Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Memorable side characters

What are side characters, you like or love to hate?

With that I mean characters, that play a bit of a smaller role or are not tied to the story, but still leave an impression.

I want to have a shoutout for stonemason Kith, who is such a wholesome history nerd. I love, how he is totally chill, when you kill his doergar colleagues and when you talk to him, he says, that he doesn't have a taste for slavery and prefers stones over people.

I also love SIlfy, the tiefling girl, who tries to steal from you in the Emerald Grove and whom you can help later in BG.

And Abdirak in the goblin camp. For a priest of an evil goddess, he was pretty chill, no matter, if you do his penace or not, he will always warn you to leave, when the fighting starts (Sweety, it's me, I started the fighting ). I honestly thought, he would play a bigger role, considering the ties of Loviatar with Bane and the story between Ilmateri and Loviatans

I love Uma and Gandrel from the Gur tribe. It's heartbreaking, when you find out, that it is Gandrels children, Cazador turned. It's nice to see, that they manage later on, despite it not being easy.

Another shoutout to the cheery dragonborn lady in the weapon and armor shop in Rivington. She is so cute.

My two favourites have to be the Hearthflame sisters: While they are tied to the main story in some way, they sadly have not much screentime. I would have loved to explore their story a bit more.

And I love Florrick - she is badass, fighting her way alone through the Shadowlands, only to get imprisoned by the man, who she thought, was on her side. I love her looks and her voice too.

And the voiceacting in this game is beyond everything, I encountered before in a game (maybe apart from Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines): my gith mage just talked to the deep rothe, who tells you about Ketheric and Yurgir and even that very minor npc has such a memorable voice acting. There is not a single bad voice acting in teh whole game as far as I have encountered.

Don't know if he counts, but I love Balthazar. He's a show stealer. Great VA, has fun dialogue, an intriguing backstory, and he looks striking.

I also think that while Cazador's (he probably doesn't count, either) dialogue is goofy and so is his delivery (very on the nose) I've grown very intrigued by him because of his Detect Thoughts dialogue, I think it's great stuff.

Auntie Ethel's great. That's it.

Naaber is a gag NPC, sure, but I also really like that his spirit is so indomitable and set on talking it completely skips Speak with Dead rules if he's died. It's kind of undertaley.

I like any story with intelligent or misunderstood undead so I kind of like all of Mystic Carrion's rebel "lackeys".

Not striking, but the lady at Sorcerous Sundries who asks you to be quiet has a very pleasing voice. Might be my ASMR brain talking.

Araj is kind of fun honestly. She's insane. The epilogue has her IndianaJonesing her way to Oblodra's ruins or something. That crazy squidscrewer is getting herself killed.

I honestly kind of like Kagha, too, if only because she's edgier than Halsin. I've always disliked him, even back in EA. We could do with more druid elf Karens willing to kill children who think they're being righteous.

Us is really cute

That one Gith Doctor who tries to lobotomise us has a great voice, I loved her.

Valeria's a goofy drunk corrupt cop but she's also a small elephant with big wings for ears and a monocle and a pipe. What more could someone ask for?

Yurgir's such a bro. What a good lad. Hope he's doing well in the Avernus wars or whatever.

Lucretious is fun, and that one imp she has that's married to a stone golem.

That one Dragonborn pissed about the newspaper puzzles is certainly striking.

I'd have to think of more minor NPCs...

I'm not huge on Abdirak, but I think he might've originally had something else going on in act 3, considering he got his very own unique head mesh. Weird he'd get one while other more important characters did not.

Balthazar is a pretty dope villain, I agree.

And I love the zombie rebels. I don't do the Free the artist quest anymore, but I always help them.

I would say, Ethel is more of a major character, but she is awesome. I love the whole questline. It's creepy and in my first playthrough gave me quite the unease.

About Abdirak: someone said, they accidentally killed him ( in an AoE) and he had those supply containers for food, alchemy stuff and keys, so he might have been considered to become a companion at some point. I think, it could have been interesting with all that I mentioned in act 3 and also the whole situation in the Shadowcursed Lands. But maybe they didn't want another cleric with their faith tested.

I love, how many minor npcs there are, that left an impression.

