Vivienne is a powerful mage you recruit in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Despite being a mage though, she is against the mage rebellion. She is quite different from the rest of the inner circle in that she is high class and never totally puts down her walls around the Inquisitor.
Her character, next to Sera and Solas, is one of the more disliked companions of the game. This is because many players tend to side with mages over templars, and Vivienne can come across as power hungry and snooty. Despite this though, many still recognize her as a good character. She is well-written. Some fans wish she had more one-on-one scenes so that players could understand her better.
Fans often feel they know less about Vivienne than other characters. Here are ten facts many do not know about her.
9 Her Voice Actress Played Ellaria Sand From Game Of Thrones
The voice of Vivienne is British actress, Indira Anne Varma. A role many would recognize her for is as Ellaria Sand from Game of Thrones. She has also played in films such as Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love and other television series like The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, and Human Target.
In terms of video games, she has very little else on her long resume. She did voice Sloane Kelly in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
8 She Was One Of The Youngest Full-Fledged Mages In Circle History
Many players, and thus their Inquisitor, have never heard of Vivienne. However, she is kind of a big deal in the Circle of Magi. She was taken into the Circle at a very young age and become somewhat of a child prodigy. She was transferred to the Montsimmard Circle at about nineteen-years-old and refused to join any fraternity when she became a full enchanter.
7 Her Relationship With Duke Bastien De Ghislain Caused A Huge Scandal
Vivienne is no stranger to scandals. Her not choosing a fraternity was a scandal, and then her relationship with a powerful noble caused another. She and the Duke of Ghislainmet and the Imperial Wintersend Ball and spent all evening dancing with each other. For a mage and a prominent noble to do that is unheard of. Several bards made attempts at Vivienne's life and would return to their noble employers half-frozen.
6 Vivienne's "Fashion Touchstone" Is Disney's Maleficent
This should be no surprise. Just look at her hat! It screams Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty. The fact that her fashion was inspired by the famous villain was mentioned by one of the lead writer, David Gaider, on Twitter.
Her design is not the only fairytale callback though. Her personal quest, "Bring me the heart of Snow White," is an obvious reference as well. It is no wonder so many players were suspicious that Vivienne was up to no good! All misleading though, as it turns out she was far more truthful than characters like Blackwall, Solas, and The Iron Bull (only if you sacrifice the Chargers in Bull's case).
5 If She Was A Food, She Would Be "Ortolan Bunting"
One of the main writers of Dragon Age, Mary Kirby, answered a very important question. If Vivienne was a food, what food would she be? Kirby actually answered with question for multiple characters but for Vivienne's case the answer was "ortolan bunting."
As for what an ortolan bunting is, it is a notorious French dish (which makes sense because Vivienne is Orlesian). The food is a bird dish with a lot of work involved. The bird is caught alive and then blinded or put in dark place. The bird is then force-fed until they get plump and then they are drowned in a snifter of Armagnac. Then they are roasted for eight minutes.
4 Cassandra Is Not A Fan Of Vivienne Being The Divine
If Vivienne is made Divine, a lot of different things can happen depending on the players' other choices in the game. However, one piece remains pretty clear and its that Cassandra is not the biggest fan.
It is nothing personal, but Cassandra is a very devote believer in the Maker and takes the Chant of Light very seriously. As Divine, Vivienne cares more about politics. In the epilogue, it is stated that Cassandra will leave the Exalted Council because she is disgusted with Vivienne's perversion of the Chant of Light.
3 If Her Approval Is Low, She Will Rearrange Skyholds' Furniture
If Vivienne disapproves of your decisions enough, players can get a scene of various people moving around Skyhold furniture. Vivienne is getting them to do it because she wants to annoy the Inquisitor.
Note that Vivienne is very good at The Game, so what she is actually doing is testing you. Her goal is that the Inquisitor will lose their cool.
2 She Can Have A Crazy Good DPS Build
Story and personality aside, Vivienne can be amazing in combat depending on how the player builds her. Her class, Knight Enchanter, has the potential for crazy DPS output. Unlike other mages who need to maintain distance, Vivienne can be a force of destruction up close.
Spirit blade does a lot of damage, even after it got nerfed (yes, it used to be even more powerful)!. Decloaking Blast combined with Fade Shield basically gives you an almost constant barrier in any fight.
1 She Prefers Cassandra As Divine Over Leliana
Even taking herself out of the picture, Vivienne is not afraid to advise the Inquisitor on who would be a better Divine between Cassandra and Leliana. Leliana is pro-mage rebels, and Cassandra is not, so Vivienne prefers Cassandra. However, she does point out that Cassandra's greatest weakness as Divine will be a lack of charisma.