The Strongest Playable Dragon Age Characters, According To The Lore

Key Takeaways

• Hawke stood out as Champion of Kirkwall despite personal losses.
• Rook rose to lead in Dragon Age: The Veilguard amid a world-saving mission.
• Characters like Cassandra, Fenris, and Alistair display strength in lore-based stories.

The Dragon Age franchise has had an assortment of strong playable characters since it was first released in 2009 with Dragon Age: Origins. While it may be simple to focus just on the main protagonist, the player can control, such as the Hero of Fereldan or the Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition, many of the companions that players have also been able to play across the games, except Dragon Age: The Veilguard, have been incredibly strong too.

While a player may focus on the in-game statistics or abilities of a companion or protagonist, these playable characters are acknowledged as being the strongest due to what BioWare has revealed about them from the lore of Dragon Age. Therefore, these are by far some of the strongest playable characters in Dragon Age, according to the lore.

10 Hawke

A Regular Person That Protected A Whole City

• The Champion of Kirkwall.
• Stopped an entire Qunari invasion.
• Kept going after the death of their family.

The main protagonist of Dragon Age 2 may not have as much of an impact as the other main protagonists in the Dragon Age franchise, but this doesn’t mean that Hawke isn’t a strong character. Throughout the events of Dragon Age 2, Hawke is put through a lot of stress as they are forced to aid the city of Kirkwall during a Qunari invasion, and the major battle between Templars and Mages, while also dealing with the grief of losing their family.

These events have the people of the city calling Hawke the Champion of Kirkwall. When Hawke is then shown again in Dragon Age: Inquisition as a non-playable character, this strength has only grown through the possibility of Hawke sacrificing themselves for the team.

9 Rook

A Protagonist That Stepped Up To the Responsibility Of Leading

• A regular person trying to save the world.
• Their backstory shows a promising start.
• Rook becomes a good leader quickly.

Another main protagonist of the Dragon Age franchise that is encouraged to be seen as a nobody that decides to save the world is the latest hero of the franchise, Rook, in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. While a lot of what Rook can do in the game is subjective to change depending on the choices the player makes, the main objective of stopping the blighted gods from taking over the world stays the same.

Rook is pushed into a role of leadership quickly into Veilguard where they must stay strong to support their team of companions in getting Veilguard ready to take on these gods. They must do this while dealing with other problems that are happening in the rest of Northern Thedas too, as only Rook has the strength and determination to bring these factions together.

8 Cassandra Pentaghast

The Once Right Hand Of The Divine

• Cassandra is a proud Seeker who wishes to rebuild the order.
• She was the previous Right Hand of the Divine.
• Among Cassandra’s titles, she is also considered the Hero of Orlais.

Before Cassandra Pentaghast became a playable character in Dragon Age: Inquisition and a worthy companion to the Inquisitor, Cassandra had proved herself worthy enough to be the Right Hand of the Divine. As the Right Hand, it was Cassandra’s job to aid the Divine of Thedas by being her declaration and will. In most cases, the actions taken by the Divine were given out by Cassandra, as she speaks for the Divine.

Cassandra is also known as the Hero of Orlais, as she saved the previous Divine, Beatrix the Third, from an attempt against her life from a blood mage, while Cassandra plays down this tale of it not only being her, she still played a crucial role in saving this Divine, which caused her to become the Right Hand. Above all else, Cassandra is also a Seeker. This order is like the Templars but without the addiction, as she possesses the power to set the lyrium inside a person’s veins to burn.

7 Fenris

This Elf Has The Power To Rip Out Hearts

• Lyrium-infused markings allow him to phase through objects.
• Fenris has become a competent Mage killer over the years.
• He has since made it his duty to kill slavers.

As a fan-favorite, it’s no surprise that Fenris is considered one of the strongest characters according to the lore of the games. Especially when the player first meets this broody white-haired elf, he puts his entire gauntlet-covered hand within a person’s chest and crushes their heart.

While the lyrium that was painfully carved into his skin does give Fenris such powers, even without these markings, Fenris is an incredibly capable warrior, as his sister reveals to him that he once fought hard to get those markings in the hopes of helping his family he has since long forgotten. After the events of Dragon Age 2, Fenris has appeared in comics such as Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and Dragon Age: Dark Fortress, where his strength has continued to be explored through helping to free other trapped slaves and overpowering evil Mages.

6 Alistair

Veteran Of The Blight And Possible King Of Fereldan

• A Veteran of the Fifth Blight.
• He has suffered many hardships but continues to fight.
• Becomes the King of Ferelden in the books.

