I was curious about BG3 fic stats, mainly who frequently appears with who. Not necessarily who's shipped together, but more a question of "how likely is a fic going to feature character x if they are about character y?"
Findings below the cut.
Methodology
% y presence in x fics =[ (#fics tagged with both x & y) / total #fics of x]*100
For example, there are a total of 20863 fics under the character tag Tav, and 5740 of those fics are also tagged under Shadowheart.
[5740/20863]*100 = 28
This means that 28% of fics that feature Tav also feature Shadowheart.
So here's the big graph with all 8 romanceable companions and the 2 customizable origin characters.
It's rather big and clunky, so let's go through each companion one by one, starting with the person with the least fics they're tagged for.
Minthara
1545 or 3.3% Baldur's Gate fics feature Minthara.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Tav and Astarion fics. There are only 3% of Tav fics and 3% of Astarion fics that feature her.
Minthara is most likely to appear in Lae'zel fics. 10% of Lae'zel fics also feature Minthara.
The origin least likely to feature in Minthara fics is the Dark Urge, with them being tagged in only 29% of them. They also have the least number of fics together at 449.
The origin most likely to feature in Minthara fics is Shadowheart, with her being tagged in 57% of them.
Minthara is one of the only two companions who do not have Astarion as the most featured character in their fics. However, Shadowheart only beats him by a narrow margin as he appears in 56% of Minthara fics.
Looking at the bar graph, Minthara is the character whose fic landscape features the other playable characters the most equally.
Halsin
6980 or 14.8% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Halsin.
Halsin is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 12% of Durge fics also feature Halsin. Second is Tav fics with 18%.
Halsin is most likely to appear in Lae'zel fics, with 37% of Lae'zel fics also featuring Halsin. Wyll comes at a close second with 36%, and Karlach is third with 34%.
The origin least likely to feature in Halsin fics is still the Dark Urge, with them being tagged in only 13% of Halsin fics.
Halsin in general is not frequently featured alongside customizable origin characters. He is only tagged in 18% of Tav fics despite 53% of Halsin fics also being tagged under Tav.
The non-customizable character least likely to feature Halsin in their fics is Astarion. Only 20% of Astarion fics are tagged under Halsin.
The origin most likely to be feature in Halsin fics is Astarion, with him being tagged in 76% of them. Gale comes second at 55%, and Lae'zel is third with 37%
Lae'zel
7423 or 15.7% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Lae'zel.
Lae'zel is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 15% of Durge fics also feature Lae'zel. Second is Tav fics with 18%.
Lae'zel is most likely to appear in Shadowheart fics, with 56% of Shadowheart fics also featuring Lae'zel. Wyll comes at a close second with 55%, and Karlach is third with 52%.
The origin least likely to feature in Lae'zel fics is Minthara, with them being tagged in only 10% of Lae'zel fics. However, Lae'zel fics are still where you will most likely find Minthara as a tagged character outside of Minthara's own tag.
Lae'zel is one of the only two companions who do not have Astarion as the most featured character in their fics. Shadowheart is tagged in a whopping number of 84% of Lae'zel fics, handily beating out Astarion's 78%.
Lae'zel is the character whose fics most frequently tag other characters. Of her total fics, Gale is tagged in 72%, Karlach is tagged in 67%, and Wyll is tagged in 66%. Tav appears in 50% of Lae'zel fics. This means many of her fics are big ensemble pieces where many of the cast share the spotlight.
Durge
7576 or 16% of Baldur's Gate fics feature the Dark Urge.
Durge is least likely to appear in Tav fics. Only 8% of Tav fics also feature Durge. Second least likely is Gale fics, where Durge is only tagged 12% of the time.
Durge is most likely to appear in Minthara fics, with 29% of Minthara fics also featuring Durge.
However, if we look beyond romanceable companions and origin characters, Durge is featured in 70% of Gortash fics and 65% of Orin fics.
Astarion is most likely to appear in Durge fics by an overwhelming margin. 51% of Durge fics feature Astarion. Second is Gale with 25%. Third is a tie between Tav and Shadowheart with 22%. In comparison 32% of Durge fics are tagged under Gortash and only 12% are tagged under Orin.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 6% of Durge fics are tagged under Minthara. Second is Halsin with 12% and third is Lae'zel with 15%.
Aside from Minthara, Durge has the least presence in the other player characters' fics. Among the ten, Durge fics are the most likely to not feature another playable character.
Wyll
8872 or 18.8% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Wyll.
Wyll is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 16% of Durge fics also feature Wyll. Second is Tav fics with 20%.
Wyll is most likely to appear in Lae'zel fics. 66% of Lae'zel fics also feature Wyll. Karlach comes in a close second with 63%. Third is Shadowheart with 53%.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Wyll fics. Only 7% of Wyll fics are tagged under Minthara. Second is Durge with 14% and third is Halsin with 36%.
Astarion is most likely to appear in Wyll fics. A huge 83% of Wyll fics feature Astarion. Second and third are Gale and Karlach with 68%.
Wyll is the character with the biggest presence discrepancy between another character. 83% of Wyll fics are also tagged under Astarion but only 27% of Astarion fics are also tagged under Wyll. This means that only 1/5ths of Wyll's entire fic landscape doesn't feature Astarion but only 1/5ths of Astarion's fic landscape feature Wyll.
