Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Companions moral

Astarion and Gale are closest to evil, but even then they are probably closer to chaotic neutral

Yeah no paladin companion or orgin been in every baldur's gate but this one suppose a lot of intresting classes are missing

Paladin's are famously considered annoying and are typically poorly received, Especially when they are npcs.

Xenk is about the only one I've ever seen near universal praise for and that's because they lean all the way into the tropes and use him sparingly.

The OP here has asked a very specific question to help them understand what the game is. I'm going to suggest we stick closely to that topic to help them out, rather than digressing again into critiques of companion variety.

I know we already have plenty of threads for that. If there's more general companion chat here, then I'll find one and move posts to it, but I'd be grateful if you'd all save me the bother.

Here are some other recent threads that might be of interest to the OP, and which might be a better location for further more general companion chat that's not directly related to their question:

Are you disappointed with companions' variety?
Total number of companions : disappointment over the Dark Urge
extralive on Companions and Romances - Spoiler

I don't know, if you can change their alignment along the way, but I would think so.
Some of the characters have their believes shook in EA already, which might indicate a change of heart depending in what you will do to help them.

I am confident that the companions have the potential to develop in different directions, and I think we got a confirmation for this in the last panel.

There was a very interesting statement from the associate lead writer (I took notes, and I hope I got it correct);


I had assumed that this is possible, because I think that the companions are nuanced, complex and well written characters, and I am very happy that this seems to be indeed the case. I like character growth and development.
And each one of the companions seems to be at some kind of turning point in their lives, where their story could take one path or another.

There was also a statement from another writer, that it's sometimes actually better to have an argument and challenge your partner (or companion) about their way of thinking.

So yes, I think your player character can have an influence on their companions.

Yeah, from what I'm gathering, it appears that the companions are what you make of them.

There is a good video here analyzing the origin companion alignments:


Please note that alignment is not programmed into BG3 so the analysis is just projecting the actions of the origin characters into the old alignment DnD no longer present in 5e.

In short:

Laezel is considered lawful evil based on her actions, but also her Githyanki belief.

Astarion is considered chaotic evil. He's a vampire spawn and only concerned about his own interests.

Shadowheart is considered neutral (evil). She is a follower of Shar who is a neutral evil goddess. However, Shadowheart by her actions is more neutral than evil. Therefore (evil) in parenthesis . It's possible she can be turned more towards good if you get in good favor with her so she won't approve of evil actions.

Wyll is harder to assess, but according to the analysis he's chaotic neutral, but capable of doing good things too. Let's see how he will behave in the final version. His story is completely rewritten. It could be Larian will focus more on his good side. So maybe he's converging towards chaotic good or neutral good. Time will tell.

Gale is also hard to assess, but according to the analysis he's neutral good. He usually agrees with selecting good actions. However, it might be he's just agreeing with the PC just to get in his good favor so he can get access to the artifacts he needs. His might have been more neutral (maybe even towards evil) before and trying to make amends after getting hit by the curse.

Karlach we don't know much about, but she is considered to be good. She also seems to follow orders so lawful good is a good bet.

Minsc is considered to be neutral good to chaotic good. Let's see how he behaves in BG3.

Jaheira is considered to be true neutral being a fighter / druid. However, she might behave differently in BG3 compared to BG1+2. She seems more like a leader now.

Minthara is most likely lawful evil. She is definitely evil. She is a leader following orders from the necromancer so she is most likely lawful.

There was many videos about this ...
Strangely none of them ever mentionad that Larian (and i even believe it was Swen himself) gave us companion alignments in the past (nope, im not going to search it) ... one of highlights of that was clear statement that the game didnt have ANY Good companion implemented ...

So ... sory, but any video that claim that either Gale, Wyll, or Shadowheart are good ... is just wrong.

Hear me out…
Things can change in development over a six year period.

Alignment was never removed in D&D, and still hasnt been in 5E to my knowledge. Its still all over the place (thankfully). youll notice this alot as a DM. Certain magic items have alignment requirements. All creatures have alignments. And Alignment is still an optional rule for your player character in PHB. Alignment comes to the fore in Devils vs Demons vs Celestials vs Fey basically, and for all the deities, of which there are a ton i Forgotten realms.

Indeed ...
This however was last summer.

And while i realize its totally possible for Swen to one day wake up and start demanding that all characters gets tentacles instead of eyes ... i just dont find it much probable.

Why though?
Aren't you tired of that cliche "Happily ever after"? Dark characters have that spice in them. Even true psychos sometimes can be admired. Do-gooders on the other hand very hard to NOT make boring.

Of course there sometimes idiotic comics-style evil character "Argh, me evil villain, i eat babies for breakfast".
But most have "depth" in their personality. Evil character sometime can prove to be far more loyal, reasonable, and having other positive quirk in their personality than some sunshine-positive paladin.

I hope based on the reported reactivity and sheer amount of content that characters can have very diverse arcs based on decisions and events. Would be cool to see if there’s a hidden path to recruit both Halsin and Minthara, where they can talk about Minthara imprisoning Halsin. I hope it’s a hidden path though.

My own thought has been that there is probably a path to turn Shadowheart good that has been planned for a while. Gale and Wyll clearly aren't good, with the latter tending closer to evil than neutral. Beyond that the only announced companion I would call good is Minsc, and he probably hadn't been implemented when Swen made his statement. Karlach may be good but we can't know yet.

Oh certainly Lemurion ...
I have no doubt (ok, maybe a little, but i hope really hard) there will be several ways to influence each and every of our Origin companions a little closer to either Alignment ...

But topic was about Alignment they have now, not what they potentialy can have.

70% certain the Wyll rewrite was to make him good.

Well ...

A couple of thoughts.

First, when you say "evil", what character traits are you attributing to them. What is "evil" to you?

Second, could you name a character you consider evil that is more loyal that your average good paladin?

Doesn't matter what it's for me... or for you. What is considered good and evil (as well as lawful and chaotic) long since settles for D&D (and many D&D0like games as well).
most detailed description actualy comes from 2nd edition Pathfinder:


Loyalty certainly closer to lawful characters, although it doesn't mean that chaotic characters can't be loyal. Just perhaps that their loyalty somewhat easier to break.
And such things as been reasonable doesn't come from alignment at all, but rather closer to how wise character is.

I have very rich experience on playing evil characters in P&P RPGs. And most of the time, my evil characters could get along with party just fine. Even with good-aligned party members, even with paladins.
On the other hand, i also saw many situations when two good-aligned characters was at each other throats.
But even that not a disadvantage. As long as players not taking it personally (and unfortunately i know examples when players had out of character grudges on how conflics evolved in games. Though thankfully most capable keeping it professionally in-character), characters just makes game spicier. Even if in the end it leads to plain violence (in-game violence that is of course) - that just part of roleplay!