The Dark Urge

Character
Name:	The Dark Urge
Occupation:
Relationships:	Varies with gameplay
Fandom:	Baldur's Gate III
Other:	The New God of Murderin' by Zer0zer0Art
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The Dark Urge, also called Durge or The Urge by fans, is a playable character from the game Baldur’s Gate III. He is one of the two characters whose physical appearance can be altered for the game, like Tav, but unlike them, The Dark Urge has their own backstory and canon look. Unlike Tav, The Dark Urge is not a Blank Slate character, although it might initially appear so, due to amnesia.

Canon

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

The Dark Urge is an origin character, and as such they have a fleshed out backstory. They also have a canon look, that of white, red-eyed male dragonborn, wearing sorcerer robes.

A part of The Dark Urge's backstory was first revealed in "Blood in Baldur's gate" a murder investigation browser game, in which he is the antagonist, and a serial killer. The events of Blood in Baldur's Gate take place 15 years before the events of Baldur's Gate 3, indicating that The Dark Urge was an active serial killer during that time, up until the events of the game.

Elements from The Dark Urge's past are spread throughout the game. The most important of which is that The Dark Urge is a Bhaalspawn- The child of the God of Murder, Bhaal. They were created from a drop of the God's blood, and are thus the only Bhaalspawn possessing "The Urge" which compels them to commit attrocities. Their first murder happened during their childhood, they slaughtered their adoptive family, and met Sceleritas, a Butler sent by Bhaal to watch his progeny.

After that event, it is unclear what The Dark Urge was up to, Sceleritas only refering to them "spending many years on their own" Which would explain their many talents, and the ability to customise The Dark Urge's class. After an undetermined amount of time, The Dark Urge found their way to the temple of Bhaal, where they quickly became the Leader of the Bhaalist, reviving the dead church of Bhaal. It was around that time that They were contacted by Enver Gortash, the Leader of the banite church. The two of them struck an alliance based on a mutual vision of the world. Such an alliance wasn't well received by the bhaalist second in command, Orin, who thought their "sibling" was being manipulated.

Some time later, The Dark Urge was contacted by Bhaal in their dreams, and were officially named as a Chosen,. They were also told to add Myrkul's chosen, Ketheric Thorm, to the alliance with Enver Gortash. Around that time, The Dark Urge learned the existence of the crown of Karsus from Gortash, a device which would allow them to control whoever wore the crown. With that information, The Dark Urge and Enver Gortash set out to steal the Crown of Karsus from Mephistofeles's vault in the Hells, and brought it back to the city for future world domination plans.

With the crown secured, remained the question of who would wear said crown. After the duo went to Moonrise Towers to get Ketheric into the Alliance, they discovered a mindflayer colony underneath the tower, as well as an Elder brain. Having found a use for the crown, The Dark Urge, Gortash and Ketheric decided to launch an attack on the colony. The Dark Urge personaly crowned the brain, who appears to show respect towards them when encountered later in the game.

Alas, during that raid, The Dark Urge was the victim of an assassination attempt by Orin, who was dissatisfied with their leadership, and took their place as leader of the bhaalists. The Dark Urge was tadpoled after having suffered a massive headtrauma, and kept for an unknown amount of time by Kressa Bonedaughter, a Myrkulite. Kressa experimented heavily on The Dark Urge, who heavily struggled against their captor in spite of the tadpole in their brain, and the near-death condition they were in.

The Dark Urge was however eventually shipped away onboard a nautiloid, in which they came into contact with the prism, which gave them back their own mind, but they had suffered such heavy brain damage that they had no recollection of their past.

With The Dark Urge having amnesia, the player can choose to embrace their dark impulses and past, or fight it, leading to very different characterisations. The Dark Urge can therefore be a bloodthirsty murderer, or a haunted character who wishes to get rid of the impulses that drive them to hurt and kill others against their will.

Cut content

Cut content concerning The Dark Urge is also taken into account when creating fanfiction. A known cut content ending can be found where the narrator mentions that The Dark Urge lost control of themselves to Bhaal, and is forced to mate with beasts and spawn a hoard of new horrors for their god.

Part of the lore found in the cut content was added back into the game with Patch 5, in the epilogue.

Fandom

The Dark Urge is commonly shipped with Enver Gortash: The Dark Urge/Enver Gortash or with Astarion: Astarion/The Dark Urge

The Dark Urge is often referred to as "Durge" or "TDU" by the fandom, with "Turge" being sometimes used for "Tav" like Durges (customizable player characters, as opposed to the default or canon form The Dark Urge). Some fans have adopted the name "Dirge" (meaning "a song of grief") as their go to name for The Dark Urge, due to the pronunciation similarities with "Durge".

Due to The Dark Urge having a customisable look and class, but also having a canon appearance and backstory, fans are typically divided on the character. Many fans choose to ignore some parts of the in-game canon content to focus on their original ideas, refering to their characters as "Durge Tavs", while others stick exclusively to the canon looks and lore, and refer to that character as "Default Durge".

Another point of divergence on the character is due to the dark tropes within their backstory, especially dead-dove content (sexual deviance). Some fans who are uncomfortable with it will also adapt their headcanon in a way that excludes these tropes for their own comfort, while others embrace them fully in their work.

Those points are sometimes a source of conflict among fans.

Canon Durge Fics Project

On February 1st 2024, a group of fans created the Canon Durge Fics project on DreamWidth. The aim of the project is to collect fanfic that features the default or canon form of The Dark Urge, instead of an original form character or Turge. The project also has an AO3 collection called Canon The Dark Urge Fics, that aims to showcase, through Works and Bookmarks, all of AO3's canon form Durge fics.

The project showcases any fanfic featuring Durge, even if only as a secondary character. Other genders and pronouns of the default form are also accepted, as well any form that would traditionally be considered an Alternative Universe version (such as a different class).

Fannish Tropes

• Dark and gore themes: The Dark Urge is a deeply disturbed character when embracing The Urge, and some fans fully embrace the darker aspects of the character in fiction or in game. (Cannibalism being an example)
• Redemption: Because of their amnesia, The Dark Urge has the opportunity to change themselves and fight against their Dark impulses, but have to struggle with the weight of what they've done. It is a beloved trope and many player choose to take that path in game or in fiction.
• Murder Hobo: The Dark Urge can fully embrace their Urge and kill anything and anyone in their way, and a lot of players enjoy playing them this way.

Gallery

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  Fanart by Estylon of a custom human male Dark Urge.

• 

  Fanart by Lucatielle of a custom female tiefling bard Dark Urge.

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  Fanart by Onimimi of a custom dragonborn male Dark Urge. This character varies slightly from the default dragonborn male Dark Urge in having blue eyes and only two horns.

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  Fanart by Onimimi of the same custom Dark Urge as a cleric.