The Veilguard Companion Ranking Thread [Spoilers]

This is fun! It's hard for me to rank so I have a tier list instead.

Loved: Davrin, Emmrich.
They are highlights of the game for me. Emmrich is the most interesting and enjoyable. Davrin is the hottest.

Liked: Bellara, Neve.
Both of them surprised me. It's quite difficult to appreciate them at first but the more I spent time with them, the more they become more interesting and deep.

Ok/fine: Lucanis, Harding.
Their stories and personalities do not interest me much, and I've expected more of them. Still there are moments that make them shine.

Meh: Taash.
Their story did not resonate well with me, and their personality can be grating at times. I don't hate them though.

Davrin is one of my favorites - I have a pet soooooo - and I liked his general personality and mood. He is self-sacrificing to a fault I think and I hate it, but it fits him as a hardened Grey Warden so well. I've always liked Bellara as a character and was happy to see her really blossom later on in her personal quest. Since I come from ethnoreligious cultures too I completely understood how she could be so casual about the Evanuris one moment and then trying to grapple with the ramifications of that history later. It's confusing to some people; to us, it's a Monday. 

Harding sorta feels like a downgrade at times personality-wise -as do most of the returning characters - because it's very clear aspects of her have been changed to fit the narrative. I actually like Neve - some find her line deliveries odd but I think it's just supposed to be an aspect of her character since she's obviously seen a lot so I don't fault her so much as her writers.

I like and dislike how aspects of Taash's character were handled as it really squandered a lot of interesting lore DA had developed re: Qunari which only made certain scenes that later showed up where that information was randomly included more confusing. Overall I like their personality otherwise, the tensions they have with their mother Shathann -which has some depth that the writers also wasted. Being likable or a "mature" person isn't a requirement for me when I think about characters and some of the ways they respond and speak belie their insecurities about themselves, which makes them feel authentic. People aren't always consistent. I like that about Taash.

Emmerich is a bit offputting for me, in that he feels like he'd fit the Addams Family mythos better personality-wise. I'm a bit biased toward his faction, especially given I have always been fascinated by the Mournwatch - I roleplayed my previous Inky as one long before we heard about the factions- and (spoiler: companion quest)
I just wish I could see more of the gritty aspects of it. I remember meeting the trainer in Inquisition, listening to Cole's commentary on how Necromancers actually affect spirits with their magic- or hearing Cassandra's stories about her relative being obsessed.

Lucanis really just has his accent going for him. His status as an abomination has none of the bite or depth Anders and Justice had imo. I still think of an old convo I'd had on this forum about the differences in approach a certain oft-compared game took with one of its characters and not really expecting Bioware to be able to because of how their narratives and gameplay is structured and someone actually trying to argue that BW could... their comment didn't age well.

And then there's Varric, who's unsurprisingly lackluster for obvious reasons. Worst plot armor in the story and kind of a travesty that Bioware didn't commit to what they were doing so the twist would feel authentic and not so obvious.