Baldur's Gate 3: Most Important Characters

Highlights

Withers, a cryptic undead, can resurrect fallen allies and holds knowledge of the past and deities, but refuses to help for unknown reasons.
Lae'zel, a Githyanki, has a secret that reshapes her identity and plays a key role in finding important areas and teaching about Githyanki culture.
Shadowheart possesses an integral artifact that prevents players from turning into mind flayers and has a compelling story tied to her allegiance to Lady Shar.

Every character in Baldur’s Gate 3 serves some level of importance, but these characters are certainly integral to the plot as players progress, and more oddities and obstacles come to light. Baldur’s Gate 3 is filled with fantastic characters that players will meet across their adventures, but some of them hold greater backgrounds and stories than others, ensuring an importance that players should not neglect nor underestimate.

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Whether it’s in a personal quest or through the main campaign, Baldur’s Gate 3 features important stories that players should be aware of, as well as the characters involved within them that can make or break their playthrough, including some unexpected characters that serve great importance to the narrative at hand.

Spoilers ahead for Baldur's Gate 3

6 Withers

A Cryptic Undead With Great Power

Withers is a skeletal mage in Baldur's Gate 3

If Withers were not important, then he would be killable, or at least a character players could tell to go away. Withers will deny all of this, whether that’s his murder or the attempts to kick him out of the camp. Regardless of if players actually freed Withers or not, he will make his way to their camp and stay there, acting as a character to resurrect fallen allies and offer cryptic words that are more head-scratching than helpful.

Yet, that doesn’t mean Withers has no use, as not only can he be used to bring back the dead friends of the player, but he seems to know far more than he lets on, or at least, far more than he is willing to tell. Withers knows much of the past, the deities, and beyond it, but he chooses not to help for reasons that are his alone.

5 Lae’zel

A Githyanki With Torn Ties

Baldurs Gate 3 What To Do After Beating Game New Playthrough Laezel

Lae’zel may come across as rude and abrasive, but that doesn’t mean players should rejoice in sending her to the camp or leaving her for dead. Lae’zel is an important character with a good heart, even if she initially doesn’t seem like it. If players progress with her, and find the secret books that chronicle the life of Prince Orpheus, her entire identity will be reshaped, as everything she knows about the Githyanki becomes a warped lie surrounding their Queen.

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Not only is that an interesting story in its own right, but Lae’zel is the key to finding some specific areas integral to the plot, such as the Githyanki Creche. She’s also a character that can teach players more about Githyanki culture, which is rather useful for those curious about mind flayers and the Gith.

4 Shadowheart

Shar’s Disciple With An Integral Artifact

Shadowheart holding a githyanki artefact

Shadowheart is an important character for a few reasons, starting with her possessions. When players first meet Shadowheart, they can find a mysterious and responsive artifact that seems to be unable to be opened, but it certainly serves a higher power, since it cannot seem to be lost, and always finds itself with the player. This artifact is later revealed to house the Dream Guardian, who stops players from turning into mind flayers.

Not only does Shadowheart’s mission from Lady Shar act as an important one to bring forth the artifact, but her story alone makes her important. She is one of the more fleshed-out companions in Baldur’s Gate 3, and she must discover her past and her allegiance to Lady Shar to navigate her fate, creating one of the most interesting stories in the game.

3 The Absolute

The Main Antagonist

Baldurs Gate 3 Absolute Explained Netherbrain Ketheric Gortash Orin Moonrise Towers Act 2 Apostle of Myrkul

Despite having no personality based on the fact that it is a controlled Elder Brain, the Absolute is extremely important to Baldur’s Gate 3 due to what it is tasked with, and how others view it. The Absolute is worshiped by cultists. Whether they be human, goblin, or whatever else that believes the Absolute to be a new and all-powerful deity.

The Absolute is actually an Elder Brain, which is being controlled by the Netherstones possessed by Orin the Red, Ketheric Thorm, and Lord Enver Gortash, important characters who technically are the Absolute. With their control, the Absolute can dominate Faerun, bringing forth armies into its command and creating even more followers and mind flayers.

2 The Emperor

The Dream Guardian Who Stops The Parasite From Taking Over

The Emperor standing in front of Orpheus in Baldur's Gate 3

The Dream Guardian is surrounded by mystery, and players can either choose to trust them straight away or not. Filled with cryptic warnings and scarcely believable stories, the Dream Guardian is revealed later to be the Emperor, a mind flayer that has no allegiance to other mind flayers, and instead, wants to do what is right for the world, acting as a guide and an ally.

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The Emperor has been protecting the player all this time, and despite the illithid appearance, they should be trusted, at least for now. What makes the Emperor so important is that they alone are responsible for making sure players do not turn into mind flayers, and that’s the entire reason the player and their party is not dead just yet.

1 Dark Urge / Tav

The Player Character, The Bhaalspawn

It can be argued that the most important character in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the player. Bringing along a fresh newly created character for the adventure is essential to making decisions, and players can become their own protagonists and weave their own stories, so Tav is the most important character overall. However, it can go a step further than that and the claim can be made that the Dark Urge Tav is the true most important character.

The Dark Urge is a special origin character players can select, and although they start with amnesia, with nothing but glimpses of their past, the truth unveils itself throughout the game to reveal that the Dark Urge protagonist is created from Bhaal himself, and one of the characters that actually crafted the Absolute. Without the Dark Urge character, most, if not all of the story for Baldur’s Gate 3 wouldn’t happen.