Oghren

"Upset? *Scoffs* I don't get upset, I get drunk!"

Oghren is a crude dwarven warrior fond of all things alcoholic. He is a possible companion to the Warden in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

Background
Oghren used to be a promising warrior of House Kondrat in Orzammar. He married a smith caste girl named Branka, who would later become a Paragon. Soon after founding House Branka it absorbed the entire House Kondrat. Branka soon took her household, with the sole exception of her husband, into the Deep Roads in search of the secrets of the legendary smith Caridin. They were not heard from again. Oghren, left behind, became a laughing stock. He started drinking, making his situation worse as he challenged another warrior over an insult and killed him in a first-blood match while drunk. Oghren was stripped of his house name and barred from bearing weapons within the city, a punishment considered worse than exile for a warrior. Oghren has spent the last two years trying to convince the Assembly, or anyone else who will listen to him, to look for Branka in the Deep Roads.

Dragon Age: Origins
After the Warden has spoken to either Bhelen or Harrowmont's representatives and given a task, Oghren appears, arguing with a guard in Orzammar Diamond Quarter. This guard can be questioned about Oghren and Branka after Oghren leaves. He can be found again at Tapster's Tavern in the Orzammar Commons. The Warden can talk to him there, and learn more about Branka. However, he is aware that the Warden is working for one of the candidates for the throne, which makes him think that any concern expressed about Branka is not genuine. If the Warden attempts to talk to Oghren at Tapster's again, no matter how the conversation is structured, Oghren will tell the Warden to "sod off".

Oghren will only become a member of the party when the Warden is sent into the Deep Roads by Bhelen or Harrowmont to find Branka and secure her support for their ascension to the throne. He can leave Orzammar and the Deep Roads at this point, but he will not talk until A Paragon of Her Kind has been completed.

He is eager to reunite with his wife, but when the truth is revealed, he is shocked at what she has done in her quest for the Anvil of the Void, including causing the death of most of her House. Yet, despite this he is willing to offer her a second chance, and he disapproves if the Warden chooses to side with Caridin and destroy the Anvil. After a new king has been chosen, Oghren then throws his lot in with that of the Warden's and leaves Orzammar to help fight the Blight.

Once Oghren's approval is high enough, he can teach the warrior specialization, Berserker.

Dragon Age: Awakening
After the archdemon was defeated, Oghren settled down with his old flame Felsi and had a child. Those who know him say that he was truly happy, at least for a time. But Oghren is a warrior born and bred, and, as he is fond of saying, "you can take a warrior out of the fight, but you can never take the fight out of the warrior". Oghren is now eager to become a Grey Warden. Should he be put through the Joining he will survive to become one. Eventually Felsi will return and ask about what he intends to do with his family. Once his approval is high enough, he will talk to the Warden-Commander about his feelings and he can be persuaded to take a more active role or not.

The Darkspawn Chronicles
In The Darkspawn Chronicles campaign, Oghren—like the other heroes—appears as a boss, and will be encountered in the Denerim Market District. He differs little from his role in Origins and Awakening, using a two handed maul to crush the darkspawn along with a small entourage of drunkards. Killing him results in the continuation of the campaign. You can also loot the Forge Master's Hammer from his corpse, which makes a fine weapon for a Hurlock Thrall trained in the usage of two-handed arms.

Quests
Origins

Awakening

Dragon Age: Origins
Oghren's approval will increase when you give him any alcohol, especially Ale. The one exception is Wine, which is preferred by Wynne.

Dragon Age: Awakening
Oghren continues to enjoy alcoholic gifts in the Awakening expansion.

Initial statistics
Relative attribute weightings on auto-level: strength 1.4, dexterity 0.25

Class: Warrior

Specialization: Berserker

Starting talents:


 * Warrior: Powerful, Threaten, Bravery, Death Blow


 * Berserker: Berserk, Resilience, Constraint


 * Two-Handed: Pommel Strike, Indomitable, Stunning Blows, Sunder Arms, Shattering Blows, Sunder Armor, Mighty Blow, Powerful Swings, Two-Handed Strength, Two-Handed Sweep

Plot skills
As you befriend Oghren and gain his approval, he will gain additional skills:

Dialogue points
Below are the spots where you can initiate dialogue with Oghren in Awakening. On the PC version, it can be hard to find the correct spot to click; make sure to hit "tab" and rotate the camera if it's not letting you click on it. Within Vigil's keep, if dialogue doesn't initiate when clicking on Oghren, try clicking the cask behind him.


