Anders (Dragon Age)

Character
Name:	Anders
Occupation:	Healer, Revolutionary
Relationships:	Varies
Fandom:	Dragon Age
Other:	voiced by Greg Ellis in Awakening voiced by Adam Howden in Dragon Age II Anders tarot card by Ioana-Muresan
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Anders is a character in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening and Dragon Age II. In Awakening, he can be made a Grey Warden and become one of the Warden-Commander's companions. In Dragon Age II, Anders—having merged with a Fade spirit he met during Awakening—is a changed man. He is a passionate advocate for mage rights, and becomes a force of vengeance when confronted with the brutality and injustice his fellow mages face. Anders is one of four possible love interests for a male and female Hawke.

Due to his morally-questionable actions at the climax of DA2, Anders has been a polarising character in Dragon Age fandom since 2011, and is frequently the subject of discourse and critical metas. Opinion of Anders seemingly shifted in a positive direction in the late 2010s as social justice rose to prominence within fannish spaces and certain aspects of his canon characterization came under greater scrutiny. His portrayal as a canonically bisexual man has received both praise and criticism. Anders will actively flirt with the player character regardless of gender in DA2 and has a canonical romantic history involving both men and women.

Canon

Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

Anders' backstory is revealed in the The World of Thedas Volume 2 guidebook. He grew up in Ferelden and was happy until his magic manifested at twelve. After causing an accidental fire, his mage-fearing father summoned the Templars (a mage-policing knight order), and he was taken to the Circle of Magi (a prison-like system for mages) at Kinloch Hold. Initially refusing to speak or reveal his name, he was nicknamed "The Ander" due to his Anderfels heritage. This was later shortened to "Anders." Over the next two decades, Anders grew to resent the treatment of mages in the Circle, repeatedly escaping only to be caught and brought back. He became romantically involved with fellow mage Karl Thekla. However, Karl was eventually moved to Kirkwall's Circle, prompting Anders to escape for a final time.

Anders is introduced as a sarcastic apostate (a mage living outside the Circle) in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. The Warden finds him fighting Darkspawn (magical zombies) amongst a group of dead Templars at the Grey Warden (a Darkspawn-hunting militia) stronghold of Vigil's Keep. Anders states that the Darkspawn killed the Templars. The player can recruit Anders into the Wardens, preventing him from being recaptured by Templars. Around this time, Anders meets the incorporeal spirit Justice, who is possessing the corpse of a Warden. Anders agrees to host Justice as he cannot survive outside the Fade (a dimension inhabited by spirits) without a physical form. However, despite becoming a Grey Warden, Anders is still dogged by Templars. A violent encounter is portrayed in the short story Anders by BioWare writer Jennifer Hepler.

In Dragon Age II, player character Hawke first encounters Anders in Kirkwall, where he has become a healer with a free clinic in the Darktown slum. He agrees to give Hawke a Grey Warden map in exchange for help freeing Karl from the Circle. It is revealed that Karl has been made Tranquil (magically lobotomized). In a moment of lucidity, Karl begs Anders to mercy-kill him, and Anders complies. Afterward, Anders commits to the fight for mage rights with renewed fervor, writing a manifesto and freeing mages through the Mage Underground. During this time, which spans several years, he can begin dating Hawke. In Act III of the game, Anders will orchestrate the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry regardless of the player's choices, sparking the Kirkwall Rebellion, and, through it, the Mage-Templar War of Dragon Age: Inquisition. The player, as Hawke, can execute Anders for this act, or spare him.

Fandom

Pairings

Fanworks featuring Anders in M/M relationships greatly outnumber those featuring him in het relationships. As of 2023, only one het ship, Anders/Female Hawke, is represented in the top Anders ships on Archive of Our Own. Anders/Hawke is collectively the most popular Anders pairing on AO3. Anders/Male Hawke currently holds the top spot with 1,873 fics, while Anders/Female Hawke ranks third with 1,541 fics. Anders/Fenris is the second most popular Anders ship on AO3. In a November 2021 survey, Anders and Fenris jointly accounted for 77% of Hawke shipfics, with Anders individually accounting for 33% of fics. Dragon Age II characters seem to be paired with Anders more often than characters from other titles in the series. Anders/Nathaniel is the only Awakening-based ship in the top ten on AO3.

Character	Ship	Relationship Type	Canonicity
Dorian Pavus	Dorian/Anders	M/M	haven't met
Fenris	Anders/Fenris	M/M	no
Hawke	Anders/Hawke	both	yes (player determinant)
Bethany Hawke	Anders/Bethany	het	no
Nathaniel Howe	Anders/Nathaniel	M/M	no
Isabela	Anders/Isabela	het	implied past
Justice	Anders/Justice	M/M	no
Cullen Rutherford	Anders/Cullen	M/M	no
Karl Thekla	Anders/Karl	M/M	yes (past)
Sebastian Vael	Anders/Sebastian	M/M	no
Varric Tethras	Anders/Varric	M/M	no
The Warden	Anders/Warden	both	no

Tropes in Fanworks

Anders by Kris Lewis – Anders' fondness for cats is a common trope in fanworks.

A portrait of Awakening!Anders by Darkenaz featuring his earring. In Awakening, Anders is a snarky, self-interested cad, in contrast to the more serious activist of DA2.

