magic, a phenomenon named Blight, which is related to magic and ultimately takes life out of the land, undead creatures (akashic/darkspawn), and also the political chaos, and the oppression and discrimination mages face). Thedas even kind of has its own magic crystal in the form of lyrium. We also have the antagonist, Ultima, and we learn that he was essentially a strong mage in another universe, where magic destroyed the world. He considers himself a god, and has powers comparable to one and is immortal. Looking at the Dragon Age universe, we know that "magic destroyed the world" - it lead to Fen'Harel's rebellion, the creation of the Fade, the loss of immortality, and for the Evanuris, being locked in the Fade. From the perspective of one of them, it may very well be an apocalyptic scenario, which requires a restart. Humans also didn't yet arrive in Thedas, and even if the elves were aware of the existence of dwarves after the titan war, they probably saw them as fragments of the titans. Elves, according to Veilguard were spirits who created physical bodies for themselves. This would explain while Ultima couldn't understand that his creations have a mind and will of their own - he might have believed nothing created purely of matter, without an independently formed spirit could reach that point. We also know that creatures infected with the Blight in Dragon Age can be controlled or at least communicated with through the infection (as done by the Architect, Corypheus, or Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain in Veilguard) - and the Evanuris did gain some control over the Blight. Ultima seemed to have some control over beings who contacted aether, as well as the Dominants (who essentially carried fragments of his own soul in the form of the Eikons).
Several codex entries also suggest that there might be something beyond the Fade, and both the Prison of Regret, and what we know of the Black City bear strong similarities to the interdimensional darkness. Ultima of course, doesn't resemble an elf, but this is true for Ghilan'nain in Veilguard as well. We know that some of the Evanuris was transformed either by the Blight, or experiments to raise their power. Considering that Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain are around in Thedas during Veilguard, probably the most fitting candidate for Ultima's Dragon Age identity would be Falon'Din. That's it. That is officially the weirdest crossover idea I've ever came up with.
Quite the opposite! This is why you - and everyone else too - should always read all codex entries in everything!
It creates amazing, crazy things. 🥰
Making it worse with some new additions (still spoilers): In Veilguard, Archdemons/Old Gods are revealed to carry the parts of the souls of the Evanuris who binds them - this would make the Eikons functionally weaker Archdemons (there is even one dragon amongst them). This soul fragment can also attach itself to people who carry the taint (Wardens) leading to the death of a Warden when killing an Archdemon. Clive can also absorb the power of the Eikon when defeating or killing a Dominant. We also see that these soul fragments can be passed on willingly in Inquisition (when Flemeth takes Urthemiel's soul from Kieran). And we all know what happens when Clive kills and absorbs Ultima entirely.
