sure, I'll play!
Lae'zel is loyal to her queen, not to anyone else. She has killed her own family members for no greater reason than because her queen... or, at least, a superior to her in rank who spoke with the queen's authority, ordered it, and she takes pride in her ruthlessness. Her queen, it may be worth mentioning, is an ancient Lich who literally devours the souls of her people to continue her own existence, denying them any kind of afterlife, and in service to their queen, that is the ultimate fate of all Githyanki who survive long enough to meet it. Lae'zel would attack and kill you in a heartbeat and have no regrets or remorse about it, and does not do so only because she currently views you as the most valuable tool she has at her disposal for progressing her quest for a cure. She is the most lawful stupid that has ever lawful stupid-ed, and is blinded so badly by her unreciprocated devotion to her queen that she cannot see that her own people's 'cleansing' ritual is just a quick death - even when confronted with the fact of it. Lae'zel is honest because she's too thick-witted to be otherwise. Like most of her people, she views material plane denizens as slaves and fodder, and believes herself to be absolutely superior to them in all ways - and makes no bones about telling you so. If you want someone hungry for power and bearing a deep superiority complex, who is only on the look out for number one and no-one else, look no further than Lae'zel.
Shadowheart is the kind of person who believes that it is her divine right to pry into other people's business and know everything about them, but believes with equal absolute certainty that no-one has any right whatsoever to ask any of those questions of her. Her attitude is almost always condescending towards you, even when you try to say the right things; she always acts like she knows everything you might say before you say it, and like she knows better than you at every turn, whether it's true or not (it usually isn't). She is the super-star of the game and Larian love her with the burning passion of a thousand suns, so expect that a game without Shadowheart will be a much more empty and dull one, because you'll miss out on the overbalanced legion of extra content written specifically for her. She's the only character that is repeatedly forced into your party whether you want her or not. Amongst all that content, she has a lot more 'reasonable person' lines now than she once did, and it's quite possible for someone to play through the game, (maybe) without really bumping into any of her unreasonable bitchiness at all, now... though you've got to avoid asking her about anything more or less ever, so... it's a character that 'rewards(?)' you for not engaging with her, and letting her limelight on you whenever she wants. Shadowheart is, naturally, the brainwashed present day avatar of Selune, and will play a pivotal part in saving the day when she ascends temporarily to godhood towards the end of the game - she'll probably want to be with you by the end of the game, whether you're really interested or not, though it will be phrased as you being desperate to stay with her.
Astarion has a lot of personal trauma and damage, for certain, but it doesn't really change the fact that his entire characterisation is bloodthirsty murder-hobo for the giggles of it. For all the depth they have so far attempted to inject into his character he remains woefully two-dimensional and predictable as a person. Vampires, and vampire spawn by extension, aren't really capable of things like loyalty and love. They imitate them, and some develop obsessions about facets of them, but they don't really have those experiences any more. If you want to talk about lore, talk about FR lore, not other sources to which this doesn't apply. Astarion is likely to want to stay with you as long as your fun and interesting and provide him with stable availability of blood. He will even probably pretend towards emulations of care and affection as best he can manage.
Gale didn't help you on the ship for the same reason that Astarion didn't (recall that he mentions seeing you on the ship as well), despite also seeing you on the ship as well - they were both just as incapacitated as you were at the time. Gale never says anything about wanting to be the most powerful wizard; I'm not sure where you're getting that. He's not power hungry either - again, not sure where you're getting that from. He was, formerly, an archmage - an exceptionally powerful and experienced wizard, and on top of that was once the favoured of Mystra, and even her lover for a time (once again, blame Larian's overblown npc backstories for this ridiculousness). He sought to impress her and did something very stupid, and now, as well as losing her favour over it, is attempting to deal with the problem it's left him with - this is not a selfish motive, and I'm not sure why you see it as one. He has contingencies set up to warn people if he dies unexpectedly, and has supplied the means of preventing disaster on his person. He lets you know that it is his intention, if he ever reaches a point where he cannot stave off his nuke any more, that he intends to remove himself out to the depths of some far ocean so that his detonation won't pose a risk of harm to anyone else. Gale needs powerful relics to keep himself alive, but that doesn't make him power-hungry. Gale believes that he is generally more knowledgeable and more experienced in matters of magic than anyone else present - it does come off as condescending at times, definitely, but you are generally given a chance to 'keep up' with him, and have him acknowledge you for doing so, unlike the better-than-you writing of most of the other companions. It also stems from the fact that, at least in gale's case, his certainty is based on fact - he generally is more knowledgeable than 99% of people he meets (archmage?), and even though he has been brutally depowered now, the knowledge and experience hasn't gone away. His introduction dialogue is his worst one, now, as it's still pitched to treat the player like a moron, but Gale isn't alone in being written that way towards the PC much of the time. Gale is the character who gets the most genuinely emotionally invested and attached to you, if you are friendly to him -some might suggest a little too quickly, perhaps, but it's still a legitimate feeling of affection and care that he develops and expresses - one of the few cases where this is genuinely confirmed outside of tadpole tricks, since it was a weave-wrought emotional link instead. Of all of the characters, he is easily the most likely to remain loyal to you after all the dangers are taken care of, and he will do so because of the sort of person you are, and because he likes you, not for any other reason.
Wyll wants to be a good person, but more than that he wants to be seen to be a good person - as you say, he wants fame and glory. There is a genuine desire to do good there, but it takes a back seat, very firmly, to his personal vendetta, at least in chapter 1. Wyll is a liar. This is his defining character trait. He lies to you about more or less everything, and when you confront him about it, he lies to you again, and when you catch him out on that lie, he lies to you again, and back-handed calls you an idiot for good measure, even when you both know that he's lying, and he knows that you know, and there's no question of doubt at all. He didn't make his pact for fame and glory - he made it for revenge, but the fame and glory is a fun perk that he craves. right now, he says he's looking for a way to properly break his pact in a way that means no-one loses their soul and no-one suffers... and he says his pact-holder is even amenable to it, because they have some kind of relationship that's more than just patron and warlock. He says. He also lies. About Everything. So who knows? We're not allowed to insight check his lies, so he's allowed to lie to us with impunity about anything, apparently.
That's all very interesting but you didn't say why you like or do not like the characters. You just made a huge response to everything I wrote and rebutted most of my experiences. In some instances it almost sounded like you are questioning my reasons. You spoke in general terms. This wasn't meant to be a debate but how YOU feel about those characters.