• Body Modification: Anders sports a single gold earring in Awakening. It was removed from his character design in DA2. Some DA2-based fanworks restore Anders' earring or give him other (usually intimate) piercings. There is also a cosmetic mod for DA2 that adds an earring to Anders' model.
• Bodysharing: Anders serves as a willing host for an incorporeal spirit known as Justice. As a Fade spirit, Justice has a purpose rather than a personality, and thus finds mortals strange and confusing. The merge significantly alters Anders' personality and focus. Anders describes Justice as "part of [him]" and states that he experiences Justice's thoughts as his own. Some fics use this to explore themes of individual agency and self. Others use it as a set-up for misunderstandings and comedic situations.
• Cats: Anders is canonically fond of cats. His only companion during the year he spent in solitary confinement after attempting to escape the Circle for the sixth time was a cat called Mr. Wiggums. In Awakening, The Warden can give him a kitten, which he dubs Ser-Pounce-A-Lot. Fanart of Anders often depicts him with one or more cats. Anders-centric fics also often feature him adopting and/or bonding with a cat.
• Draco in Leather Pants/Ron the Death Eater: Anders' status as a polarizing character in Dragon Age fandom has lead to sharply divergent characterizations in many fanworks. Less sympathetic portrayals cast him as a violent and unstable extremist, while more sympathetic portrayals cast him as a righteous rebel and humanitarian. Other fanworks treat Anders as a complex and ambiguous character.
• "The Electricity Trick"/Sex Magic: Some explicit fanworks feature Anders using his magic in sexual situations. The trope has its own tag on Archive of Our Own. It is based on party banter in DA2 in which Isabela recounts meeting Anders at a Denerim brothel prior to the game. She remembers him fondly as the "runaway mage" who did "that electricity thing."
• Freckles: Fanworks sometimes depict Anders with freckles despite his DA2 character model not featuring any markings besides two small hand moles.
• Horny!Anders/Slutty!Anders: In Awakening, Anders is presented as a rakish, openly flirtatious character. He flirts with a female Warden/Warden-Commander in both prompted and unprompted dialogue. He jokes that the robes mages must wear in the Circle allow for "quick trysts" that are over before Templars can catch the couple. He wolf-whistles at a statute of Andraste (a prophet venerated by the Chantry) and declares her a "looker." In DA2, though he may slut-shame Isabela in conditional dialogue, it's implied that they shared a fling in the past. In the Mark of the Assassin DLC, a romanced Anders shares a kinky rescue fantasy in banter, prompting Hawke to play along in hearing of other party members. Fanworks often portray Anders as having had multiple relationships and/or casual sex during his Circle years. These tendencies are sometimes explained as rebellion against Templar control or an emotional defence mechanism developed in circumstances that precluded love.
• Hospital AU: Modern AU fanworks sometimes portray Anders as as a doctor or nurse based on his running a clinic in DA2.
• Idiot in Love/Pining: In a romance cutscene, Anders tells Hawke that he's spent three years "aching" for them, leading some fans to conclude that he falls in love with the player's character regardless of dialogue choices. He describes love in the Circle as being "only a game" due to the Templars' authoritarian control over mages. Romance fics frequently portray Anders as awkward and inexperienced in love due to this history.
• Inqusitor!Anders: There are fanworks that imagine Anders filling the role of DA:I's Inquisitor. Anders is the second most common AU Inquisitor after Hawke on AO3. However, there are only 32 fics tagged "Inquisitor Anders" as of 2023. Inquisitor!Anders fics sometimes make him face intense suspicion from the Inquisition and Chantry. (The inciting incident of DA:I involves the Inquisitor surviving an explosion that kills the Chantry's head cleric and "thousands" of others.) Some fics focus on Inquisitor!Anders reconnecting with friends such as Hawke and Varric.
• Jealousy: Anders expresses jealously if the player romances Fenris or Merrill in DA2. Fans sometimes write him as a possessive or clingy lover. His jealousy frequently figures in love triangle and threesome fics.
• Mental Health: Some fics focus on Anders' mental health struggles as they are presented in the Dragon Age series or headcanoned by fans. See the portrayal of mental illness section for further discussion.
• Redemption: Post-DA2 fanworks sometimes explore scenarios in which Anders tries to atone for his destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry.
• Scars: Anders does not have any known scars in canon. However, some fans headcanon him as having one or more scars, usually as the result of battle injuries or torture. Common fanon scars given to Anders include whip marks on his back inflicted by Templars and a large scar over his heart from surviving impalement in the official short story Anders. Fics sometimes have another character (usually Anders' lover) learn about his past experiences through the revelation of these scars.
• Sexual Assault/Rape Recovery: In DA2 banter, Anders reveals that Templars sometimes raped Circle mages, but states that he has "been fortunate" in this regard. Some fans interpret this as evidence that Anders was not sexually assaulted in the Circle. Others believe the statement does not rule out the possibility, given that he may be in denial or unwilling to discuss private, traumatic experiences. A somewhat common headcanon/fan theory is that Anders was raped during his year in solitary confinement. There are also rapefics and hurt/comfort stories in which he is sexually assaulted while living in Kirkwall. Some fanworks have another character (particularly Fenris, a canonical SA survivor) help Anders process his trauma.
• Soapbox Sadie: In DA2, Anders is a vocal, passionate advocate for mage rights. He frequently expresses his views in banter, usually to the amusement, exasperation, or chagrin of other characters. He writes a manifesto in Act 2 and can be prompted by the player to read an excerpt. Anders-centric fics generally treat his pro-mage advocacy more sympathetically than the game.
• Terms of Endearment: Anders refers to a romanced Hawke as "love" multiple times in DA2. Fics sometimes feature Anders calling his partner "love" and other pet names.

Terminology

• Anderfeels: Feels fans have for Anders.
• Bird Mage/Birb Mage/Feathermage: Fan nicknames for Anders based on the feathered mantle on his jacket in both his DA2 outfits.
• Chantry Boom: Fan nickname for the magical bombing of the Chantry in Kirkwall carried out by Anders during the climax of Act 3 of Dragon Age II.
• Justanders: Fan-coined portmanteau name used to collectively refer to Anders/Justice as a single entity, or, alternatively, a ship portmanteau for Anders/Justice.

Views on The Kirkwall Chantry

A shocked female!Hawke watches the Chantry burn with Anders (art by AlanaKai).

Valentine's Day-themed fanart by maXKennedy of male!Hawke kissing Anders as the Chantry explodes behind them. An example of an irreverent take on the event.

Ends vs. Means

Anders became a divisive character in Dragon Age fandom after the release of Dragon Age II. Although some fans dislike him solely on the basis of his characterization, much of the discourse over him centres on the ethics of his actions in the third act of the game, where he blows up the Chantry in Kirkwall in the hope of inciting a revolution that will topple the Circle of Magi system and bring freedom to mages. In Thedas, the Circle system is run by the Orlesian Chantry, a church with a military arm known as the Templar Order. Individual houses of worship are also known as Chantries. Those discovered to be mages are taken to the nearest Circle tower by Templars. As magic usually manifests in childhood, this often happens at a young age. Circle mages are generally allowed no contact with their families. They are expected to live within Circle walls, and are not allowed to marry or have children. At some point, they will be called to take their "Harrowing", a test of resistance to demonic possession. Those who fail – thus becoming dangerous "abominations" – are summarily executed. Living outside the Circle system as a mage is both a crime and a religious offence. Free mages are known as "apostates" for this reason.

