After three years in Early Access, Baldur's Gate 3 will release in August 2023. The much-anticipated RPG from Larian Studios will pick up the story 120 years on from Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, and a few months after the events of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, an adventure book for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition.
Despite the major time-skip, one fan-favorite character from the original Baldur's Gate games has already been confirmed to be making a return; Minsc the Ranger, madman, hamster-owner, evil-smiter, and all-round loose cannon, appeared in dramatic fashion clawing his way out of a live mimic in the recent Game Awards trailer for Baldur's Gate 3. Minsc and his hamster Boo are one of the most memorable partnerships in RPG history, with a rich history covering multiple games, novels, and comics.
Minsc in Baldur's Gate 1
Minsc first appeared in the original Baldur's Gate, where he is available to recruit as a companion in Chapter 2. A human ranger from the distant land of Rashemen, also known as the Land of Berserkers, Minsc traveled to Amn while on his Dajemma, a Rashemi coming-of-age ceremony in which young people spend a year traveling in distant lands. When players first meet Minsc, he has become separated from his fellow Rashemi, Dynaheir, whom he has sworn to protect on his journey.
Reuniting the two, either by joining Minsc in his own rescue attempt, or rescuing Dynaheir separately then reintroducing them, gave players a chance to recruit them both. While generally good-natured, Minsc is fanatically devoted to both protecting Dynaheir and destroying evil, making him an unpredictable companion who can enter a berserk rage when provoked. Players can find this out for themselves by rudely turning down his offer to join the party, which can cause Minsc to attack.
Despite his dedication to Dynaheir, Minsc's first love is for Boo, his pet hamster. According to Minsc, Boo is actually a miniature giant space hamster, an unknown species possessing massive intelligence and the ability to speak, though only Minsc can understand him. There's not much evidence to support this however, and many of Minsc's companions will openly state that the ranger's belief in Boo's intelligence and ability to converse with him is simply a result of his own addled mind. In battle, Minsc can frequently be heard commanding Boo to "Go for the eyes", an attack that proved effective in their battle against the Red Dragon Deniak, and inspired Easter eggs in Mass Effect, Neverwinter Nights, and Torment: Tides of Numenera.
Minsc in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
As a fan-favorite character from Baldur's Gate 1, Minsc is with the player right from the opening scene of its sequel. However, he is suffering greatly from the loss of Dynaheir, who died in the ambush that saw the rest of the Baldur's Gate companions captured and tortured. This loss is reflected in a change of Minsc's racial enemy from Gnoll, the creatures who had captured Dynaheir in the first game, to Vampire, the monsters responsible for her death just before the events of Baldur's Gate 2.
Once players have freed Minsc from his cage by enraging him enough to bend the bars, he and Boo will accompany them on the rest of their adventure in Baldur's Gate 2. Depending on the player's choices, there's a chance that Minsc may adopt the Avariel Cleric Aerie as a new witch for him to protect, just as he was sworn to protect Dynaheir. In this case, Minsc will enter a berserk rage if Aerie is killed in battle.
Minsc's Other Adventures
As revealed by the game's epilogue, Minsc returned to Rashemen following the events of Baldur's Gate 2, and was accepted into the Ice Dragon Berserker Lodge due to his heroic feats. He later formed his own adventuring party, the Justice Fist, before disappearing mysteriously while journeying across the Realms.
Minsc returned to the D&D canon in the 2014 comic Dungeons & Dragons: Legends of Baldur's Gate, which revealed that he and Boo had somehow become petrified and were treated as a statue in Baldur's Gate for more than a century. When the statue was struck by a burst of wild magic during the comic's events, Minsc and Boo were finally set free, almost a century on from their original adventures. Teaming up with a group known as the Heroes of Baldur's Gate, Minsc and Boo continued their story all across the Forgotten Realms setting, facing down the Vampire Strahd in Barovia, fighting alongside Drizzt Do'Urden and Bruenor Battlehammer in Gauntlgrym, and descending into the Nine Hells during the events of Descent into Avernus.
What part Minsc will play in Baldur's Gate 3 is not yet known, but he seems to be introduced by Jaheira, another companion from the original Baldur's Gate games already confirmed to be returning in the sequel. According to the voiceover, Minsc has been captured by a cult, a mistake that she suspects they will soon regret, as Minsc is "not the kind of man who takes kindly to captivity."
Baldur's Gate 3 is releasing in August 2023 on PC.