‘Dragon Age: Inquisition’: Gay Character Controversy Causes BioWare Writer To Respond
Dragon Age: Inquisition recently introduced the game’s first openly gay character, Dorian, who serves as a companion character in the upcoming PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC role-playing game. While he’s not the first homosexual character used in a BioWare title or even the game, writer David Gaider felt the need to respond Thursday to some of the controversy that has been brewing around the mage since his introduction.
The controversy started when BioWare released an interview with Gaider to the official Dragon Age: Inquisition website where he explained part of why Dorian is considered an outcast among one of the major factions in the game, the mages who are the ruling class in Tevinter.
“Dorian is gay — he is, in fact, the first fully gay character I’ve had the opportunity to write. It added an interesting dimension to his back story, considering he comes from a place where ‘perfection’ is the face that every mage puts on and anything that smacks of deviancy is shameful and meant to be hidden. Dorian’s refusal to play along with that façade is seen as stubborn and pointless by his family, which has contributed to his status as a pariah.”
Other reasons he is an outcast in Dragon Age is because he isn’t afraid to hide his magic power and his rejection of mage customs and standards in Tevinter, which he believes lead to corruption.
The first bit of controversy that Gaider stepped in was referring to Dorian as “fully gay.” This caused some to question his meaning there until the writer clarified that he is not bi-sexual like previous BioWare characters.
That wasn’t enough for some fans on social media and the BioWare forums heavily invested in the companion romance options for Dragon Age. The response was enough to cause Gaider to respond with this series of Tweets.
Funny how one question in a community interview where Dorian is mentioned as gay becomes “BioWare made a press release to announce it”.
— David Gaider (@davidgaider) July 3, 2014
Also, despite Dorian’s sexuality being (evidently) news, it’s not all that defines him. Unless it’s all you care about. But that’s on you.
— David Gaider (@davidgaider) July 3, 2014
Also, FYI: he’s the first gay character *I’ve* written. It’s not DA’s first (Sera), and definitely not BioWare’s (Cortez, Traynor, Juhani).
— David Gaider (@davidgaider) July 3, 2014
@EmphasisSarcasm Because catering to straight white guys for profit instead is a higher form of pandering, I guess?
— David Gaider (@davidgaider) July 3, 2014
@EmphasisSarcasm I’ll admit I was hopeful after the Sera reveal went over fairly quietly.
— David Gaider (@davidgaider) July 3, 2014
Dragon Age: Inquisition is currently scheduled to be released on October 7, 2014. What do you think of the addition of homosexual companion characters like Dorian and Sera to the game?
[Image via Dragon Age: Inquistion website]