Many within the Dragon Age fandom fall into the sharply divided camps of viewing Anders either as a righteous revolutionary or as a murderous terrorist. Jennifer Hepler has stated she intentionally wrote him to be a divisive character. Hepler has referred to him as a "terrorist" more than once, and revealed that she wrote his romance arc as a cautionary tale. Fellow DA2 writer David Gaider has stated he that he finds Anders "too strident with his opinions." There is disagreement in DA fandom over the actual scale of destruction and collateral damage caused by the Chantry explosion. This is largely due to the difference between the visual and implied evidence in DA2 (the Chantry appears sparsely-occupied) versus how the event is later described by characters in Dragon Age: Inquisition (Anders is said to have killed "hundreds"). Some fans view the death toll given in Inquisition as a retcon. A few speculate that the writers dislike Anders or at least regard him unsympathetically.

Fans who view Anders' destruction of the Chantry as morally justified or at least necessary argue it was a desperate last resort in the face of systemic injustice and the dire situation in Kirkwall.

Anders had a problem with the entire institution, not just Meredith. And the Templars get their authority from the chantry. Anders wanted open war for the mages because he felt all attempts to negotiate or compromise had failed the mages and they'd fare better in open conflict. Plus it's symbolic. The templar order has power seen as divinely derived from the chantry and the maker. Show that the chantry consists of fallible mortals, and maybe the things it sanctioned can be openly questioned in a way they couldn’t otherwise.

I feel like people don't always pay attention to just how much time and how many ways Anders tried to change things without blowing up a chantry. He tried just running himself, but couldn't abide the others still locked up. He tried to secret them away. They got caught and punished. He tried interfering in corrupt Templar plots and exposing them, including to the grand cleric. They were shrugged off as individuals behaving badly instead of institutional issues. He wrote his manifesto. And Orsino tried to knock Meredith out of power in the "right" way by exposing her crimes to the nobles, and was ushered away by Elthina who will admit behind the scenes in Seb's DLC she will always side with the templars.

If Anders just killed Meredith nothing would have changed institutionally and the fate of the mages would have been decided by whoever happened to step in to power. Only by showing that the mages were powerful enough and willing to attack the heart of the institution that oppressed them and starting the war did he set the stage for possible lasting change. What he did wasn’t "good," but that's about morality and ideas of being willing to have casualties to the cause, not intelligence. Anders was not, in fact, an idiot.

virtue_summer (2020)

At the very beginning of Act 3 we are told that Meredith has requested the Right of Annulment by Karras, if he survives. And is she allowed to [do] this, to go above Elthina's head like this? Yes, she can. We already know from DA:O that the right can be granted through mere letters on the basis of the Knight-Commander's word alone. It's a system that has already been abused, too, using it to cover up a mass murder that already took place. Meredith could have also just as easily gone this route. Meredith was going to have every single mage in the Gallows killed. And because they were all locked up, they would have had no time or way to prepare for this or defend themselves. There is a picture for this, too:

Of tranquil told to stand still as the swords are run through them. Of mages locked in their cells hearing the cries of those down the hall before the doors of their own swing open and are cut apart. Of children as young as four crying over the dead bodies of their instructors before getting beheaded and gutted themselves. This is a picture that did not happen because in blowing up the Chantry, Anders changed the situation and gave the mages a way to flee and fight back. There are mage survivors because of what Anders did.

[...]

Innocent people were going to die no matter what. All Anders did was change the numbers. (Numbers of which we have gotten varying accounts of, too.)

Theoretically he might have been able to cave in the Chantry with blood magic and help, but Anders hates blood magic and didn't want anyone else involved. And if he did that, then we would be hearing about how people were sucked into the earth opening up beneath them. There is no way BioWare would ever write a situation where people weren't hurt in the Chantry's destruction. It is supposed to make you uncomfortable. It is supposed to make you realize there were no good options left. That's why it's [the chapter] called The Last Straw.

So do I, me, myself, think Anders was right to reduce the loss of life, destroy a building of an oppressive religious political militaristic regime, spark a rebellion against said regime, and do it all willingly submitting himself to whatever consequences he would face for it? And even believing that the consequences should be death, as foreshadowed in banter with Isabela?

Yes, I think Anders was right.

dalishious (2019)

As we've seen in previous installments of this series, the mages had been oppressed, ripped away from their families, imprisoned, beaten, made illegally Tranquil, raped, and murdered. The worst was happening in Kirkwall, and it was continuously getting worse. Anders tried for over 6 years to peacefully protest in between running a free clinic for those not helped by the Chantry, helping the Mage Underground, and running around with Hawke. Meredith had asked to kill all the mages. Elthina stood idly by. And Anders knew he could either let every mage die or act.

Fighting back against a genocidal organization for the betterment of an oppressed people is admirable and justifiable.

When our own governments or selfless citizens step in against horrors existing in our world, we applaud them. As much as we wish casualties didn’t happen, logic dictates that it can and will happen. It is a horrible moral dilemma that no one wishes to be placed in. No one wants to decide "do I save these many people if it costs a few lives”. It’s unfathomable to even put yourself in a mental place to think about making that sort of decision.

But for the people who have to make those decisions, we don’t mark them as terrorists. We look back on them realize they were revolutionaries. They fought civil and world wars to free people who couldn't free themselves. They did what they did to help people, and not for their own personal gain.

Anders is a freedom fighter. He's an insurrectionist.

He makes this horribly difficult decision when he sees no viable alternative, and he knows he will be hated for it. He expects to be killed for it. But his motives, whether one agrees with the decision or not, are good and for the good of the mages.

archer-and-anders (2018)

What do you suggest he should have done?

Honestly, I'm sure if Anders could have saved the mages and seen them walk free without any violence at all he would have. Anders wrote a manifesto to peacefully protest and try to raise awareness. He’s a healer, healing people in need of him for nothing and the guy who worked with the mage underground to rescue mages out of the circle for years until Meredith destroyed it. Elthina couldn't have cared less about the injustices happening to the mages within the circle. She supported Meredith and didn’t believe in helping the mages when you try that route. Both Elthina and the Chantry were the real symbols of oppression against the mages in Kirkwall since she had power over Meredith.