Karlach
9562 or 20.2% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Karlach.
Karlach is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 19% of Durge fics also feature Karlach. Second is Tav fics with 24%.
Karlach is most likely to appear in Wyll fics. 68% of Wyll fics also feature Karlach. Lae'zel comes in a close second with 67%. Third is Shadowheart with 57%.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Karlach fics. Only 8% of Karlach fics are tagged under Minthara. Second is Durge with 15% and third is Halsin with 34%.
Astarion is most likely to appear in Karlach fics. 77% of Karlach fics feature Astarion. Second is Shadowheart with 67% and third is Gale with 65%
Karlach has the most "fic presence balance" with Wyll. 68% of Wyll-tagged fics also feature Karlach, and 63% of Karlach-tagged fics also feature Wyll.
Shadowheart
11158 or 23.6% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Shadowheart.
Shadowheart is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 22% of Durge fics also feature Shadowheart. Second is Tav fics with 28%, and third is Astarion fics with 30%.
Shadowheart is most likely to appear in Lae'zel fics. 84% of Lae'zel fics also feature Shadowheart. Karlach is second with 67%. Third is Wyll with 66%.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Shadowheart fics. Only 8% of Shadowheart fics are tagged under Minthara. Second is Durge with 15% and third is Halsin with 30%.
Astarion is most likely to appear in Shadowheart fics. 73% of Shadowheart fics feature Astarion. Second is Gale with 65% and third is Karlach with 57%.
Shadowheart has two major fic presence discrepancies. Astarion featuress in 73% of Shadowheart-tagged fics, but Shadowheart only features in 30% of Astarion-tagged fics. Oppositely, Laezel is featured in only 56% of Shadowheart-tagged fics despite Shadowheart being featured in 84% of Lae'zel-tagged fics.
Gale
16487 or 34.9% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Gale.
Gale is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 25% of Durge fics also feature Gale. Second is Tav fics with 37%, and third is Astarion fics with 44%.
Gale is most likely to appear in Lae'zel fics. 72% of Lae'zel fics also feature Gale. Wyll is second with 68%. Third is a tie between Karlach and Shadowheart with 65%.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Gale fics. Only 5% of Gale fics are tagged under Minthara. Second is Durge with 12% and third is Halsin with 23%.
Astarion is most likely to appear in Gale fics. 73% of Gale fics feature Astarion. Second is Tav with 46% and third is Shadowheart with 44%.
Gale is the player character (aside from Tav) whose fic landscape is heavily influenced by one other character's presence. Only Astarion is tagged in more than half of Gale-tagged fics. You can see this in the graph in how only his bar juts out.
Tav
20863 or 44.2% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Tav.
Tav is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 22% of Durge fics also feature Tav. Second is Minthara fics with 39%.
Tav is most likely to appear in Halsin fics. 53% of Halsin fics also feature Tav. Karlach is second with 52%. Third is Shadowheart fics with 51%. Aside from Durge and Minthara fics, Tav is featured more or less half the time in other character-tagged fics.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Tav fics. Only 3% of Tav fics are tagged under Minthara. Second is Durge with 8% and third is a tie between Halsin and Lae'zel with 18%.
Astarion is most likely to appear in Tav fics. 62% of Tav fics feature Astarion. Second is Gale with 37% and third is Shadowheart with 28%.
Astarion is less frequent in Tav fics than Gale fics, but in terms of the discrepancy between companions, no one comes close to being in half of Tav-tagged fics while Astarion passes that milestone easily. This most likely indicates that Tav fics tend to tag less characters and/or tag more NPCs than Gale fics.
Astarion
26932 or 57% of Baldur's Gate fics feature Astarion.
Astarion is least likely to appear in Durge fics. Only 51% of Durge fics also feature Astarion. Second is Minthara fics with 56%.
Astarion is most likely to appear in Wyll fics. 83% of Wyll fics also feature Astarion. Lae'zel is second with 78%. Third is Karlach with 77%.
Minthara is least likely to appear in Astarion fics. Only 3% of Astarion fics are tagged under Minthara. Second is Durge with 14% and Halsin with 20%.
Tav is most likely to appear to Astarion fics. 48% of Astarion fics feature Tav. Second is Gale with 44% and third is Shadowheart with 30%.
There is no character tag you can go to among these ten that does not have Astarion feature in half their tagged fics. If Astarion were to be banned from AO3, these characters will lose more than half their fanworks. However, if any of the other characters' fanworks disappeared, Astarion will still have more than half of his fics on AO3.
Takeaways
Lae'zel fic writers tag the other 9 characters the most frequently.
Durge fic writers tag the other 9 characters the least frequently.
Minthara fic writers are the most likely to equally tag the other nine characters.
Tav fic writers are the least likely to equally tag the other nine characters, with an overwhelming preference towards tagging Astarion.
Wyll fic writers frequently tag Astarion but Astarion fic writers rarely tag Wyll by comparison.
Durge and Tav fic writers are more likely to tag NPCs and/or not write big ensemble pieces. Astarion fics also seem to only spotlight one or a few characters.
If you're a reader who loves Lae'zel but hates Shadowheart or loves Wyll but hates Astarion, good luck out there.