I forgot Sovereign Spaw - I like that myconid. And especially him and the others dancing, when you bring them Neres head.
I want a myconid companion.

Ohhh, I don't care much for Spaw but you reminded me of Omeluum, he's a highlight of the Underdark!

Oh yes, Omeluum. I'm not sure, if he classifies as a minor character, but he does not have enough screentime. I wish, he could be your

Volo is great. He's a great stereotype of DnD Bards. Loud, boisterous... Not very good at things...

Kagha is cool. Definitely brings a different vibe to the Grove than the rest of the Druids. I really wish she'd been the companion instead of Halsin. Have her atone for her actions by aiding your party. Let her see the Shadow-Cursed Lands first hand to see why the Shadow Druids are not cool.

Lump is great. I wish he could continue with your party outside of Act 1. Would be very interesting interacting with him in the Underdark when messing with the Sussur plants, having them stifle his headband's magic temporarily.

The Bard from the cursed necklace in Grymforge. I wish he'd pop up more often to opine about things you encounter. Also, if he'd appear in camp and interact with your party. Imagine him trying to get Lae'zel to laugh!

BOOOAL is great. I wish there was more you could do with him and the Kuo-Toa. Things like as a Cleric unlocking the Domain of Blood if you choose to worship BOOOAL (BOOOAL giving more gifts throughout your journey if you keep offering him blood via the Cleric Domain or his Sickle - Such as more weapons that scale into the later stages of the game) or if you choose to kill BOOOAL and the Kuo-Toa start worshipping you instead, you get bonuses from their worship and they appear later in the game doing dumb things to "Please" you (Like more ritual sacrifices... Which you can either stop or embrace)

Alfira is cute. Also the song she sings is nice. Would be cool if she'd travel with you, writing more songs about your exploits like she mentions at the party.

The fun thing is, that Volo is canonically a wizard actually. He is a bit like Rincewind.

All the cats are magnificent.

Every animal, you can talk to, tbh. I like the squirrels in the grove, that don't like Alfiras music. And the bird, obsessed with having it's nest perfect.

And that pidgeon commander in act 3 (Lightfeather?) - he was voiced by the same guy as Cazador .

Thank goodness speak with animal potions are plentiful, and thank goodness we can find them at the epilogue party now.

Steelclaw from Moonrise towers is awesome. When I did my bad durge run , I was shocked more by what Durge unwillingly did to him than I was with what he did to Alfira. I stopped that PT not too long after that. I knew I couldn't do it.

I f you are resisting Durge, that was actually the last evil thong, you do without agenda. It is shocking, but also got me hooked and on the path to really get control again.

There are so many excellent bit players and minor characters it's almost impossible to choose. One thing I ended up kinda loving (which was a surprise) are the familiar faces. Like when Brynna comes back as Quartermaster Talli in Act 2, just so dirty in the face. Or seeing Arron crop up again from time to time. It's endearingly theatrical, like a stage play where the same performers are taking on several roles. A quick wardrobe change and presto. I don't mind that stuff, although I do wish more faces would have been reserved for the custom characters similar to how they were reserved for the companions and key story NPCs.

Sazza toughest in the tribe, Sister Lidwin, Lens the journalist, they're all fantastic, Every cat for sure. All the furry fuzzball and feathered characters that we can chat it up with using speak with animals.
That said, every single performance at Creche Y'llek was on point. Like the whole monastery path over the mountains, just killin' it the entire way.

That kobold who says "Too drunk... s'not possible..." before passing out on the floor lol.

Kith'rak Therezzyn (so noted ishtik) and Jeera keeping it pristine.

Ghustil Stornugoss at the Zaithisk "My life's work!!!"



Oh and Vlaakith! Vlaakith totally knocked it out the park! I mean I hesitate to call her minor in any way hehe. Just a command performance there. I loved it!

Stoney and Boney. Such a cute couple. I would gladly be their mecenas.

I just realised, that I really like Beks and Danis - I'm totally invested in the wellbeing of this adorable couple

It's hard to choose any to pick out, especially as it's now been a couple of months since I finished my first playthrough; but there just aren't really any bad characters in the game. The ones I dislike are purely because my character didn't get on with them - like, I stabbed Astarion in the gut when he tried to bite me after making snide comments every time I wasn't a dick to someone. But you can bet in my next, evil playthrough, he's going to be in the party.