Players may usually remember Alistair as the young man that is always cracking jokes in Dragon Age: Origins. However, as a Grey Warden, it’s important to note that he is also an incredibly capable warrior that has fought Darkspawn and may even sacrifice himself to stop the Fifth Blight, if needed.

While the events of Dragon Age: Origins are determined by the player, according to the comic books, like Dragon Age: The Silent Grove, Alistair does become the King in the canon lore of the books, in which he goes on to kill a Witch of the Wilds – thankfully not Morrigan – and even meet his father. Alistair is shown to be incredibly deadly in combat within these comics, where the readers see a more serious side to the man that became king.

5 Sten

A Qunari That Soon Became The Arishok

• A huge and aggressive Qunari in battle.
• Sten becomes the leader of the Qunari military when he returns home.
• Sten appeared to fear nothing.

As a Qunari, Sten is already one of the strongest playable characters in Dragon Age: Origins, though a lot of Sten’s strength, according to the lore, is shown after the events of the game. Like Alistair, Sten is shown to be an even stronger character, as according to the books, when Sten returns home after witnessing and helping fight in the Fifth Blight, he is given the new role of Arishok.

Sten now has control over all the Qunari Military, which shows not only strength in combat, but also the intelligence to guide others on the battlefield and make tactical choices. He encounters Alistair once more during these comics, where Sten is once again shown to be quite the worthy warrior.

4 The Inquisitor

The Power Of The Anchor Saved The World

• With the power of the Anchor, only the Inquisitor can close rifts.
• They are in charge of an entire organization.
• Only the Inquisitor (with the help of others) can save Thedas.

Returning to the main protagonists from the Dragon Age franchise, the Inquisitor is by far one of the strongest characters according to the lore of the franchise. Firstly, the Anchor which is attached to their hand is what gives them the power to be able to close rifts in the Fade, as they are the only person that can solve this problem, it already gives the Inquisitor an advantage over others.

Besides having a magical boon, the Inquisitor is also in charge of the entire Inquisition, which gives them far more power than the likes of Rook or Hawke from the other Dragon Age titles. Players make the most of this leadership throughout the game, as not only does the Inquisitor have the strength to defeat Corypheus, but also judge their enemies and what their fate should be.

3 Hero Of Ferelden

The Savior Of The Fifth Blight

• Manages to save Southern Thedas during the Fifth Blight.
• A capable leader of their companions.
• Is deemed a Hero by the people after the events of Dragon Age: Origins.

Out of all the main playable characters that players have created throughout the Dragon Age franchise, the original Grey Warden, also known as the Hero of Ferelden, is by far one of the strongest protagonists according to the lore of the titles.

Although Alistair has been a Warden for longer, he still pushes the responsibility of saving the world onto the player’s Warden, where they must travel across Southern Thedas to hopefully find help against the Blight. No matter what choice players make at the end of Dragon Age: Origins, this Warden is still considered a Hero of Ferelden and is fondly remembered by the people they likely saved during the Fifth Blight.

2 Morrigan

A Shapeshifter That Has Ancient Knowledge

• Morrigan uses powerful old magic.
• She has the ability to turn into a Dragon.
• She carries ancient wisdom that she uses for more than persuasion.

While Morrigan may only be a playable character in Dragon Age: Origins, due to her work in both that game and Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it goes without argument that Morrigan is one of the strongest playable characters in Dragon Age, according to the lore.

Morrigan has always played a crucial role in these games, with her giving the Hero of Ferelden a way out of dying after killing the Archdemon due to old magic, and literally having the ability to turn into a Dragon in Dragon Age: Inquisition. By Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Morrigan has become much like her mother in many ways, while using her wisdom that she has gathered over the many years of the franchise to aid the next hero on their adventure.

1 Solas

One Of The Few Living Ancient Elves

• Solas is actually an ancient Elven God.
• He is the man who originally created the Veil between the waking world and the Fade.
• Solas has the power to turn people to stone.

A man who has had many names over the centuries he has lived, Solas is, unsurprisingly, one of the strongest playable characters in Dragon Age. While a player may not originally expect it when playing Dragon Age: Inquisition for the first time, this Elven Apostate carries a secret that he is actually an Elven God. Not any God, but the Dread Wolf himself, who sealed away the other Elven Gods.

Solas planned to tear down the Veil between the real world and the Fade to hopefully bring back the empire of the Elves, though this doesn’t go as planned as he didn’t have enough power. Players get a hint of this power in the Trespasser DLC when he turns Qunari to stone. By Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Solas has regained all of his strength to try once more, which Rook is tasked with stopping.