Lucanis Dellamorte - Official Companion Thread [Spoilers]

Huh. I saw this guy on Midnight Mass recently. Never heard of him before. My immediate reaction was "Oh, hello". *g*
He's never done any voice work for videogame according to Wiki so that's an interesting idea. I have to look up a clip because I don't remember his voice right now.

Ah right, actually I watched House Of Usher first! He was the least awful of the bunch arguably. But yeah. Very different character from Midnight Mass.

I don't think he is that short. I mean all the weird stuff he pulled off in the Wigmaker Job, you need some height for that, it wouldn't be possible be with tiny legs. Maybe he is only short compared to a Qunari and Emmrich.

Lowkey hoping he's like 5 foot 7 just to mess with everyone. But also - male gymnasts are pushing the limit at 5'8" so *wink*. 

So we should learn who his voice actor is on the 25th/26th. Exciting! Hopefully he's done other stuff we can listen to so we can get a feel for the voice, but it would be neat if they released some audio of the companions that we haven't heard from yet, like they did with Davrin and Bellara.

lol sorry, and I don’t either, nobody does (yet!) but the Devs. I mean he has a certain quality, rizz, a je ne sais quois… but whether he’s packing a switchblade or a two-handed greatsword? Unclear.

Smooth segue: yesterday I realized who Lucanis reminds me of, lil bit… Duncan! You guys think so, too?

(PS: Now that I think about it, a two-handed greatsword sounds excessive. I don’t… I mean, who needs that aggravation. Nope!)

I should have said something earlier   I looked up the meaning of BDE, read like the first three words, got embarrassed and wrote my comment, then went back and read more. Now I get it, it's about the attitude so to speak, not actual weaponry. 

Well obviously he was/is a Nepo baby because of who his grandmother is. He seems to acknowledge in Tevinter Nights that whilst he hated her for her treatment of him as a child, he had to acknowledge she was wanting to ensure he survived in her chosen profession for him. However, it did mean he was being trained for a specific role in life that he may not have chosen for himself and ultimately didn't want, First Talon. That's the thing really. Whilst being a Nepo baby can have its advantages, it has its drawbacks as well. So far as Lucanis is concerned I want to support him in freeing himself entirely from the burden of his birth (assuming of course he is actually a blood relative of Caterina). I'm more interested, though in delving into why he thinks "Death is my calling."

Alistair is another person where being a Nepo baby wasn't really a blessing. He never knew his father or his mother, was told a lie about the latter, farmed out to a noble to raise and then shoved into the Templars when he was considered a liability. Then when it became politically convenient suddenly one faction decides they now want to acknowledge his parentage. He didn't want to be a King, had not been trained for it and really didn't seem suitable for the cut and thrust of Court life even in Ferelden (he'd have been eaten alive in Orlais). I think he was a lot happier if left in the Wardens. From his comments in DA2, if the Warden married him she did seem to dominate him but then that was probably true of his other advisers, or Anora if you married him to her.

To be honest, being a Nepo baby in Thedas really sucks. Seamus Dumar resented his life, rebelled against it and died as a result. Dorian hated his life, rebelled against it and nearly had blood magic used on him by his father to force his compliance. Celene was trained to excel at the Game but never knew real peace and contentment as a result.

Of course, being a regular person isn't much better in some nations. In Orlais the Chevaliers think that give them licence to treat you as they think fit. In Antiva the Crows prey on you, blackmailing or paying off your family or just scooping you off the streets to use you as basic cannon fodder in their lower ranks. Occasionally it may be possible to rise through the ranks by sheer guile and ruthless determination but given nepotism does exist in their rulers, that is the exception rather than the rule.

So, I suppose it is really down to whether you tell your companions to suck it up and accept their destiny (as you effectively do when making Alistair King) or help them break free of it. Certainly, being the heir to House Dellamorte is not what attracts me to Lucanis, rather the opposite. What I find attractive is that he had the courage to break free (even if he did fake his death rather than stand up to his grandmother face to face).

I lean more towards something a little in-between. I don't need a team of snowflakes, but I do want the Veilguard to be specialists in their field with unique skillsets.

I don't want Lucanis to be a run-of-the-mill hitman; I want him to be one of the most skilled assassins in his organization. We are taking on gods, after all. I want an A-Team that can handle this mission. A bunch of noobs isn't going to cut it.

I love that. Yeah, seems like our companions are highly capable specialists in their field, especially judging by the trailer where Varric and Harding talk about the kind of people they need.