Dragon Age: The Veilguard Confirms Something All the Companions Have in Common

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

By Christine Miller

Published Jun 11, 2024

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Highlights

All companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are canonically pansexual, offering diverse romance options for players.
The emphasis on characters in The Veilguard harkens back to the Mass Effect 2 era, with each companion tied to a faction.
The player's Rook character can choose from different races and backgrounds, likely impacting interactions with companions.

While previous comments implied that players would be able to romance companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard regardless of gender, creative director John Epler confirms that the entire cast in the new Dragon Age title is canonically pansexual. As befits the new name, Dragon Age: The Veilguard seeks to place an emphasis on its characters in a way that hasn't been done by BioWare since Mass Effect 2. Each companion belongs to a specific faction that operates in northern Thedas, and they all have a role to play in the overarching story of The Veilguard.

Romance has always played a key role in BioWare games, and the developers were keen to push the envelope on same-sex romances very early on. Characters such as Juhani, Sky, and Liara were trailblazers in their time, while Dragon Age 2 introduced an approach to video game romance that is still debated to this day. The companions in the second Dragon Age title were available as romantic partners for Hawke, regardless of gender. Some praised the amount of role-playing options this approach opened up, while others argued stripping the companions of a sexual orientation made for poorer characterization.

dragon age the veilguard characters key art

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Preview - Here We Go Again

Dragon Age: The Veilguard makes plenty of improvements to Inquisition's decade old formula but retains everything that makes the franchise special.

John Epler, the creative director for the Dragon Age franchise, revealed the following during Game ZXC's preview of The Veilguard: "There’s a difference between playersexual and pansexual. All companions are canonically pansexual." This effectively confirms that the cast in Dragon Age: The Veilguard will not only be romantically available to all Rooks, but also that their sexuality won't necessarily revolve around the player character either, as was the case with Hawke.

All Dragon Age: The Veilguard Companions Are Pansexual

While the comparisons with Dragon Age 2 are obvious, the romance options in The Veilguard have more in common with Baldur's Gate 3, whose companions are similarly pansexual, and whose orientation doesn't adhere to the player's gender. Players will be able to engage in conversation with their companions at the Lighthouse, which serves as a base of operations in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

"There’s a difference between playersexual and pansexual. All companions are canonically pansexual." – John Epler

Much like the Inquisitor, players will be able to create their Rook as either a human, elf, dwarf, or qunari. Unlike the Inquisitor, they will also be able to set a separate background for Rook that isn't tied to any race. Since these backgrounds align with the factions of The Veilguard's companions, it's extremely likely that this choice will unlock special dialogue with certain party members, either at the Lighthouse or beyond. Players can experience a brand-new adventure in Thedas in Fall 2024, when Dragon Age: The Veilguard is expected to launch.