Anders

"All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools."

Anders is a mage who has escaped from the Circle of Magi and is a potential companion in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. Despite his distinct dislike for the Circle, he has a rather laid-back and care-free attitude and doesn't let dire circumstances get him down.

Background
As an adolescent he was taken to the Circle Tower by the templars, which he despised as he compared it to a prison. He's a very talented mage and has escaped from the tower seven times, only to be captured and brought back by the templars. Despite accusations that he is a maleficar, he is only an apostate and wants nothing more than to be free.

Involvement
{{SpoilerDAOA|

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Anders is found during the opening quest to regain Vigil's Keep. He has killed many darkspawn and is surrounded by dead templars. He claims to have not killed the templars although there is no proof either way. The Warden-Commander can then ask him to join the group and he will do so. Alternatively, the Warden can let him escape at that point and still have a chance to recruit him later on the rooftop of Vigil's Keep. He will be found spying on the Withered and Seneschal Varel, at which point he'll warn the Warden about the danger that lies ahead and confess that he came back because he wanted to help defend people against the darkspawn.

After the opening quest is completed, Rylock, a templar, will warrant Anders' arrest. The Warden-Commander can either conscript him, therefore making him undergo the Joining Ritual, or allow his arrest with or without leniency. If conscripted, he will survive the ritual and become a Grey Warden. During his companion quest, another choice will have to be made to either side with him, or let the templars take him into custody.

Epilogue

 * If left to defend the Keep, Anders will be hailed a hero by the few survivors of Vigil's Keep by using his magic to hold off hundreds of darkspawn. He gets invited by the men to engage in a drinking contest. He loses.
 * Anders will remain with the Grey Wardens to train the Order's next generation of mages. When he is called by the Circle of Magi to deliver a lecture on the nature of the Architect - much to the templars' dismay -, he tells the Commander of the Grey that his time with the Order is over. However, not two months later, he returns and the Wardens remain his home and lasting companions.
 * If Anders' companion quest is not complete, he will be captured again when he resigns from the Wardens. With his phylactery secure, he is unable to evade the templars. After two subsequent escape attempts, he vanishes for a third and final time.
 * If left to defend the Keep without enough upgrades to it, he is found dead with an arrow through his neck with hundreds of darkspawn dead in a circle around him; none were touched with a blade, but all were felled by magic.
 * No longer a part of the Wardens, the Chantry brands him an apostate, but never captures him. He is last seen on a pirate ship with a familiar woman.}}

{{SpoilerDA2|

Dragon Age II
Anders may have changed dialogue based on his ending in Awakening, but suffice to say is that he left the Wardens after the events of Awakening to live in Kirkwall, where he uses his healing abilities to aid refugees in the city. Anders is one of the first party members you can recruit. }}

Quests
(Awakening)

Initial statistics (Awakening and Dragon Age II)
Class: Mage

Specialization: Spirit Healer

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

Dialogue points
Below are the spots where you can initiate dialogue with Anders. On the PC, 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.
 * Vigil's Keep: The statue of Andraste in the middle of the courtyard
 * Kal'Hirol - Trade Quarter: A basket of lyrium at the far end of the forge area (where the repair anvil is)
 * City of Amaranthine: A pine tree on the left side of the path just before the first gate

Quotes

 * (Upon first meeting Anders) "Uh.. I didn't do it."
 * "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools."
 * "It's a pleasant stroll through the park--with darkspawn!"
 * (Meeting Oghren) "A dwarf that smells like a brewery. You never see that anywhere."
 * "Maker's breath, kitty. What have you been eating?"
 * (After seeing a pit filled with dead bodies in Wending Woods) "This place is a death trap! If I have to go into the bushes to answer nature's call, you're coming with me!"
 * (Upon entering the Blackmarsh) "I'm scared. Hold me?"
 * "This "fun" you're talking about looks a bit more like "stupid" from over here."
 * "After my seventh escape attempt, you think they'd have given me credit for trying."
 * "Oh, I know, I know. Most people enjoy being kicked in the head to be woken up each morning. Me, I'm just so picky."
 * "Magic isn't for your amusement! Why don't I just do a little dance? Anders' Spicy Shimmy?"
 * (Seeing a Disciple for the first time at Vigil's Keep) "It is talking!"
 * (Informing Velanna of the Joining's consequences) "At the very least, it's hard to get the taste out of your mouth for a few hours."
 * (Upon being removed from party) "Andraste's knicker-weasels!"
 * (Referring to a dead Templar) "Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down."
 * (Upon being selected with mid approval) "Just because you're the Commander doesn't mean you get to... command... never mind."
 * "It's a picturesque little place, apart from being ruined and haunted". (at ruined house in Blackmarsh after leaving the fade)
 * "No rest for the wicked, hmm?"

Trivia

 * Greg Ellis also voices Cullen, a templar.
 * Anders seems to have the same hairstyle and earring as Duncan.
 * He bears a striking resemblance to Alistair, both in appearance and personality wise. (However, Bioware's David Gaider has confirmed there is no relation.)
 * Though he uses a fire spell when you first meet him, he does not have the spell when he joins your party.
 * If Anders specializes in Blood Magic, the player can have another additional line of dialogue with Anders when speaking about Anders' past with the templars. When Anders remarks there really isn't much of a reason to arrest him, the Warden can point out that Anders is an actual blood mage now, to which Anders will laugh.
 * Anders is a common name in Scandinavia, equivalent to the English name Andrew, and derived from the Ancient Greek word andros, meaning "human" or "man". In modern Dutch and modern German anders means "different".
 * The name Anders is mentioned in Mass Effect 2, another game by Bioware, as an officer on the Hugo Gernsback.
 * Anders is mentioned by Finn in the Witch Hunt DLC, in a regular conversation.
 * In the library in the Circle of Magi during the Witch Hunt DLC one can find some old notes left in a book in which a young mage made sketches in the margins of Templars being eaten by a tiger named "Ser Pounce-a-lot". (Since that mage is Anders, he subsequently names the kitten given to him in Awakening Ser Pounce-a-lot.)
 * In the Witch Hunt DLC, the mage Finn reveals through dialogue that Anders once escaped the Circle of Magi by swimming across Lake Calenhad during a weekly training exercise for the apprentices. He was caught again one week later.