But pretty much everyone in this game is an interesting, well-acted character in their own way, whether that's an origin character through the whole game to a bit player in a side room.

Yes, every character has personality, even if they only make one appearance.
I think characters are the strongest part of the game. I never saw even very minor side characters that much discussed and liked.

The last time I can remember minor characters getting such good treatment in a video game (and to be fair this depends on what I've actually played) was in a critically-acclaimed story-based fantasy RPG that was the third in the series, developed by a European studio based on licensed IP. I'm currently playing The Witcher 1, and a scene where I had to follow an elderly druid as he walked very slowly to the destination, made me remember The Witcher 3 where there's a famous scene where you walk with the Bloody Baron to the site of his child's grave, and he and Geralt talk in detail about his story, and the lore of the monster you're trying to defeat. I wanted to link a video I'd seen a while back talking about this scene, but I can't find it now.

The last time I can remember minor characters getting such good treatment in a video game (and to be fair this depends on what I've actually played) was in a critically-acclaimed story-based fantasy RPG that was the third in the series, developed by a European studio based on licensed IP. I'm currently playing The Witcher 1, and a scene where I had to follow an elderly druid as he walked very slowly to the destination, made me remember The Witcher 3 where there's a famous scene where you walk with the Bloody Baron to the site of his child's grave, and he and Geralt talk in detail about his story, and the lore of the monster you're trying to defeat. I wanted to link a video I'd seen a while back talking about this scene, but I can't find it now.

The last time I can remember minor characters getting such good treatment in a video game (and to be fair this depends on what I've actually played) was in a critically-acclaimed story-based fantasy RPG that was the third in the series, developed by a European studio based on licensed IP. I'm currently playing The Witcher 1, and a scene where I had to follow an elderly druid as he walked very slowly to the destination, made me remember The Witcher 3 where there's a famous scene where you walk with the Bloody Baron to the site of his child's grave, and he and Geralt talk in detail about his story, and the lore of the monster you're trying to defeat. I wanted to link a video I'd seen a while back talking about this scene, but I can't find it now.

I think for me it is Vampire teh Masquerade Bloodelines - there were so many memorable sidecharacters there too.

I think VTMB is even better in this sense- Because every time I play I explore every single dialogue option there is for everyone, I'm just so invested in what they have to say and tell me about that world. I can't say that for all BG3 NPCs, or even companions.

I haven't thought about VTMB for years, except for the sequel which I thought had been cancelled. Great, both of those are going to have to be added to my already overloaded play queue...

The sequel seems not to be cancelled, I saw some stuff recently, but I don't expect much from it tbh. And last, I heard, the more interesting clans will be behind a paywall.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines I play at least once a year, because the characters are so spot on.

But I think,BG3 are in the same category. I love the first two games, but I have some gripes with a few characters, especially Anomen.

I think a small side quest toether with Nine Finger's bodyguard would have been interesting. You can now have a short greeting with each when you walk around the hideout , fight alongside them against the Zhentarim and summon two to fight with you in the end game. But I would be interested in more dialogue possibilities to find out more about them, and have them agree on a name for you. All the Ladies have a "common" name for an infectuous disease, so I 'm curious where that comes from. (Lady Croup = Dyphteria, Lady Lockjaw = Tetanos, Lady Flux = dysentery, Lady Ague = general term for "shivering" feverish diseases, like malaria, and Lady Quinsey = absess of the throat.
I would love to learn their backstory.

Hey, guys. For the next game in a row, I've had a one druid on my mind. But not the one that first comes to mind and suggests looking at wooden ducks, but another one.
In the third act, outside the house where the Mystic Scavenger has taken up residence, a dragonborn druid stands sighing over a dry tree sapling. Is there any way to help him? I never solved that mystery. He may not be the most memorable secondary character, but he stumped me and kept me awake.

Neither water, nor destroying this Scavenger, nor curing diseases on the tree helps. Of course, maybe he can't be helped in any way, but maybe I'm just missing something?