I honestly don't even know what else Anders could have done when facing Meredith trying to murder the entire circle for no reason. Coming up with other plausible solutions for Anders is more difficult than trying to find non-mage characters that honestly cared about what was happening to mages in DA2.

arcanefeathers (2019)

Those who see Anders' destruction of the Chantry as morally indefensible argue that targetting civilians is never justified or that it was a selfish and short-sighted move that only further endangered mages.

I agree violence was probably the only solution and agree about the role violent action plays with non-violent action.

But Anders is still wrong imo. He was one man taking unilateral action. It was a declaration of war, made on behalf of people who were not his allies but would have to live with his decision. The fact that it turned out to not be a terrible outcome for his goals seems mostly based on things outside of his control and which he likely could not have anticipated.

He is a very tragic, interesting and sometimes sympathetic character but ultimately he did something big and world-changing on the stated behalf of others instead of with others. There is a selfishness and an arrogance there. Resistance, revolution, change...that is a group effort, not one man's burden. I suppose he's not that different from Solas in a way, although we know much less of Solas's efforts...there are some definite parallels.

I suppose I would say blowing up the Chantry was the only way Anders at that point could make changes, but maybe he shouldn't have assumed that he (especially alone) was the one to do it.

Maybe he achieved the best outcome, I don't know. It's hard to argue a counterfactual! But either way I'm not utilitarian enough I guess to say he was right.

ParagonDagna (2019)

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: as a measure taken to attain a result, it was not just ineffective, but actively destructive to his goals. It was also an extremely selfish and arrogant act, which he undertook on behalf and in the name of a group of people who definitely did not want it.

Longest answer: Anders claims that he did what he did to force a change in how mages are treated by the Chantry and the Circles. I suppose 'murdered en masse' counts as a change.

The people in the Gallows weren't ready to defend themselves or fight for their lives. They didn't ask for Anders to do that in the name of their freedom - nor did mages in any of the other circles. Anders tipped the dominoes on all of them would any warning. He made the choice, but everyone else suffered for it.

Trilobyte141 (2019)

The problem here is the method used. Violence may lead to freedom, but its a temporary freedom and only leads to oppression and tighter control later on, example, just about every revolution in history which operated under the pretext of "freeing" people. It either failed and retaliation and retribution often leaves the situation worse off than it was before. To quote Gandhi: "I object to violence because when it appears to do good the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent", meaning that the violent means cannot be justified to change the world. It leaves a scar in the minds of everyone, and as we all know, scars don't heal, they might fade, but they don't heal. What Anders did is unforgivable and unforgettable. He murdered (and thats what he did, no matter how you try to spin it), one of, if not the most important person in Eastern Thedas in a highly visible manner. That act was no longer about showing the oppression of the Chantry, but the opening salvo in a war that is going to hurt the mages far more than its going to help and the revelation of a true abomination.

Madasamadthing (2012)

Insane terrorist: he deliberately murdered innocents to force an issue. If he'd held rallies, published some pamphlets, organized a legit mage underground, and maybe led some vandalism or saboteur raids against the templars (destroying weapons or lyrium caches), then he'd be a rebel. But once he blew up a chantry? Evil nutjob. And, in Anders's case, he went from whiny malcontent to terrorist. He just skipped right over the righteous indignation stage.

HELO (2012)

Anders as an Anti-Hero

Some fans take less polarized stances on Anders, viewing him as an anti-hero whose character arc is marked both by his pathos and relatability and by his deep, complex flaws.

I've taken up far too many words at this point, so more in Part 2, in the future, but I just want to note that there is a reason Anders is the person he is in Dragon Age II. He was honed, sharpened, created, by the very system that mages ultimately rebel against as we begin Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Think of a cage, a prison. You are ripped from your family because a talent manifests. You are taken away in chains in childhood with only what you can grab as you are hauled off. You are allowed no further contact. No visits. No correspondence. You are watched every hour of every day by warriors in armor with power over you and all your compatriots, and for YEARS; by those who view you with antagonism, fear, suspicion, or lust. Sometimes they act upon those impulses when they think nobody's watching, and you witness this. Sometimes the worst of them then follow up by making sure the minds of their victims (or witnesses) are wiped via magical lobotomy, to keep their crimes safe, in the Rite of Tranquility, clearing them for future sexual crimes without possibility of refusal or punishment, or simply as punishment and loss of consciousness.

Or sometimes they simply send your lover away against his will, to serve someone else. Because your lives are not your own.

Again: Your life is not your own. As a mage, you are dragged from home, caged, watched, victimized, and then told what to do and where to do it.

It's grotesque.

So many people ask, "Why, Anders?" I understand this, as someone who would have fought his agenda in the end (and who in fact did not get the romance trophy because I refused to help him and even tried to warn Elphina). However, in spite of that, and in a fictional universe? I admit that, going through everything he and the other Circle Mages suffered... I've had moments where I asked, not "Why, Anders?" but, rather: "What took you so long?"

Is what he does right? No. Is it acceptable? No. Is it appropriate? Absolutely not.

But is it surprising? No. It's incredibly sad to admit. But... no.

Angela D. Mitchell (2018)

As for Anders, even if you personally don't regard him as a villain, he is still essentially an anti-hero. His actions were manipulative of Hawke, a person who is either a dear friend or lover, and were altogether selfish; not all Mages wished to lose their Circle, and Anders made that decision for them with no right to do so. He instigated not only the events that destroyed Kirkwall, yet also a War that cost thousands of lives. Was the war required? Possibly, yet there's also a chance events could have played out more peacefully, and thanks to Anders, we will never know. Also, though he technically destroyed a religious icon, the building obviously had more than just Grand Cleric Elthina inside; other Sisters, and even common citizens, were likely in those halls, and were all murdered heartlessly because they stood in Anders way.

The character Varric Tethras lays out the shift in Anders' portrayal quite beautifully. In DA2, Varric was Anders' friend, even gifting him the playful nickname 'Blondie', and the two spent quite a bit of time together swapping stories and jokes. However, as time passes and Anders becomes more and more aggressive (you'll notice his change in personality gradually over the Acts), Varric's banters with Anders turn to contentious, and even at one point Vengeance confronts Varric angrily. After the events of the Final Straw, and into DAI, we meet a Varric who is not only weary, yet also displays a sincere anger towards Anders. Here is a man, once his friend, who selfishly destroyed one of the few things Varric passionately loves: Kirkwall. Anders betrayed not only Hawke with his lies, yet many others, and Varric serves to display this, regardless of whether or not Hawke agreed with Anders.

