Alistair

"That's what I'm here for. To deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners."

Alistair (born 9:10 Dragon ) is a playful and compassionate Grey Warden and one of the companions in Dragon Age: Origins. He is a potential romance option for a female Warden.

Approval


The Warden can increase Alistair's approval rating through gifts (covered below), dialogue, and plot decisions. Alistair responds well when you ask him to speak about himself. Typically, Alistair will try to deflect your question with a joke, which you can move past either by joking (often leading to humorous conversation) or calling Alistair's bluff. Neither approach will affect his approval. Alistair is, in a sense, shy and speaks often of Duncan and the Grey Wardens. In many ways, Alistair views Duncan as a surrogate father. Always affirm his emotional responses, and his approval rating will increase.

When speaking of one's post-Joining experiences, Alistair approves of responses that reflect his own. Admit to nightmares, increased appetite, etc. to slightly bump his approval. When the hero speaks to Alistair about other personal things (such as sex), Alistair admires answers which suggest both strength and experience. Do not mock him for his own softness and relative inexperience, however, as these will negate any approval benefits the hero receives through insisting on his own prowess.

Gifts
Despite being raised by the Chantry to be a templar, Alistair has a deep interest in the arcane and occult, as evidenced by his preference for gifts of statues and rune stones. His plot items, however, are his mother's (repaired) amulet, found on the desk of the Arl of Redcliffe in Castle Redcliffe and Duncan's Shield, found inside Market Warehouse, in Denerim Market District.

Sometimes if you put Alistair into your party, he may respond as if he has just received a gift that has improved his approval to you by +1

Initial statistics


Relative Attribute Weightings on Auto-Level: Strength 1.5, Dexterity 0.8, Willpower 0.4, Magic 0, Cunning 0, Constitution 0.9.

Class: Warrior

Specialization: Templar

Skills: Expert Combat Training

Starting Talents:

Templar: Righteous Strike

Warrior: Powerful

Weapon and Shield: Shield Bash, Shield Pummel, Shield Block, Shield Cover

Gear
Initial gear

Alistair-specific gear

Plot skills
As you befriend Alistair and gain his approval he will gain the following additional abilities:

Dragon Age: Origins



 * (To Morrigan) "Yes... Swooping is bad..."
 * "You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together."
 * (After the Joining) "Two more deaths. In my Joining, only one of us died, but it was... horrible. I'm glad at least one of you made it through."
 * "Just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no."
 * (After first giving advice on Archdemon-dreams) "That's what I'm here for. To deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners."
 * (After Redcliffe) "Now that the warm and fuzzy part of the day is over we can get back to the ritual dismemberments. Oh wait, it's not Tuesday is it?"
 * "Have you ever licked a lamp post in winter?"
 * (On Queen Anora) "Oh, and she turned on us. What a shock. She seemed like such a nice despot."
 * (Prior to entering the Brecilian ruins, occasionally) "I think this is it. Werewolf city... a kind of flea heaven, isn't it?"
 * (During the first visit to Redcliffe, being asked about if there's anything more the Warden should know) "Aside from my unholy love for fine cheeses and minor obsession with my hair, no. Just the Prince thing."
 * (While in Fort Drakon) You know, there's something about being trapped in a fortress full of people that want me dead that makes me think... being a templar might not have been so bad.

Dragon Age II

 * "I'm Alistair, uh... King of Ferelden. And this is Teagan, my uncle. Sort of."
 * "I was hoping we could talk. Would've been better timing before being emasculated by Meredith, but I'm not picky."

Dialogue
(Presenting a rose to a female Warden)
 * Alistair: "Here, look at this. Do you know what it is?"
 * Warden: "Your new weapon of choice?"
 * Alistair: "Yes, that's right! Watch as I thrash our enemies with the mighty power of floral arrangements! Feel my thorns, darkspawn! I will overpower you with my rosy scent!"

(Gossiping about the other companions)
 * Alistair: "I've got this nefarious plan to go around to each of them, and secretly tell them all the nasty things you said. That way they'll mutiny, and I shall become the group leader!" (evil laugh)
 * Warden: "If you want to lead, all you have to do is ask."
 * Alistair: "What? Lead? Me? No, no, no. No leading. Bad things happen when I lead. We get lost, people die, and the next thing you know I'm stranded somewhere without any pants."

Trivia

 * In writing Alistair, David Gaider was inspired by Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. Gaider also wanted Nathan Fillion, who played Mal, to be Alistair's voice actor but it was decided to choose a British actor instead.
 * Alistair was originally supposed to be a "grizzled Grey Warden veteran". That didn't work well for a character that needed to join the player early, and he was rewritten.
 * Alistair received his name due to David Gaider watching several TV shows with actor Alistair Appleton when writing him.
 * Alistair seems to have a persistent fear of mages turning him into a toad.
 * Alistair's surname after becoming king has been confirmed as Theirin in the comic series. It can be presumed that he assumed the surname upon his coronation as his paternity was then legally recognized.
 * Alistair is the companion appearing in the biggest number of series' media.
 * Based on party banter between Wynne and Oghren, Alistair possesses a pike and often playfully swings it about, earning him the nickname "little pike-twirler" from Oghren. Alistair is never able to use a pike in combat. During his duel with the Arishok in Dragon Age: Those Who Speak, however, Alistair demonstrably knows how to fight using polearms.
 * The royal armor Alistair is depicted wearing on the inside cover art of the collected hardcover edition of Dragon Age: The Silent Grove appears to be an altered version of Alistair's Splint Mail Armor from Dragon Age: Origins, based on the design of the breastplate, pauldrons, and gauntlets.