No, sadly that leads nowhere. I tried with Jaheira, I even pulled out Halsin for once, but neither of them could help.
Missed opportunity for sure.

Too bad, I threw my entire inventory of potions and spells at the poor guy, but I couldn't help him. Definitely would have been an interesting quest. Thank you.

It's the same with the parents of the kid in the cemetery. And the boy in the alley whose parents were murdered. They were left there crying, and there is no way to help them.

That boy got me. I tried everything, talking to every Flaming Fist in the city in hopes, someone could help him.

I also found it strange that boy was just... there, with his parents murdered. Was it supposed to be a Batman reference or something?
Wonder if that was a scrapped mini quest.

On the topic of the thread:
The pigeon commander on the pigeon post - love him. And I'm always delighted with his Casador voice. l come to talk to him every time.

Dwarf Distur (Grimforge) - I hope things worked out for him and he was able to change his name.

Dammon (Tiefling Blacksmith) - he may not be the most minor character, but I'd take this sweet bun to my camp at the first opportunity.

Popper (the kobolt from the circus) is just a good boy.

Quill (Alfira's replacement) she's awesome, I'd love to meet her in the game. She has such a sad story, too bad there's no way to save her. There is a corpse of her lover lying in the cells of Sarevok, they never met(.

For me it has to be Kar'niss. The actor did such a fantastic job, and the design on him. The way he moves and talks. I think I half smiled through the whole encounter, he is so well made. I wish I could get more of him, especially doing a evil playthrough. He is one of the most unique side character and you can do nothing much with him. And I do not mean in a romance way, I see a lot of people want that (no judgement btw), I mean just a more fleshed out quest. Having him in camp, the final fight etc.

Quill is especially tragic, when you find the dead soldier in Sarevoks cells with a love letter to Quill. And yes, she is great.

Uh, hard pass. I have severe arachnophobia and Kar'niss triggers that more than the spider matriarch. Plus, he is pretty far gone , so I doubt, there is much left to save. Same with He who was, who is inflicted with the shadow curse and doomed to become an abomination like the people in the village, if he survives ( he has a lot of fans too, who conveniently overlook, that there is no cure from the shadow curse).

Big agree on Kar'niss. There's quite a lot that could have been done with him despite his condition(s), especially if you go through on a drow. He has such a unique model, amazing voice acting, and yet is so underutilized it feels like a crime.

At least Abdirak served a function and had a unique interaction. ;;

Someone mentioned earlier how he may have been originally planned as a companion, and honestly? That would have been great. I've picked the game back up recently due to needing a GPU replacement on my PC, and having been restarting often due to not knowing what I wanted to play, I've been through Act 1 more than is healthy I think— so I'm being reminded of just how many amazing and interesting side characters there are. Many intrigue me more than the actual companions do, really, and I feel it's because so many of them seem relatively "normal" or more grounded in the world, rather than feeling... 'larger than life', I suppose.

Dammon, of course, is another favorite. He deserves a hug and a smooch, honestly.

I also can't believe no one's mentioned our favorite pets - Scratch and the owlbear! We really should have been able to give the owlbear a name, honestly.

Scratch and Owly are not side characters, they are the main characters

Kar'niss as a companion? Sign me up!
He could have been a great alternative to Halsin or Jahira, I imagine he could have had some great drow magic. Having both druids like I did on my first playthrough gave me a bit too much druid magic. Maybe Kar'niss could have had bard magic as well? Ah well, could have been cool.

I feel for you on finding a GPU in the current marked, prices are insane.. I hope you find something decent!


I was actually kind of thinking that!

Oop, my apologies - I meant that people had been mentioning that about Abdirak, not Kar'niss!

I would gladly take both as companions, though.

You can really tell Halsin wasn't originally planned to be a full companion, simply due to being able to pick up Jaheira later. I'm absolutely fine with Jaheira - second favorite companion from the original Baldur's Gate duology! But Halsin was... kind of not needed. He didn't even really need to be a full companion in order to be romanceable, imo. But that's a topic for a different thread!

Oh, I was able to RMA from the distributor I originally bought the PC from! Just waiting on FedEx, at this point. My GPU still works, just was showing the obvious signs of failure (random artifacts when under strain, gyrating textures in game, etc.). I'll be back in business soon, hopefully!

