Within the gaming sphere, there are few current-age Action-RPG fans who don’t know of Dragon Age in some way, shape or form. With that said, there’s a lot to be experienced in those titles and even the biggest fans may have missed a few bits and pieces. So, let’s educate lovers and new-folks alike!
1. Fans of the first Dragon Age would tell you about the curious case of the Qunari horns. In the first title, the Qunari did not have horns despite their race being stated as having them. This comes from the fact BioWare said they had not had the time to do the animations and artwork to make sure your Qunari could wear their helmets. In a way of working that lack of horns into the history, they stated that Qunari that are born without horns are meant to be heroes and destined for greatness. Don’t worry though, they worked that whole thing out by Dragon Age: Inquisition. How? Simply giving Iron Bull a helmet around his horns.
2. Dragon Age was originally started as a sequel to Baldur’s Gate but as it continued into early development, they decided to make it into its own series when it was realized it had far more potential to be an original series for BioWare.
3. David Gaider, the lead writer for Dragon Age, stated his inspiration for Alistair came from Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Xander Harris and Firefly’s Mal Reynolds.
4. Back to that Baldur’s Gate trivia: If you’re playing Dragon Age II and speak to Varric in The Hanged Man Inn, he’ll make mention of someone named Edwina who is actually a character from Baldur’s Gate 2. Gotta love those callbacks, am I right?
5. In Dragon Age: Awakening, there are three Desire Demons who are performing rituals over a cauldron. What does this mean? It’s an obvious reference to Shakespeare’s MacBeth. You can find hints of Shakespeare in all of the Dragon Age games, as it happens.
(BioWare)
6. In Dragon Age: Origins – once you enter the Denerim Market District at least 42 times, you can expect a possible encounter with the ‘Zombie Kitten Army’ which will spawn a group of cats, unmoving, ready for battle.
7. At the end of Dragon Age: Origins, you can find yourself bumping into a dialogue that features a reference to the game Portal. One of the characters will glance around, remarking that, well.. “Where is the cake? They promised there would be cake. The cake is a lie…” and GLaDOS would be proud.
8. In Dragon Age: Inquisition – Claudia Black voices Morrigan whose son Odin is actually voiced by Black’s son Kieran.
(Bioware)
9. Speaking of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Iron Bull (my wanted love-affair for life) was actually conceptualized as a female. I bet Freddie Prinze Jr. (who voiced him) is glad that wasn’t the case in the final written script. Heck, he couldn’t wait for them to bring James Vega back to Mass Effect, afterall.
10. Allegra Clark has been a series of Dragon Age long before she was brought on to voice Josephine in Dragon Age: Inquisition. In fact, she even cosplays as Isabela who made her first appearance in Dragon Age II.
(Bioware)
