Seems like every character in the game is *special* somehow. Your companions are all special outliers and exceptions to the rules for what one could expect given race, class, background, and especially starting level. Ditto for all your followers. Ditto for monsters, whether intellect devourers or goblins. The ONLY character in the whole game that is NOT special in any way, and often is mundane and boring, is yourself (as a custom PC).