Their names are anger and courage.

In the end, I think Alistair can be interpreted "correctly" as either a man with brown skin and brown hair or a man with white skin and ginger hair. If DA:I was the first Dragon Age game you ever played, I can understand why you might see that Alistair as the "correct" Alistair. But I also think that even if you see Alistair as white, you must be willing to admit the fact that his hair color, his skin color, and even his eye color were all significantly lightened between his appearance in DA:O and his appearance in DA:I. Whether you want to call it whitewashing or not, it is an objective fact that is not up for debate.

I personally do consider it to be whitewashing, because my friends who are folks of color have said that they see it as whitewashing, and that's good enough for me.

As for my own interpretation of Alistair's looks? Yeah, despite the fact that I think Gaider always wanted him to be a red-headed white boy, I'm sticking with mixed-race, brown-skinned Alistair. Why? Well, here are a few reasons:

Even if David Gaider wanted him to look like a white redhead in DA:O, he simply Does Not. DA:O Alistair has light brown hair and light brown skin, especially compared with his color palette in later appearances.

I played DA:O waaay back when it first released, and for me DA:O Alistair will always be "The Alistair." I straight up cannot reconcile the Alistair in my head with whoever the heck that dude in DA:I is supposed to be.

Alistair is canonically mixed-race in the sense that he is half-elven, and since he is visibly darker than his half-brother Cailan, it makes sense to me that his mother may have also contributed her darker features to his appearance. (Not going to break down the debate about Fiona's canonical skin color; again, that's a whole nother essay.)

As I said, my friends of color in the fandom feel strongly that the "lightening" of Alistair's features is an act of whitewashing, and as far as I'm concerned that is far more important than whatever design David Gaider had in his head when he first wrote Alistair. DA:O has very, very few characters of color to begin with, so taking one of those few and deliberately ginger-ifying him is a racist act and a statement to any person of color playing those games that they don't have a place in the world of Thedas. I refuse to accept that.

I really didn't intend to go on a diatribe with this post; I started out just jotting down some thoughts after seeing a fandom poll about Alistair's hair color. But since I'm already here, I'll add a few final words for anyone reading this who prefers to view White Redhead Alistair as the "Real" Alistair. Specifically, my fellow white fans who prefer White Redhead Alistair.

The reason why the topic of Alistair's hair and skin color is so contentious in the DA fandom is because of racism, but not in the way some people think. The issue at the crux of it all is not "what is Alistair's exact canonical skin tone and hair color," but rather "what does it mean if someone chooses to advocate for one interpretation over the other?"

If you choose to view White Redhead Alistair as the "Real" Alistair, is that simply because you played DA:I first and that's the version of Alistair you see in your mind, or is it because a white man is more appealing to you as a male love interest than a brown man? If someone tells you that you drew Alistair too pale, and you respond to them with defensiveness or hostility, is it because you're really deeply concerned about accuracy and preserving David Gaider's original vision for the character, or is it because the idea that white privilege might contribute to your interpretation of Alistair's identity feels uncomfortable to think about? Are you able to recognize that regardless of your interpretation or the devs' original intent, DA:I Alistair is depicted with much lighter features than DA:O Alistair, and that this is part of a broader trend of whitewashing in media?

And maybe the most important question: Is asserting your belief (whether right or wrong) that Alistair is canonically a white red-headed man more important than ensuring that our fandom space is one where folks of color feel not only safe but enthusiastically welcomed and loved?

Because at the end of the day, that's what we're all here for. To build a community with one another. And in an ideal world, maybe posting about why Alistair has to be canonically a white redhead wouldn't mean anything beyond a simple fan theory. But that's not the world we live in. So just try to remember, that even though you're not obligated to agree with the interpretation of Alistair as a man of color, there is a reason why people feel so passionate about it and why some people view artwork of white redhead Alistair as an act of deliberate racism.