I adore Anders, and slot him as my number one favorite fictional character. He is always two sides of one coin. He is Awakening and DA2, he is hero and villain, he is generous and selfish, he is kind and aggressive, he is reason and he is insanity, he is a man and he is a demon. He is wonderfully complex and tragic, and his entire tale is enthralling. Many people despise him, yet when a character can inspire emotions from you, does that not make them an excellent character?

FusRoDoodles (2015)

Anders is... complicated. In Awakening, he is relatively carefree and doesn't really give a shit about the other mages until he meets Justice. Then in DA2, we slowly see him become more and more extreme in his hatred of templars and belief the mages should be free. I mean, the guy writes a fucking manifesto for crying out loud... Oh yeah, and blew up the Chantry. Anders is tragic. Yeah, he may be an asshole and a fucking idiot, but he always acts with the best intentions. Even the destruction of the Chantry was a good thing to his twisted abomination logic. He's a tragic figure. He wanted to help the mages and Justice, and that ends up being his downfall. In the end, I pity him. I hate the things he has done, but I can see why he did it. I support mages and I let him live, but we are no longer friends. I don't let him live because I like him, I let him live as a punishment. I want him to live knowing that he caused all those deaths. It's not mercy letting him live. He was my friend and he betrayed me, even making me help him make the bomb. You shouldn't like Anders in DA2, you should pity him. Play Awakening and see what he and Justice were like. Feel the pity.

M1Maul (2015)

And now, Anders. The companion that made me consider the story of the entire game in this light in the first place. I did say I saved the best for last, didn't I? This man has NOTHING happy in his life. When I say NOTHING, I mean truly fucking NOTHING. He loses his Warden friends back in Ferelden, he's forced to give up Ser Pounce-A-Lot, and when things are sort of beginning to look up for him, he merges with the spirit of Justice, essentially becoming an abomination, before slaughtering his Warden comrades and the templars who were after him. In Kirkwall, he tries his best to wrestle his personal want to help people, help the mages, and Justice's lust for vengeance. As the story progresses, he is becoming more and desperate, both an effect of Meredith and Justice, who is more and more morphing into Vengeance. In the end he does the unthinkable. He blows up either the entire Kirkwall Chantry, taking the Grand Cleric with it, showering Kirkwall in destruction. And his end isn't any better. He is either completely without remorse, ready to die for his cause, sure in his belief that he and Justice are one being. Or, he is a broken man, terrified of the thing he has become and the hold Vengeance has on him. He begs Hawke for death, because he can no longer trust himself.

FoltestofTemeria (2020)

The Role of Hawke

Fans have expressed reservations about how DA2 handles the events leading up to the destruction of the Chantry. Anders enlists player character Hawke to gather ingredients for his magical bomb without disclosing their intended use. The only way to get Anders to discuss his plan in advance is by confronting him in a rival relationship. Players who maintain a friendly relationship with Anders cannot confront him. Some fans wish that the game had given players the ability to actively work with or oppose Anders as Hawke before he acted on his plan. Other fans are troubled by Anders' deception of Hawke, and see problematic implications in the inability to communicate with him while on friendly terms, especially in the context of a romance.

But yeah, one of my major criticisms of him in DA2 is that emotional blackmail/manipulation thing he does to Hawke in his Act 3 "Justice" quest — not just because he kept his plan a secret, but because he roped Hawke into helping him with it in the early stages while refusing to tell them what was happening. His intention was to protect them from the consequences, but it was still manipulative and unfair to involve them without informing them of what they were actually doing. I know my Hawke had a long talk with him after the fact about how manipulative and wrong it was for him to do that.

Anyway, though — this is actually one of the things that frustrates me the most about how he was written in the game, too. I hate that you can't talk to him and urge him to communicate with you unless you're a rival. Because his rivalry route is blatantly abusive, and it just… always feels to me like it sends this message that you can't achieve honesty and communication in a healthy relationship/friendship — that you have to basically abuse him and dehumanize him and invalidate him to the point where he is literally dissociating by Act 3 in order to have a conversation with him about what's troubling him. It's plain on either route that he's about to do something big, that he's on the edge of suicidal, that he's in crisis and he's in turmoil and he's feeling incredibly unsafe and hopeless. I hate that there's no way on a friendship route to urge him to talk about it, to reaffirm that you support him and you want to know what's on his mind, that he’s not alone.

Because his Act 3 downward spiral is characterized by isolation and withdrawal, and I think that he and Justice are their own echo chamber at that point. Anders shuts everyone out, even Hawke to an extent, bc he wants to face the consequences alone (both in terms of how others punish him and how he punishes himself — I have a feeling he sees no point in weighing down anyone else's conscience if he can take it all on alone). But for a Hawke who cares as much about mage rights as he does (still frustrating the game doesn't let us be more radical about supporting mages), who's patient and validating and takes an active interest in his fight— maybe he would feel more able to trust and open up, and more than that, maybe he would be more willing to collaborate, to brainstorm alternatives, or to at least not take it all on alone. As it stands, in the game itself, he shuts down and turns inward. He's desperate, he's despairing, he literally has run out of options, but the worst part is, he thinks he's alone — or that he has to be alone.

bubonickitten (2015)

Anders may love Hawke, but he remains untransformed by that love. In order for the romance to work out in the end, Hawke will have to give up everything and become a rebel, in hiding with Anders after he blows up the Chantry. Hawke will also have to accept wholesale the glorious manifesto and revolution Anders is selling, because Anders becomes very belligerent, pouty and guilt-trippy when questioned or doubted in any way. As Anders earlier expresses a bit of envy and competitiveness towards Hawke's glorious role as champion, Hawke also has to accept the subservient role Anders demands. Frankly, I couldn't take it – I just killed him. But it is entirely possible to play out a happily ever after scenario in the game romantically, provided that Hawke buckles under.

Anders does not compromise with his partner at all, but expects total compromise, total devotion, and blind devotion at that, since he lies to Hawke repeatedly about his intentions when gathering ingredients and otherwise plotting to blow up the Revered Mother.

