Templar (Origins)

"Essentially they're trained to fight. The Chantry would tell you that the templars exist simply to defend, but don't let them fool you. They're an army. The other main purpose for a templar is, of course, to hunt mages. To that end, we train in talents that drain mana and disrupt spells."

- Alistair

Templar is one of the specializations available to the warrior class in Dragon Age: Origins. The templar specialist's talents are focused on anti-magic combat.

The Templar Order


The Templar Order is a military order of the Chantry that hunts apostates and maleficars and watches over the mages from the Circle of Magi. One of their most important tasks occurs during a mage's Harrowing. During this, a templar watches over the body of the mage, ready to kill him or her if demonic possession occurs. To help them control mages, templars have the ability to dispel magic and to inhibit spellcasting. A group of templars is led by a Knight-Commander and each Circle and the majority of chantries in Thedas are assigned one.

Templars also have access to the Right of Annulment. The Right of Annulment gives the Templars the right to "pacify" or kill all mages in the tower. This would be used in the event that total chaos was unleashed by the mages and there is no chance that they could be saved. The Warden has the option of using the Right of Annulment in the Broken Circle quest line.

All templars are also addicted to lyrium, which is officially used to help develop their anti-mage skills and unofficially used as a control mechanism by the Chantry. A lack of lyrium causes the templar to lose touch with reality and suffer from delusions.

It is not yet confirmed that lyrium has any real effect at dispelling magic. Alistair isn't sure that lyrium has any true effects either. Some people think that since lyrium is addictive and that templars are addicted to it, the chantry uses its addictiveness to control the templars.

Most people don’t remember the Templar Order as it once was. In the days when the Chantry was still young, templars were known as the “Inquisition” and combed the land in search of all dangers to humanity—whether they came in the form of blood mages, abominations, cultists or heretics. It was a dark and terrifying time in the history of Thedas, and one that only ended when the Chantry convinced the Inquisition to unite under the banner of their common faith. The name of their order changed, and their purpose because that of guardian and warden rather than hunter. As they see it, they protect the innocents of the outside world from magic… but they also protect mages from the outside world, a world that fears them for very good reasons. It is a templar’s place to watch their charges for signs of weakness or corruption, and should they find it to act without hesitation for the good of all. That this occasionally leads to charges of tyranny and abuse is, according to the Chantry, a price that must be paid for the security the templars offer.

Some are saying, however, that this needs to change. They remind the world that mages are not controlled by templars everywhere in Thedas: not among the Rivaini witches, the Dalish keepers or the Tevinter magisters… and those societies are, arguably, no worse off. The Templar Order, however, is nothing if not certain of its role. From the glittering White Spire in Val Royeaux the Knight-Vigilant commands the templars to serve the Maker’s will and keep the peace. By the common folk they are seen as self-sacrificing men and women, vigilant warriors that form the first line of defense between humanity and the chaos that once ruled the land during the old Imperium. To the mages they are often seen as oppressors, even well-meaning ones, and the gap between them is growing larger with each passing year.

“Magic exists to serve mankind, and never to rule over him.”

Templars in Thedas


While mages often resent the templars as symbols of the Chantry's control over magic, the people of Thedas see them as saviors and holy warriors, champions of all that is good armed with piety enough to protect the world from the ravages of foul magic. In reality, the Chantry's militant arm looks first for skilled warriors with unshakable faith in the Maker, with a flawless moral center as a secondary concern. Templars must carry out their duty with an emotional distance, and the Order of Templars would rather have soldiers with religious fervor and absolute loyalty than paragons of virtue who might question orders when it comes time to make difficult choices.

It is this sense of ruthless piety that most frightens mages when they get the templars' attention: when the templars are sent to eliminate a possible blood mage, there is no reasoning with them, and if the templars are prepared the mage's magic is often useless. Driven by their faith, the templars are one of the most feared and respected forces in Thedas.

Unlocking
The templar specialization can be taught by Alistair if his approval rating is high enough. Bodahn Feddic also sells a manual that will unlock the specialization.

Notable Templars

 * Alistair is a former templar-in-training.
 * Cullen
 * Knight-Commander Greagoir
 * Knight-Commander Tavish
 * Knight-Commander Harrith
 * Ser Bryant
 * Ser Henric
 * Ser Otto
 * Irminric
 * Carroll
 * Rylock
 * Hadley

Resources

 * BioWare Templar Wiki