Hawke

Hawke is the central protagonist of Dragon Age II. Hawke is fully voiced, can be either male or female, and has a fully customizable appearance. Hawke can be a mage, warrior or rogue. The default given name for Hawke is Garrett for a male and Marian for a female.

Background
Hawke is a human who lived in Lothering during the Fifth Blight in Ferelden, escaping the darkspawn attack by fleeing north to the Free Marches and eventually rising to become "the single most important character in the world of Dragon Age". Along the way the title of "The Champion of Kirkwall" is earned. Over the course of the game's ten-year timeline, players' actions and choices will determine Hawke's history, relationships, regrets, and rise to power.



Hawke's father Malcolm was an apostate mage who died three years before the beginning of the game, while his mother Leandra (of the Amell family) is a noble from Kirkwall. Hawke has two younger twin siblings - the mage Bethany and the warrior Carver - are mutually exclusive potential companions.

Personality
Based on dialogue options the player chooses, Hawke can exhibit three distinct personalities.


 * Diplomatic/Helpful: light green/light blue highlight (olive branch/angel wings and halo)
 * Sarcastic/Charming: purple highlight (comedy mask/diamond)
 * Aggressive/Direct: red highlight (fist/hammer)

The first dialogue choice the player chooses sets Hawke's personality. If the player frequently chooses dialogue from the same type, that attitude will "stack". If the player decides to change Hawke's personality, one of the other two attitudes must be selected more than twice as many times as the current one has. The idea behind this system is to ensure a consistency in Hawke's delivery throughout each Act (though past a certain point, Hawke's personality is effectively crystallized as there will not be enough dialogue remaining to 'overcome' the dominant attitude). The current personality can be confirmed by having a companion right-click Hawke (if s/he says something funny, for example, s/he is sarcastic/charming). At the start of each Act, Hawke retains the established personality, but the "stack" of previous choices is reduced, making it easier to change Hawke's tone.

Quotes

 * (To Carver during Family History) "I'm sure someone thought far too long about my name."
 * (Approaching a varterral in A Murder of Crows) "Didn't I kill this once before? Why is it still here?"
 * (To Varric about Dog) "You taught my dog how to gamble?"

Diplomatic/helpful Hawke:
 * "Let's make Kirkwall a better place for everyone."
 * "When in doubt, run away and let me handle it."

Sarcastic/charming Hawke:
 * "Hawke this, Hawke that. Why does everything fall to me?"
 * "Oooh, cloak and dagger phrases! How about... the queasy crow... flies at midnight?"
 * (During On the Loose) "Someday, I'd like to go one week without meeting an insane mage. Just one week."
 * (To Isabela during Mark of the Assassin) "You have pretty eyes."
 * (In Mark of the Assassin)) "Next time, could we hunt something small and cuddly? Maybe vegetarian?"
 * (In Mark of the Assassin) "Looks like the Duke... has fallen from grace."
 * (In Legacy) "I'd like to know who this "Corypheus" is. With a name like that, he's bound to go "mwa-ha-ha" at some point. I just know it."

Aggressive/direct Hawke:
 * (During Finders Keepers) "They say your life flashes in front of your eyes before you die. Any helpful flashes yet?"
 * (In Blackpowder Promise) "Seems to me, the last man standing gets final say on who is right or wrong."
 * (In Raiders on the Cliffs) "Anyone who leaves, is a deserter. And we all know what happens to deserters..."

Trivia

 * Hawke is second cousin to the human mage Warden through Leandra (see Amell family).
 * If played as a warrior or rogue, Hawke was part of the king's army at Ostagar.
 * Those who purchased and played Dragon Age II logged on prior to March 15, 2011 were eligible for the BioWare Signature Pack for Dragon Age Legends, which added Hawke as a companion; his war cry is "Thanks for buying Dragon Age 2!"
 * Hawke is roughly 24 or 25 at the start of Act I. Gamlen states that Leandra left with Malcolm 25 years ago and Malcolm states that Leandra was pregnant when they left. This would mean that by the end of the game, Hawke is 30-31.
 * An additional Act 1 plot for a mage Hawke was ultimately cut, since the story (which involved entering the Fade) was complicated and didn't work very well.