This is the Outlaw Couple romance trajectory. Bonnie and Clyde seem to be the most famous outlaw couple. Outlaw couples aren't always bad: Robin Hood and Maid Marian can be considered an outlaw couple as well. In an outlaw couple, there is usually one dominant partner whose goals and agenda sublimate whatever desires the other previously had. This is the case in a completed romance between Anders and Hawke.

Sumiko Saulson (2014)

I think that the fan reaction is partly because Anders takes the situation out of your hands. He makes a decision that removes the option of pure diplomacy, and you spend the rest of the game trying to pick up the pieces in the aftermath. And I remember being initially terrified at what had happened, too— before recognizing that all he did was take the silent genocide and make it a public one.

mloreley (2019)

Some see the inability to prevent the Chantry's destruction as a design choice that forces the player, as Hawke, to reckon with systemic injustice within the game – and, by extension, the real world – instead of remaining a passive or indifferent bystander.

BioWare uses Anders to ask, "What led up to this? Why did he do it?" The player takes a position of privilege in comparison to the other Mages in the game, since they are open about their Mage identity and don’t face the danger of finding themselves stuck in the Circle. It's simple for the player to assume a "be patient, one day it'll all get better" attitude that inactive sympathizers really do adopt when speaking to groups like the LGBT community.

Hawke is more of a witness to social change than a catalyst, and despite choosing to support the Templars or the Mages, it's too little and too late for Anders. From his point of view, there is only blood on his hands. Does he murder by his own volition or with apathy?

From Anders's perspective, if every day without equal rights is a day too long, every Mage murdered before he executes his plans to free them is on him. The player encounters many situations in which Mages are forced to submit, turn to blood magic, or die. Additionally, there remains the personal anguish of constantly remaining in hiding and being told by a culture that something is wrong with him. It is no coincidence, then, that the "demons" that he deals with are named Justice and Vengeance, literally an embodiment of rational anger towards society.

Dragon Age II offers no solution to the problem that the Mages face except for what Anders does, and it questions the lengths that need to be gone to in order for social justice to be accomplished in reality. Most gamers find themselves in a position of privilege concerning LGBT rights, passively witnessing the community achieving social rights. They only occasionally lend their voice to this cause, despite the many discriminatory murders and overall culture of oppression that devalues these lives. The player's relationship to both this viewpoint on social issues and Anders's actions is based on whether they can actually blame him for his actions.

Deciding whether what he did was right or wrong is only the most superficial analysis. Instead, the game forces the player to consider if blowing up the Chantry is what's necessary for the oppression to end. Anders wants to ask players that call him a terrorist if they could live with themselves if everything stayed the same.

Mattie Brice (2012)

BioWare was keen on a few things when coming to the finale of Dragon Age II. The first, and arguably most controversial, was the lack of agency by the player regarding its overall outcome. Ultimately, despite the best efforts of Hawke and even other individuals in the game, the fight is inevitable as the extremes of both sides come to a head. It is a bleak outcome; one that takes away all the power the player had not because of they weren’t proactive in the conflict, but because they were incapable of stopping it.

[...]

Much like the politics of yesterday and today, we see extremities of both sides, the futility of moderates trying to control them, and how individuals such as Anders are transformed into a messianic figure or a demonic pariah. A real-world example would be the abolitionist John Brown, a devout Christian who took up arms, murdered at least a dozen men in a four-year period, and tried to take over a fort to force an armed slave rebellion in 1859. The North saw Brown as a hero, a champion of rights and a martyr for their cause, the South, a radical terrorist, using fear and death to push his agenda.

As a role-playing game, we see the good and bad of the arguments between the mages and templars. We have companions who represent their respected beliefs, and characters whispering into the ear of the player based upon the choices they make throughout the game to this moment. Players are given two major choices during the endgame: which side to choose and how to deal with Anders. Does the player see Anders as a militant freedom fighter, finally committing himself to a just cause despite the consequences of his actions? Is he a terrorist, deeply radicalized like the rest of the city, who pushed things too far to the brink of destruction for his beliefs? Do you execute Anders for what he did, losing a party member in the final stretch of the game, or do you let him go, much to the chagrin of others in your group? Every decision you made in the game leads to these moments here, and the choices made can literally tear your companions apart.

For Anders, though, it is the final arc for his character. It is clever how BioWare plays the moment, leaving the choice of Anders' fate in the hands of the player, and for the player to react to his act as the character of Hawke—a true role-playing moment, perhaps even one of the best conceived for an RPG. In many ways, this highlights the true problem when trying to analyze a character such as Anders: how you view him, his actions, depends on how sympathetic you are to his cause. Like Brown, perceptions vary and lead us to both character and personal soul-searching based upon the choices we need to make in the moment.

Robert Grosso (2017)

Portrayal of Mental Illness

The portrayal of Anders' mental health in the Dragon Age series has provoked discourse and controversy. Some fans interpret Anders as having PTSD and/or bipolar disorder. The bipolar interpretation has such strong support both textually (a codex entry in DA2 describes Anders as alternating between periods of "deep melancholy and manic determination") and through creator Word of God that many fans regard it as canon.

Jennifer Hepler, the writer who handled Anders in DA2, has stated that she intended the Anders romance to represent loving someone with the bipolar disorder:

Obviously, in a fantasy setting the real world metaphors will never be exact, but I certainly always thought of Anders as being essentially bipolar and I tried to use as much real world psychology as I could (giving away of personal possessions before planning to commit suicide, etc.). I think his romance captures a lot of the joy and pain of dating someone bipolar – he feels everything in a big way, so his love is huge and all-encompassing, as are his hates, including his self-loathing. It takes work to maintain a relationship with him, and ultimately, Hawke has to decide if it’s worth it, knowing that these are burdens that will always haunt them. As far as friendship and rivalry, to me, the friendship path is about supporting Anders in his decisions, both to merge with Justice and everything that stems from that. Therefore, he is generally happier (more manic), and more convinced of his delusions, but is arguably a worse person (more willing to do bad things). The rivalry path is about making him see the error of his ways, so he ends up suffering more and tending more to the depressive side, but is arguably a better person who wants to make up for what he’s done. Which is the "right" way is very much up to the individual player.

