You would think! I keep hoping that modders will tackle it, but it seems like a missed opportunity for Larian. There was so much potential context wise with the interactions that currently exist between DU and Gortash as well as through the lore we find in letters and books. Even without being a full fleshed romance like those with our companions, it would have felt significantly more meaningful than the one night stands because there was that history there. I think there could have been some really interesting parallels tied in from the time the Dead Three were adventuring together as mortals— had Orin not interfered, would Gortash and Durge have been successful or would they have succumb to the same follies as their predecessors? I can definitely see the two having spent many evenings together debating philosophy, indulging decadently while hatching their diabolical schemes.
Yes! It would be a great addition to DU's story - if there were some flashback lines in the dialog with Gortash where he could mention those times, and also DU could pass a test of, say, wisdom to try to remember something from their shared past.
Oh and absolutely. Given Gortash’s upbringing, I think is both sad and understandable that he ended up the way he did. Of course not all victims of trauma will end up being bad or evil, and a few rare folks may be able to turn their traumas into something good. But I do like that Larian included such sympathetic villains because I think in order to prevent people from becoming monsters, we need to be aware of and eradicate the circumstances that cause it. For Gortash, nothing good was going to come out of being raised by Raphael— devils are always the embodiment of evil and if they’re not, they’re no longer devils. There was no “good” in The House of Hope for Gortash to emulate or aspire to. That and being
regularly tortured by Nubaldin
, Gortash truly only knew cruelty and likely wanted to protect himself from ever submitting to that again. I think I brought up in a discussion elsewhere that considering Gortash’s upbringing, he likely had no friends as a child or anyone who truly loved him, which is just sad to think about. This is why I think a romance with the DU could be so powerful— it would have been the first time in his entire life that someone actually cared about him as a human being.
What could a hero do, if they were in the past, to prevent the troubles to come? Save and adopt little Enver Gortash. Sympathetic villains Larian in BG3 succeeded perfectly, and personally they touch my soul much more than “good” characters. A hero who survived in a cruel world and can “walk on ashes” often turns out to be smarter, stronger, and brighter, and is more appealing than a superficial and silly “moralist” who probably wouldn't have survived such trials. Gortash's character is, of course, the product of a violent environment, an abusive childhood, and a subsequent spin in Baldur's criminal circles. He ended badly, come to think of it, because of one misstep:
He overestimated the strength of his control over the Emperor and sent him off to find the prism. Which then led to us and our companions not becoming slaves to the Absolute, but being able to defend ourselves from control, gain strength, and thwart Gortash's plan. The chaos factor is always present, even in the most perfect plan. But, if in the case of the usual “good” roleplay everything looks realistic and logical - a group of people connected by a tadpole becomes the very chaos factor that destroyed the whole carefully constructed chain of sequential planning, then the a priori death of Gortash, even when we take his side, looks to me something somewhat artificial.
Devils in BG3 (as well as in the world of Faerûn in general) do not look like some mystical embodiment of evil, they are rather a very tough aggressive society (with magic, of course, and with the peculiarities that this magic imposes). Gortash's parents are of the human race, but that doesn't make them any better than the devils. The story of parents selling their child to someone for service, where the child would be virtually enslaved and tortured on a regular basis - in the not so distant past of mankind, such stories were not uncommon at all. Except that the word “trauma” in the modern sense of the word did not exist then. Gortash's story in many ways resembles the story of a man “from the bottom” who managed to rise and penetrate into the noble society, where he successfully outplayed everyone and became dominant, because the people around him, who grew up in hothouse conditions, unprepared for such competition, were not able to notice his plans, let alone oppose him in any way. It is indicative that Gortash did not just become a gang leader or an arms dealer (it was just a step for him), but devoted a lot of effort to self-education (no one taught him anything, all his knowledge seems to have been acquired one way or another on his own), which allowed him to eventually become what he became.
Getting Ketheric as a companion and offering him redemption would have been such a powerful story telling tool, like how we can offer Loghain a chance of redemption in DAO.
Agreed! Another character that needed more content. Shame, Larian clearly preferred to focus on the heroic characters rather than fleshing out their villains and
properly letting us team up.
Swen Vincke said that Ketheric Thorm was his favorite cut companion:
«Baldur's Gate 3 Director Reveals One Surprising Villain That Used to Be Playable».
