Blackwall Discussion Thread - The Resolve!

Someone did a great job summing up Solas, Sera and Blackwall's interaction as Sera and Blackwall pestering Solas with their heads Photoshopped on puppets. The caption read as,"BotherbotherBother!"
Ever headcanon that Sera gives the Inquisitor a slightly approves for romancing Blackwall?

Hmmmmm. I think that a lot of the people who think he's boring never bothered to take him out and hear any of his banter, which really shows off the depth of his character. By the time you can recruit him, you've had Cassandra for a few hours if you're not playing a tank yourself, and I get the impression that many people just stuck with her full time and never gave Blackwall a chance. So maybe there could have been a quest early on where you're encouraged to take him in the party? He has one of the few personal quests that can be completed without putting him in the field at all.

I mean, the people who hate him because of his backstory and/or his spectacular lying would still hate him, but I think that's a feature rather than a bug. Blackwall's problem as a character is the large number of fans who think he's dull, not the ones that want his head on a pike. (BioWare seem to like it when characters polarize the fanbase - just look at Anders and Sera.)

Who knows

Even if there is a basic formula to create a likeable character there is always going to be a subset of people that don't like him/her. So, I don't think a character should be created with the idea of "everybody must love him/her" but with "what they add to the story that is being told".

In that regard I'm satisfied with what he brings to the table, a bittersweet story of redemption and love.


That said, the banter bug ruined most characters during my first playthrough as the only exposition to their personalities was direct dialogue, and in Blackwall's case, you don't really see his sense of humour there, well you actually don't really get to see it unless certain characters are in the party...

Oooo, thanks a lot everyone for giving explanations! It's eye opening, I haven't seen Blackwall in that kind of angle. (Except for the low self esteem part. Liked when he was able to move past that)

Entropy
Oh yeah, there's never going to be a unanimously liked or disliked character. But there are some who bring enough of a predictable reaction that you can almost make a drinking game out of it.
I think I'm curious because when writers are determined to bring a character's popularity up, they CAN change it. Sera's growth in Trespasser towards Lavellan won a few over into liking her.
"Rescuing from the Scrappy heap" I think tv tropes phrases it as. I could name five things right off the bat on what could have helped Jacob's popularity and it all had to do with the writing and portrayal.

Hey! It's great to see you Kaidan Fan! I appreciate the feedback, and you're right; people have a right to how they feel about characters and I wouldn't want to make them feel otherwise. I like listening to why they feel that way and always curious as to whether it'd change with a different approach or would it not matter. Often times, seeing that other side helps me shift my own opinions too.

Yes, that would be it! It's andrastereborn, all one word, but that's confusing to read. Andraste_Reborn was the format I used on BSN, so I decided to make it display that way. It wouldn't let me register it as my actual user name, presumably because of the underscore. (I could have made it just plain Andraste, but even though that's what I use on most of the internet, I decided it might lead to confusing conversations around here ...)

On topic: thank you for the Blackwall!

I've done a Solas romance, and I did enjoy it. But I will always have a soft spot for my big, burly, beardy Blackwall

Thank you saberchic and Andraste_Reborn, you are both correct!

Let us know what you think of your Solas play through when you are done, wistfullyme and if you get around to Blackwall!

These all seem pretty likely. Though regarding the second point, I liked Blackwall quite a bit and really liked his sense of humor, but balked at romancing him because he seemed almost downright dour when speaking with the Inquisitor one on one? In banter with many of the companions he often has this great mix of crude and rather wry humor and has some pretty funny asides, and he comes off as very appealing, but one on one sometimes it almost felt like I was talking to a different person. I had no problem with him having issues (what Bioware companion doesn't) or not being classically good-looking, but man. He was just rough to talk to sometimes, and it felt futile to try to make him feel better, I guess. I don't know. I love taking him out in my party and his story is one of the most interesting in the game imo, but he was hard to warm up to.

Tbh he's one of the companions I feel would have been much better served in a smaller cast with more possible screentime, tbh, like Vivienne or even Iron Bull, to get a better sense of them as well-rounded characters outside of party banter you can't participate in. I get what they were trying to do with him (and I loved his concept) but for me it just never fully gelled. 

But you know, it's such a ymmv thing. He has a lot of good points imo and I know a lot of people who absolutely loved him and his romance and would probably be absolutely baffled by everything I just typed, lol, so clearly he worked out pretty dang well for them

I think you're on to something here. Blackwall isn't charming like Varric or Dorian to balance out his past. He isn't handsome like Cullen's made out to be. He has no prestige or influence the way Solas is. He's a regular joe shmoe compared to the others who are considered far more interesting.
There was a poster, I think her name was Korva, who pointed out that a character can get away with a great deal if they're likable enough. That won't stop a few from looking past that and calling bs on their actions, but it can go a long way to making sure they're not forgotten.
As for commenting here, I'm glad you did; You offered interesting insight about the character and that doesn't require zealous devotion.

YES! I loved that bit.  Luckily for me the first time I went there I did have Blackwall with me and I don't remember who else.  Probably Sera and Cole? Because HE got to speak and I loved it!

As to what jtav said I do love Blackwall, but I'm not so blindly devoted that I excused his past actions (but I did forgive him).  What made his arc so good was that he was later sorry for his actions, changed and tried to "become better than he was" and went on to do good things to try and make up for some of the awful he caused.

No one had implied that, I have just seen it said before.  Sorry that I wasn't more clear!

I think sometimes others may see people who romanced Blackwall and assume we are okay with what he did when that isn't always the case.  I was just able to accept him for who he was now and forgive him.  That didn't mean I condoned his actions, and in fact, I don't think he would appreciate that at all.

Edit: Also, Descent is on sale for $9.99.  I think I might purchase it simply for the lore.  I hear it tells a lot. So I might do that tonight!

That's a relief, Kaidan Fan! I say that because I can be a little oblivious as to how something can sound!
As for judging what a fan thinks, I wouldn't worry so much. We've got fellow fans who love the same character as us!