Jennifer Hepler, c. 2011 on the BioWare forums

Anders in Dragon Age II was about the difference between the "heal him with your love" fantasy and the actual caregiver experience of loving someone with mental illness.

Jennifer Hepler, 2019 on Twitter

These statements have been criticized by fans who perceive them as perpetuating ableist and stigmatizing ideas about mentally ill and neurodivergent people.

.

so yeah, it's canon. but also, there was a lot of gross ableism in how it was conveyed. Hepler honestly had no business writing a mentally ill character. in that quote I linked to above, she says stigmatizing things about bipolar disorder in particular, and she engaged in some fucked up abuse apologism, saying that the rivalry route (which is abusive af to Anders) is "better" for Anders and makes him a "better" person, even though she admits it also makes him more depressed (which is saying something, because even on the friendship route, he experiences significant depressive symptoms). he's a mentally ill abuse survivor and to suggest that abusing him further is "better" for him is quite honestly disgusting. and she also referred to him as a "bipolar terrorist" at least once, as if those words go hand-in-hand.

but even though it was a stigmatizing and ableist representation of mental illness, it's still canon, and people need to acknowledge that so that we can talk about why that's a problem and hold his writer(s) responsible for it. most media portrayals of mental illness are stigmatizing, ableist, and disrespectful, but that doesn't make those characters not mentally ill, and it doesn't change the fact that most of the audience will still see those characters as mentally ill, regardless of accuracy or authorial intent – and that's part of what's so dangerous, is that for a lot of people, all they know about mental illness is what they see in the media, and if media is full of ableist and stigmatizing tropes, then… well, that's what people internalize. saying "oh but that character isn't actually mentally ill" erases all of that.

bubonickitten (2015)

The way she talks about him is incredibly ableist, talking about him like loving him is work, like it's a burden, like it's not worth it for Hawke.

[quote snipped]

She's talking about the rivalmance, where Hawke is abusive to him. Where you gaslight him and insult him and tear him down at every turn, and she thinks that's better for him. This is the path she thinks is best for Anders, not love. Because he’s Wrong and Broken and Hawke obviously has to Fix him somehow, and the best way to do that is these abusive tactics, obviously. (sarcasm)

[quote snipped]

In this tweet she says his romance "was about the difference between the "heal him with your love" fantasy and the actual caregiver experience of loving someone with mental illness." Again, talking about how burdensome and awful dating mentally ill people is, and implying that he's something that you should want to "fix". And saying that showing that you can’t "fix" people like him and that trying will only hurt you in the end was her goal. (Maybe that’s just my interpretation of this, but I can’t see how setting out to show how hard :( :( it is to date mentally ill people wasn't meant to discourage people from doing it.)

teyrnacousland (2019)

That's exactly the problem. His writer tried writing it so that Justice was Anders' mental illness and it just…well it fucked up.

His writer said that she saw him and Justice as a bipolar disorder, using as she said "a magical metaphor for real world problems".

What more she wanted to use this, simply for the story of Hawke having to love and live with someone who has a mental disorder. Again this isn't about Anders, how Anders feels, or how he wants to get better. This is about Hawke having to live with it, how they want Anders to be, and how they are going to fix him. Hence the Friendmance where you let him give into his delusions and lose him or the Rivalmance where you discredit his delusions (pretty aggressively) and he sees Justice as responsible for what he did. She wanted both paths to be a discussion about treatment of the mentally ill and was actually upset when people didn't interpret it that way.

Not to mention a Rivaled Anders who is forced to help the Templars in the end talks about suicide and there is no reaction to it, as it is an ambient banter.

ageofdragon (2016)

Sexuality and Romance Arc

Fanart by maXKennedy of Anders with a male Hawke. Anders is canonically bisexual, and can be romanced by either Hawke.

Canonical Portrayal

Anders is canonically bisexual. In Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, some of Anders' dialogue reveals his attraction to women, such as declaring he wants a "pretty girl" and calling a female statue a "looker." He will flirt with a female Warden/Warden-Commander but is not romanceable. In Dragon Age II, he can be courted by both male and female Hawke, and will actively flirt with Hawke before the player chooses romantic dialogue options. Declining these advances will not upset Anders, but it does cause the player to earn rivalry points. Anders expresses jealousy toward Fenris and Merrill in party banter if Hawke romances either of them. In an early quest, Hawke meets Karl Thekla, a male ex-lover of Anders. However, Anders only reveals they were once involved romantically to male Hawke, presenting Karl as simply a dear friend to female Hawke. Party banter suggests that Anders may have previously had a fling with Isabela.

Male Hawke Romance

Some players reacted negatively to Anders' proactive advances toward male Hawke. In an infamous incident in March 2011, a user on the now-defunct official BioWare forum made a lengthy post complaining about Anders' advances and accusing the developer of "neglect[ing] their main demographic: The Straight Male Gamer", prompting lead writer David Gaider to respond that DA2's romances were for "everyone." One gaymer also took issue with Anders' overtures toward male Hawke soon after DA2's release, starting a petition to get Gaider fired for stereotyping gay men as "think[ing] of nothing [but] sex." Jessica Hylton, in an academic analysis of queer representation in the Dragon Age series, commented that Anders' flirtations "inadvertently played into the predatory gay trope."

While some have praised the Anders/Karl backstory, others have criticized it as an example of the bury your gays trope, given the tragic fate that Karl meets in the game. When attempting to free Karl from the Circle, Anders and Hawke find that Karl has been made Tranquil. In a brief moment of lucidity, Karl asks Anders to mercy kill him, and Anders reluctantly complies.

Female Hawke Romance

See also: Anders/Karl#Omission from Female Hawke Script

Fans have also highlighed the differences between the male Hawke and female Hawke versions of the Anders romance. The omission of any mention of Karl Thekla for female Hawke in particular has drawn criticism. David Gaider explained that writer Jennifer Hepler "didn't think [Anders] would" reveal his history with Karl to a female Hawke and wanted to enable "a player who prefers to think of Anders as straight" to do so. Many fans see this as not only biphobic and heteronormative, but as undercutting an important, meaningful aspect of Anders' arc for female Hawke players. Hepler conceived of Anders/Hawke as a "cursed, Buffy-and-Angel-style romance," something she felt BioWare hadn't done at that point.

