Highlights

  • Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 has become a popular meme, with fans creating animal versions of him, including Catstarion, Goosetarion, and now Batstarion.
  • Catstarion was inspired by Astarion's voice actor's experience with a stray cat, and has led to fan creations such as art and mods that give Astarion cat-like features.
  • Goosetarion originated from a question asked to Astarion's actor about which of his characters would be a chaotic goose, and has since become a popular meme with animations and fan art depicting Astarion as a mischievous goose.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion has been subjected to many memes, some of which include him as an animal, or transforming into animals. Baldur’s Gate 3 has many characters that can shapeshift into animals; shapeshifting is usually part of the Druid class and allows the user to shift into a variety of animals including bears, cats, spiders, panthers, and much more.

Astarion is a witty loveable vampire rogue and has started many trends on social media, including animal memes. With the release of Baldur’s Gate 3’s epilogue, the animal memes of Astarion have started resurfacing again with the addition of a new animal, a bat. Alongside Batstarion are Catstarion and the popular Goosetarion, and Astarion’s actor, Neil Newbon, embraces these memes on his signing streams on Twitch.

Baldurs Gate 3 Batstarion
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Baldur's Gate 3's Batstarion Meme Explained

"Batstarion" is an adorable and hilarious new meme that has surfaced due to a funny moment in Baldur's Gate 3's new epilogues.

Astarion and Cats: Catstarion

The Inspirational Cat and the Beginning of Catstarion

Catstarion originated when Newbon detailed what inspired him when getting into the role of Astarion and revealed that one of his many inspirations was a stray cat that lives in his area who likes to come into his home. It took Newbon three years to gain the cat's trust and be able to hold the cat in his arms. This sparked the conception of the Catstarion meme and has since garnered lots of fan creations, such as writing, art, and even a mod that gives Astarion cat ears. One fan even named their new cat Astarion and received a cameo video of Newbon embracing the idea of Astarion as a cat.

The Depiction of Catstarion, Astarion and "His Majesty" the Cat

Catstarion is depicted as a white cat with large fangs, red eyes, and a mane of silver hair that resembles Astarion’s hair in the game. Another variation of Catstarion is an Astarion that resembles cat people from various Japanese anime, and the previously mentioned mod allows the player to change Astarion’s appearance to resemble those cat people. In Baldur’s Gate 3, it is hinted that Astarion likes cats, as he is one of the few companions that approves when the player “admires” the cat known as His Majesty in the Last Light Inn. This encounter also sparked a trend, with many fans creating art depicting Astarion and His Majesty.

Astarion and Geese: Goosetarion

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The Question That Started The Chaotic Goosetarion

What originally started as a question to Newbon about which of his characters would make a chaotic goose quickly became one of Baldur’s Gate 3’s most popular memes. This led to many fans creating animations of the moment that Newbon answered the question in Astarion’s voice. Other fans have created puppetry, fan art, short stories of Astarion getting into trouble and being turned into a Goose for the day, and even crafting Goosetarion plush toys. There are various types of fan art depicting Goosetarion:

  • Goosetarion stealing sandwiches.
  • Holding a dagger in his beak.
  • Recreations of the famous goose honk meme.

The question was asked during early access, but once Baldur’s Gate 3 was released, the meme resurfaced and was introduced to a whole new wave of fans. Goosetarion is depicted as a white goose with red eyes, a tuft of silver white curls on his head, and is often dressed in Astarion’s original clothes, as well as occasionally having a dagger in his mouth.

Astarion and Bats: Batstarion

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The Glitch Depicting a Drunk Astarion in Bat Form

The latest animal that has joined the ranks of Animal Astarion memes is the Bat. In Baldur’s Gate 3’s epilogue party, if Astarion has gone through the Rite of Profane Ascension and becomes the Vampire Ascendant, then at Withers’ party, he will be seen occasionally flying around in his new bat form. What sparked the rise of this meme is when some players noticed Astarion in his bat form holding up a cup of wine in the final cutscene of the party. Fans quickly dubbed this meme Batstarion and a plethora of fan art quickly surfaced on social media.

Batstarion is depicted as a cheeky white bat, with red eyes and a tuft of silver hair, and is often seen as drunk. There is a ton of fan art of Batstarion, and some include:

  • Drunk Batstarion holding a glass of wine.
  • Batstarion drinking out of a glass that is much too big for his small body.
  • Cuddling up to his romantic interest while in bat form.

Lately, fans seem to be moving on from art depicting Ascended Astarion in his bat form and instead, they are sharing the wholesome art of Spawn Astarion being able to transform into a bat and snuggling up to his love interest. It is a shame that Vampire Spawn can’t transform into bats in Baldur’s Gate 3 due to the rule set for vampires in Dungeons and Dragons. In Dungeons and Dragons, only normal Vampires (spawn aren't included under the normal vampire umbrella) can turn into animals such as rats, bats, and wolves.