Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Shadowheart Is A Former Worshipper Of Selune...

That's one of the primary theories people have. Nothing confirmed as far as I know.

Not a huge surprise though if she is.

I hope not. I'm tired of evil characters being treated with kids gloves.

I certainly hope she will get redemption arc ...
But also corruption arc, where she will be like "screw Selune i was Sharite last *XY* years and it worked well for me!"

she's a tsundere through and through, so of course she'll have to have the "i'm not evil, just misunderstood :(" moment. I still remember when Larian tried to pretend that the companions we have now were the "evil" ones, and yet they keep making Shadowheart nicer and nicer every patch.

Amen.
Yup, It's what I'm fully expecting. What a lame and pathetic cliche!

Kinda hoping at least some of the characters, like Shadowheart, can go in many different directions.

Shes not even evil though...

She constantly pops approval for heroic actions.

Shes honestly the most Good companion we have currently. Kinda confused as to how you think shes evil?

Sounds not implausible, given the fact that Shadowheart is not an evil character. Or can non-evil characters favor allegedly evil gods in the stereotypical world of DnD? Shadowheart tries to explain why she adores Shar, it does not feel that consistent however.

Generally, I don't care, as long as she stays ... available and doesn't turn into a monster of prudery. Could be easier to romance her if she were a worshipper of a "good" goddess like Selune if I play as Cleric (of probably Tyr). On the other hand, I don't care.

What I hope for is, if she abandons poor Shar, that we will be able to change her domain.

...

Shar is evil.

In what aspect and why are people worshipping? When I read about Shar on the Forgotten Realms wiki, my overall impression was "nonsense", "badly created". It is maybe typical for such fantasy worlds but such gods are just badly made. There should be something gray or good or useful (Shadowheart tries to explain what Shar offers, but it's hard to grasp) with her.

If she is like the Christian "Satan" (she is not from her description), then her worshippers should be an extremely tiny amount of people, because Satanism mostly exists in the imagination of members of other cults (like the Christian churches), not in reality. If she should act like the wordly god in Manichean systems, she is also a failure.

Generally the offer form such gods like her is for nearly all people just too bad to buy, in the sense that it does not profit them.

What do you mean "In what aspect"? She wants to return Toril to its previously cold, gloomy and barren state; furthermore, she's all too happy to see people suffer from mounting despair. As for why Shar is powerful and worshipped extensively? That is because her divine purview is large: darkness and the night (among other concerns). Not only is it wise to appease a deity that has power over such a fundamental truth of existence, but, like many worshipers of evil gods, they are either deceived from the start or, more likely, they believe they can "game the system" and rise to the top in a way that ultimately satisfies their own ambitions while simultaneously avoiding disfavor.

Despite the fact that discusions about real religion are forbidden here ...
I feel strong urge to say: "You would be surprised ..."

Even tho it would most likely not be that kind of "Satanists" you probably know.

There is as many reason as there are worshippers ...

People who have been wronged or just think so.
People who lost everything and came to the conclusion that their gods had abandoned them.
People who expected her sister Selune to improve their lives without having to do anything, and it didn't happen, so they started supporting her on purpose.

Those and many others.
Forgotten Realms is in a way a terribly dangerous and scary place for anyone who isn't exactly a powerful hero at level 10+. : D

And unlike our world, where one (very strong) religion ruled in certain regions ... all the people who live there have and have to deal with those problems to their choice.
Either they can worship good gods and go one way ...
Or they become bitter, they start to hate everyone and everything, and when they can't go well anymore, at least they make the lives of the others bitter. : D

If you wanted an example from our world ... I would recommend Hinduism.
There are gods TOOOOOOOO MANY than to name them all ... but far from all of them are downright good (or bad as the matter of fact).
Among the better known is Shiva the destroyer ... while we in Europe would have a hard time understanding why anyone would worship a god whose purpose is to destroy the universe, in India he receives great respect, because in their faith destruction is simply part of the cycle of existence.
(This description is, of course, terribly simplified ... but it could serve as an example.)

This was my reaction too. I feel it's the difference between those of us who know the FR setting extremely well versus those who don't (and who don't really care to know).

Shar is a 100% evil deity with zero worthy or positive qualities. And therefore, by extension, it is impossible for anyone not evil themselves to have any desire to worship Shar.

From some of shadows datamined stuff we know she.
[ the whole thing is just brainwashing. Question is what is giving her her cleric like abilities then. The box? Divine soul sorcerer blood? Who knows. But the whole shar worship thing is pure fabrication.

+1
this is akin to like arueshalae in pathfinder. it'll be great shadowheart having a redemption path.

You can't be redeemed if you were never evil to begin with...

I honestly hope she is evil and she's only nice because she's messing with you. THAT would be so freaking cool and I'd actually respect her as a character more if she was actually, genuinely a Sharran priestess who was putting on an act the entire time.

All too often, "evil" simply means "Wears black and has a sardonic attitude." Is it any wonder that "But are they truly evil?" is a common refrain these days?