Fanworks

Fanart

• Anders by Aegileif
• Dragon Age 2: Farewell by Agregor
• Together until the end by Agregor
• Anders and Justice by Arizona-Ranger
• Small Comfort The-Arkadian
• shrill by bluewickedbehemoth
• Anders by Boosarts
• Anders // Dragon Age by cenyn
• Anders - First Act Card by cuddlingthecthulhu
• Anders - Second Act/Romance Card by cuddlingthecthulhu
• Anders by da1ce
• Anders by dakkun39
• Anders/Justice by dakkun39
• Anders by dearasteria
• The Wait by Didiher
• Anders/Justice by enrychan
• Anders by floadwarf
• The Healer/The Rebel by fuckyeahmargaw
• And now you have to choose... by GARPIYA
• look at the sky by go-ma
• Anders by GoodFaun
• Anders Dragon Age by Granks
• Anders by Havaniero-Giese
• Open Up Your Eyelids, Let Your Demons Run by JammedInk
• Sanctuary by JammedInk
• For The People Like Us by keptrefler
• Anders by KeybladeMermaiden
• Andeeeeeeers by LadySiryna
• DA 2 - Anders by LadySiryna
• Anders by LoranDeSore
• Anders by LoranDeSore
• Anders by LoranDeSore
• Awakening Anders | A sight to make eyes sore by MagoEmplumado on Twitter
• Anders | Justice by Magxy
• Doodles for tonight. the Anderfeels are hitting me bad… by TheMinttu
• post-DA2 Anders as a mage jesus rebel leader by TheMinttu
• Martyr by TheMinttu
• Anders by misayumeow
• Anders by mrTandM
• Justice by NhicaAngelaRos
• the other grouch by oolongteamix
• Anders by Owlet-in-chest
• Anders - Whirlpool of Mana by rencevee
• He is no longer my friend Justice by TheResidentDevil
• Anders by riense
• Anders by roadn0rth
• The Chantry by Stephanie Rosas
• Anders by Sefie Rosenlund
• The Hanged Man by silverchimaera
• Anders and Justice by zanephiri

Fanfic

• Accursed Ones by TheThirdAmell on AO3 (multiple ships, one-million-plus words)
• The Way It Is by ghostbunny on AO3 (Anders/male!Hawke)
• Stories of the Sun-Bright Mage by justcallmecappy on AO3 (multiple ships)
• Sympathy for the Devil by Khirsah on AO3 (Anders/male!Hawke)
• Aftermath by xxMad_Donaxx (Anders/Fenris, disability fic)
• One Elegant Solution by Mikkeneko on AO3 (Anders/male!Hawke)
• My Better Half by Nikki66 on A03 (Anders/Fenris, disability fic)
• Among Conflicting Winds in a Frail Boat by rabbit_habits (Anders/Fenris, canon divergence)
• Fadeward Bound by ushauz on AO3
• The Wrong Man by Yellowdancer21 on AO3 (Inquisitor!Anders, multiple ships, endgame Anders/Varric)

Cosplay

• Dragon Age - Anders 01 by AnkhaiStenn
• Dragon Age - Anders 02 by AnkhaiStenn
• Anders Cosplay by batspats
• If I told you what I was by fokushii
• Dragon Age II by HiKamiAkira
• Wounded Coast by Katsuki-sama
• Dragon Age: Anders by MeganeCosplays
• Dragon Age: Anders II by MeganeCosplays
• Dragon Age: vengeance by MeganeCosplays
• DAII - Anders - Nobody deserves that... by MilliganVick
• DAII - Anders - Say your prayers... by MilliganVick
• Anders Portrait – costume by Armory-Rasa, Gabriel Rosa as Anders, photo by Alexandra Lee
• Calm after the battle by Sendershiseiten
• You've messed with the wrong Mage! by Sendershiseiten
• Dragon Age - Anders by V-kony
• Dragon Age - Anders 2 by V-kony
• Dragon Age - Anders 3 by V-kony
• Dragon Age - Anders 4 by V-kony

Gallery

Fanart

• 

  The Apostate by Aegileif

• 

  Ser Puncealot and his Mage by Aegileif

• 

  Anders by AstralCats19 – Papercraft art of Anders in his DA:O - Awakening outfit.

• 

  Anders by Nicholas Beecher

• 

  Anders by BlackWingedHeart87

• 

  Anders by Melissa Candeias

• 

  Bit of Fresh Air by dalishsquish

• 

  Anders by DeathLawliet

• 

  Anders by DeathLawliet

• 

  Anders Gray Warden 2 by DeathLawliet

• 

  Vengeance by DeathLawliet

• 

  Anders by Ephdrawz

• 

  The Cure by firefly-wp

• 

  Anders Portrait by DonFuchs

• 

  Contemplation by kimmit

• 

  For Mages' Freedom by ksenialots

• 

  The Justice Spirit by Liger-Inuzuka

• 

  Justice by Ioana-Muresan – Anders/Justice depicted in the "tarot" art style.

• 

  Best Mage Ever by maXKennedy

• 

  Fanart by Mo Morris of Anders surrounded by blue hyacinths. The artist states these represent "sorrow for wrongs committed." This is likely a reference to the Kirkwall Chantry explosion.

• 

  The World Reborn by Nazgullow

• 

  Anders Portrait by Carlotta Novello

• 

  The Revolutionist by PetiteLilen

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  Gray Bird by RieVoy – Anders in a Grey Warden mage uniform.

• 

  Anders by Shynmighty

• 

  Anders by SolidusGrilo

• 

  By anobouzo at DeviantArt (2021)

• 

  Young Anders at the Circle by SaeterDaeg

Cosplay

• 

  Anders cosplay at Otakon 2013.

• 

  Anders cosplay at Otakon 2014.

• 

  Anders cosplay by a member of the Russian cosband OvoshPolufabrikat (2018)

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  OvoshPolufabrikat (2018)

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  Anders cosplayer with a cat ‎(OvoshPolufabrikat, 2019).

• 

  Anders cosplayer riding a horse (OvoshPolufabrikat, 2019).

• 

  Digitally-modified Anders cosplay in the "tarot" art style (OvoshPolufabrikat, 2019).

Resources and Links

• Anders (Dragon Age) at Archive of Our Own
• Anders at FanFiction.net
• Anders tag on Tumblr
• Anders on the Dragon Age Wiki

References

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