Karlach
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Karlach |
| Occupation: | |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | Baldur's Gate |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Karlach is a character in Baldur's Gate III. Karlach is a tiefling warrior and part of the tadpoled companions. She is a barbarian by default. She is also a romance option for the player character.
Canon
Karlach is often the last of the six origin companions to be found, and it is typical for players to meet her after recruiting Wyll while following his quest to hunt down and kill her. Because of this, and her lower promotional material, many players killed her without speaking in their first playthrough.
Ten years before the start of the game, Karlach was betrayed by her employer Enver Gortash and sold to Avernus, where her heart was replaced by an infernal engine. Karlach spent ten years as a soldier in the hells before escaping at the start of the game.
She is a kind companion, looking out for children and those unable to fight. She's also quite violent. Due to her infernal engine, Karlach is unable to touch others without burning them, which influences her romance (and is particularly interesting when paired with Astarion, who she has a completely unique first romance scene with).
While Karlach's engine can be repaired enough for contact, it fails at the end of the game, requiring her to return to Avernus. In early patches, Karlach would refuse, and would burn up unless she had become a mindflayer. This sparked a large fan backlash, feeling her plot was left unfinished and unsatisfied with Karlach being doomed. Later patches would have Karlach return to Avernus but only if accompanied by the player or a Wyll who had become the Blade of Avernus. While there was some backlash to this update, being viewed as cheap and not the 'fix to her heart' that was requested, this ending is more widely accepted.
Fandom
Common Tropes
This article or section needs expansion. |
- Heart of Gold: Karlach is kind hearted in-game. Though some fans have stated that they feel like fandom woobiefies her, selectively choosing to omit her flaws (the fact she's willing to consume souls in order to become stronger, for example).
- Feminine Clothing: Fans enjoy dressing up Karlach in more feminine attire, such as cocktail dresses, possibly as a way to show her embracing her femininity.
- Touch Starved: because of the infernal engine, Karlach is unable to touch others for the first half of the game, and has not had much human interaction for a decade.
Pairings
The most popular Karlach pairing is with Tav and other player character ships, the majority of which are femslash. Wyll/Karlach is another popular pairing based on their enemies-to-friends dynamic.
| Pairing | Sept 15 2023 | March 15 2024 | Sept 15 2024 | March 15 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karlach/Tav | 68 | 532 | 753 | 910[1] |
| Karlach/Wyll | 16 | 209 | 365 | 482[2] |
| Karlach/Shadowheart | 19 | 148 | 254 | 334[3] |
| Karlach/OFC | 25 | 126 | 180 | 215[4] |
| Karlach/Astarion | 3 | 106 | 170 | 210[5] |
| Karlach/The Dark Urge | 6 | 81 | 130 | 157[6] |
| Karlach/Dammon | 2 | 70 | 92 | 108[7] |
| Karlach/Reader | 12 | 75 | 88 | 108[8] |
| Karlach/Lae'zel | 7 | 39 | 75 | 85[9] |
Fanworks
Fanfic
- forging forward by blazeofglory, Dammon/Karlach, Dammon finds a way to fix Karlach's infernal engine for good, and now that she's not too hot to touch, he can install the upgrade himself. Neither of them expect the installation process to be so... erotic. (2023)
- you've got the magic touch by xenosaurus, Karlach/Female Tav, “Mage hand– you can’t burn me if it isn’t my flesh and blood.” Karlach's breath catches. (2023)
- Hellfire by ushauz, Karlach/Wyll series, In which Wyll grapples with a couple of physical differences and tries not to traumatize some people who just escaped the Hells with his new devil body. Karlach refuses to let him be alone. (2023)
- warm my bones by TheHomelyBadger, Karlach/Shadowheart, Karlach hasn't had a hug in a decade, and Shadowheart makes her want to do more than get a 'hug'. (2023)
- no one will love me like you again by FlowerCitti, Astarion/Karlach, Karlach can freely touch the people she loves now. Astarion makes a few wrong assumptions. (2023)
- wipe me clean with dirty hands by SomethingProfound, Female Dark Urge/Karlach, Local amnesiac with murderous tendencies attempts to lead group of misfits on a journey to save themselves, and perhaps the world. (2024)
- Sharing by Asidian, Partycule, (..) Under the circumstances, it's scarcely remarkable that they've latched onto what creature comforts are available. Astarion expects it, really. What he doesn't expect is for Halsin to say, "I believe we have something to discuss," casually, as he scrambles eggs for everyone's breakfast one morning. (2024)
Fanart
- Soldier? by Weenwem on Twitter (X)
- Tiefling wives by gewska, Karlach with a romanced Tiefling Tav, on Twitter (X)
- You can't tell me this isn't a regular occurrence in camp by nomoshobia, Wyll and Karlach wrestling amicably as Astarion watches, on Twitter (X)
Gallery
Karlach by ArthosArt
Karlach Portrait by ArthosArt
Karlach by CandraGloomblade
Karlach by captdiablo
Karlach by datcravat
Karlach by FaceFist
Karlach by TheFearMaster
Cute Karlach by JZeroSK
Rocker Karlach by KeithGarces
Karlach by Maecaart
Karlach by Shankss991
Resources & Links
- Karlach and BG3 Karlach tags on Tumblr
- Karlach (Baldur's Gate) at Archive of Our Own
- ^ "Karlach/Tav on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Karlach/Wyll on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Karlach/Shadowheart on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Karlach/OFC on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Astarion/Karlach on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Karlach/The Dark Urge on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Karlach/Dammon on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Gale/Reader on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.
- ^ "Karlach/Lae'zel on AO3 2025-03-15". Retrieved 2025-05-03.