 * City of Amaranthine: Billboard by the stairs to the Chantry.
 * City of Amaranthine: The table of the weapon-smith in the market district (when talking to Sigrun).
 * Kal'Hirol - Trade Quarter: The anvil in the prison room.
 * Kal'Hirol: Cliff by the entrance of the Thaig, just if Sigrun not joined the party.
 * The Blackmarsh Undying: boat in the area you wake up in. There is an alternative dialogue if the Warden is imported and Oghren was trapped in the Fade in the Circle of Magi.
 * Vigil's Keep: The cask behind Oghren in the throne room, which can be used to initiate several conversations.

Dragon Age: Origins

 * "If you've ever heard of me before, it's probably all been about how I piss ale and murder little boys who look at me wrong. And that's mostly true..."
 * "Misery, vomit and malt liquor. Ah, reminds me of home."
 * "This is it, Warden. 'When from the blood of battle the Stone has fed, let the heroes prevail and the blighters lie dead.' As one of the blighters, I sodding salute you. Let us show them our hearts, and then show them theirs."
 * (Snorts and laughs) "Asschabs!"
 * "Upset? *Scoffs* I don't get upset, I get drunk!"
 * "By the tits of my ancestors!"
 * "Shave my back and call me an elf!"
 * "That pot-bellied son-of-a-whore Teagan said I can't drink a whole barrel of pickle juice without passing out first. I aim to prove him wrong."
 * "Fart me a lullaby!"
 * "Aye. I've tried twenty-seven different types of ale and learned I'm just the right height to give a human girl a good time. That doesn't make me a good person." (Dialogue at camp)

Dragon Age: Awakening

 * "Hey, look at me - I'm an elf! 'Trees are pretty! Tra-la-la!' "
 * "Aye. I've tried twenty-seven different types of ale and learned I'm just the right height to give a human girl a good time. That doesn't make me a good man."
 * "No one touches Oghren's junk and lives!"
 * "Well paint me green and call me a turnip!"
 * (Upon seeing the Mother) "That's a lot of nipples."

Exploit for infinite approval (Origins)

 * Once Oghren has joined the party, take him with you when you are confronting Dwyn before the The Attack at Nightfall. When you are trying to persuade Dwyn fighting for the village, an option will come up if Oghren is in the party. Choose, "You're a coward", followed by, "Stay in here, then, if you prefer." This will end the conversation and you can start it again. Oghren will gain.

Trivia

 * According to Sheryl Chee, though Oghren was written mostly by Jay Turner, most of the BioWare writers, including herself, Mary Kirby, and David Gaider, have had a hand in writing him.
 * Oghren is one of two companions in Origins with their own unique hairstyle, the other being Morrigan.
 * Although Oghren is barred from bearing arms in the city, nothing happens if you equip him with weapons in Orzammar. He even joins your party with an axe equipped.
 * Oghren's battle cry, "Let's see what your innards look like!", may be a reference to the dwarven companion of a very chaotic nature, Korgan Bloodaxe in the Bioware video game Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn who shouts "Let's see what yer guts be lookin' like!" during combat. Korgan is also a berserker and has an insatiable bloodlust.
 * When selected to defend the Keep in Awakening, his codex entry states he died when the darkspawn attacked. However with a fully upgraded Keep, the epilogue says he survived.
 * Many of Zevran and Oghren's party banter include references to Legolas and Gimli from The Lord of the Rings. Indeed, Oghren's personality does sometimes appear to be similar to Gimli's.
 * Oghren's reply, "No dwarf tossing!", when the Warden gives Shale the order to throw Oghren as far as Shale can, it is a reference to The Lord of the Rings movie by Peter Jackson, when Gimli claims, "No one tosses a dwarf!", which refers to the "sport" of dwarf tossing.
 * The card game Diamondback mentioned in Oghren's conversation with Alistair is a reference to a game of the same name in Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark.
 * Oghren's "Asschabs" was added as a joke between the writers of Dragon Age: Origins. David Gaider would, "[a]t least once or twice a week, [...] come in [their offices] groaning about having "chair butt", which is essentially when your butt goes numb from sitting in your chair for too long". Someone then coined the name "Association of Chair Butt Sufferers"; its abbreviation, ASSCHABS, was then written on their whiteboard. At that time, Jay Turner was writing Oghren, and the word "would be staring at him. So since it sounds like something Oghren would say, he decided to make Oghren say it, to make sure ASSCHABS was never forgotten."
 * In Dragon Age II, a painting of Oghren's concept art can be seen near the bar at the Hanged Man.