From Dragon Age: Inquisition to Origins, the Dragon Age series has had an obsession with cheese. It was not until Inquisition, though, when players really started to notice cheese wheels everywhere across Thedas. There are cheese wheel shields, towers of cheese on actual towers, cheese wheels big enough to crush someone to death, and even secret cheeses under Skyhold itself.
So of course many fans have asked what is the rhyme or reason behind all the cheese that litter the maps and dialogue of Thedas. BioWare has offered some answers, but mostly leaves the fun of the goofy mystery alone for its gamers to enjoy. If the history of cheese in these games is any indicator, there will surely be even more around the corners of Dragon Age 4.
Dragon Age's Cheese Tradition
Little has been said by BioWare as to the reason behind Thedas' cheese explosion. They did touch upon it in an interview with CNET and called the cheese a "tradition" that they have stuck to since Origins. Looking back on Origins, they are quite right that cheese is everywhere in that game as well. In The Stone Prisoner DLC, the player can get a blade called "Olaf's Cheese Knife," which has an inscription that reads "Finally, a blade that's up to the challenge of one of your fine firm cheeses." The knife is proof that cheese-inspired weapons have been around since before Inquisition.
In Origins, cheese also is found all over camp, showing itself as a main source of protein during the Grey Wardens' travels. The companion Alistair is known to love cheese, as he is self-described as having an "unholy love of fine cheeses." In Dragon Age 2, the love of cheese never disappeared either. In the Mark of the Assassin DLC, players can find a skeleton crushed to death by a cheese wheel. The Chanter's Board in Hightown has a drawing of cheese, Gamlen's house has a cheese wheel, and the player can even overhear in the Hanged Man that he found a wheel of cheese where the Sacred Flame should be, and that it must be a "sign from Blessed Andraste."
Of course, it was Inquisition that really made fans start to notice cheese absolutely everywhere, and goofier than ever. The most normal cheeses sat upon plates, while others could be found in summoning circles, in the hands of statues, gambling against skeletons, and mixed in with skulls in caves. BioWare even made it so if players glitch through Skyhold, they will meet a cheese wheel with a funny face and tophat.
The Raw Humor Of Dragon Age's Cheese
BioWare did not pull the tradition of cheese jokes out of nowhere, as cheese has been a food connected to cheer and laughter for a while. Their many names are the source of puns such as "gouda luck" and "let it brie" or "ricotta get going." Dragon Age was not even the first game to use cheese as a fun aside. In The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion's Shivering Isles DLC, one of the most well-remembered lines fans have of the mad god Sheogorath is "Cheese for everyone." Though Skyrim moved on from cheese humor to sweet rolls.
While it is obviously a tradition of Bioware, it is still a mystery as to how this tradition came to be, or how it evolved. It could be that one of the developers had a real-life obsession with cheese and it snowballed from there. Whatever the case may be, the cheeses have been a delight to discover all over Thedas. It has gotten to the point that fans can make cheese scrapbooks and cheese journals to see if they can find them all. Whatever cheeses await in Dragon Age 4, it's gouda brie fun to see.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is available to play on the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