Honestly - fair. They're the true showstoppers!

Still wish we could name our owlbear friend though. ;;

Abdirak would have made a great companion - with him being a Loviatan, he would have had a lot of stuff going on for him in act 3 - and act 2, where there is a lot of discussion about pain.


And whoever suggested to replace Jaheira with spider boy - shame on you

Not my favourite druid.



And I really don't get the Kar'niss hype - he seems to be pretty popular , especially as a romance option. Can someone explain that to me? I just don't understand it. He is pretty crazy, cruel and looks like a spider, everything screams 'run away'

I don't like Kar'niss one way or the other either- and I'm usually always a big fan of the villains- but I think him being crazy, cruel and spider-like is probably exactly what draws in his fans. He's "human" looking enough for, um, the tamer "monsterfuckers" (sorry, that's the real term for that section of the internet, I promise) to dig his look. I think his aesthetics are probably really appealing to a lot of goths.

I mean, I love Orin and she's also crazy, cruel and... milk-like? She probably stinks of corpses, and yet...

I'm a goth and I really don't like Kar'niss.

And Orin - she probably smells like a slaughterhouse, having that rotten flesh as armor...

There were quite a few NPCs in the city which I thought felt like they should lead somewhere. I think it is just consequence of act3 being a more traditional, passive experience in many ways. You find characters, stories and vignettes but they tend to not be as intricate or intractable as previous chapters. Comes with an attempt to build a sizeable city I suppose. Not bad, but a bit of a whiplash after chapter1.

@fylimar I'd confidently say I am a goth as well -well, not so much appearance wise these days compared to my youth, but still a goth inside :)- but that doesn't mean all goths will like the same characters, after all. I'm just saying I've seen a lot of goths like characters that share similar characteristics.

I suppose I can just wear a nose clip around Orin, problem solved <3

I honestly never thought anyone would be drawn to Kar'niss until I encounter reddit, that is. But hey, people can fancy, what they like. As long, as I don't have to put up with him.

I meant Kar'niss as a optional alternative. No Jaheira hate.


I think if you can get liking Orin, you can get liking Kar'niss and the other way around. I do not like Orin that much, but I like Kar'niss.

I don't want to speak on behalf of the Kar'niss romancers as I'm not part of that group, it can lead to wrong info and judgement. Having no problems with spiders, his acting is really superb. And as a villain he is really interesting, that is what I really like about him. I want to hear more of "his ma-je-sty" and see more of the interesting design on his face with all those extra eyes.
To me the most boring designs are the ones that looks exactly like a normal, run of the mill, human. Necessary sometimes I know, but not really that interesting.

I like Abdirak better than Karnis. If the crazy spider is a matter of taste, then Abdirak seems...such an adequate men with a strangely harmless addiction.(He-he).

I've seen more requests for Karnis not as a romantic interest, but as someone who can be saved. He has the original modeling in the game, he looks interesting (unless you're an arachnophobe), and is very quickly merged out of the scenario by a single cheating scene.

I stumbled more often on the romance requirement with He Who Was. Above that, only the romance requirement with Gortash and Raphael.

It would be interesting maybe not as a romance option, but as a companion without romance(Jaheira, Minsk) or at least someone who could be involved in the final battle (spiders to summon or some other thing). Although I can't imagine a giant spider roaming the city after you. The NPCs must have scattered in panic.

I agree on Abdirak. He who was is doomed imo.Since it was stated that the shadowcurse can't be cured, he probably would turn into an abomination.

My topic wasn't about romances specifically, just generally interesting minor characters, but if I would be interested in romancing someone, it would be Korrilla or Florrick

Florrick, of course, is a woman with iron ...
And out of the burning house came out (with the help of the player, but still), and through the cursed lands went herself, and in prison managed to sit, trying to save the Duke. And gathered people for the rebellion.

Corilla, to be honest, did not like.

Talking about Florrick, I wondered

Response:
There was another moment:

Yes there are other things like that, like when you spot Edowyn and his siblings from afar and then go on to come back later, the siblings will have gone and are now in the goblin camp.