Anders

"It is the Maker who creates mages. The Chantry was built by men, and it can be brought down by them."

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. Anders is a very kind person, who loves to use his magic to help people. In both games he starts out with healing magic. He is also a companion and potential love interest to either a female or male Hawke in Dragon Age II.

Background
As an adolescent he was taken to the Circle Tower by the templars, which he despised as he compared it to a prison. Anders is not his real name (which is unknown), but rather a nickname referring to the fact that his family is from the Anderfels. 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 campaigns vigourously for the freedom of mages; from his point-of-view, the Chantry twists Andraste's words of "magic is to serve man, never to rule over him", to mean that mages must be prisoners.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
{{SpoilerDAOA| 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
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 * 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. This possibly references the companion Isabela in Dragon Age II.

Friendship
Friendship with Anders can generally be earned by siding with the mages or by being agreeable to him in conversation, or by directly confronting demons and blood mages. Below are some specific ways to earn Anders' friendship.

Rivalry
Rivalry with Anders can generally be earned by siding with the templars or the Circle or by refusing to champion the oppressed or enslaved. Below are some specific ways to earn Anders' rivalry.

Dragon Age II
Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Dragon Age II

 * The Tevinter Chantry Amulet can be found during the quest A Bitter Pill

Initial statistics (Awakening)
Class: Mage

Specialization: Spirit Healer

Dragon Age II
In Dragon Age II, you cannot change what armor your companions wear, but you can upgrade it. Anders' armor may be upgraded by using the gift mechanics in Dragon Age II. You will find companion armor upgrades that can be purchased at shops in the tab designated by the Gem Icon. Anders' armor has four slots available for upgrades. These upgrades may be purchased or found at various locations in the game. Upgrading a companion's armor once unlocks the "A Friend In Need" achievement and fully upgrading a companion's armor unlocks the "I Got Your Back" achievement.

Anders' armor upgrades can be found at the following locations:
 * Act 2: Armor Struts. Lowtown Lirene's Fereldan Imports Shop: (+30 armor) Next to the apparel shop.
 * Act 2: Lyrium Weave. Gallows Mages Goods Shop (+77 attack)
 * Act 2: Spirit Essence. Found during the Dissent quest (10% Magic Resistance). After killing Ser Alrik, search the nearby dead end chambers just west of the exit before leaving the area.
 * Act 3: Sigil of the Mage Underground. Found during the Best Served Cold quest

After completing his companion quest Justice during Act 3, he will change into a black version of his Renegade's coat. Entering into a romance with him ultimately has no factor in this.

Plot skills (Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening)
As you befriend Anders and gain his approval, he will gain additional skills:

Dialogue points (Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening)
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. Just agree with the apostate point of view and you will get some approval.
 * 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. As female warden choosing 3,1,4,1 will result in, but no romance.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening

 * "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools."
 * (Meeting Oghren) "Wow... 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!"
 * "After my seventh escape attempt, you think they'd have given me credit for trying."
 * "Magic isn't for your amusement! Why don't I just do a little dance? Anders' Spicy Shimmy?"
 * (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!"
 * (At ruined house in Blackmarsh after leaving the Fade) "It's a picturesque little place, apart from being ruined and haunted."

Dragon Age II

 * "I have made this place a sanctum of healing and salvation! Why do you threaten it?" (To Hawke and party upon first meeting)
 * "Since when is Justice happy? Justice is righteous. Justice is hard."
 * "No mage I know has ever dared to fall in love. This is the rule I will most cherish breaking."
 * "There can be no peace."
 * "Ten years, a hundred years from now, someone like me will love someone like you, and there will be no templars to tear them apart."
 * "Justice doesn't let me get drunk anymore... I kind of miss it." (While nearing the Hanged Man)
 * "A wizard did it." (to Bartrand, after he enquires about the Deep Roads maps)
 * "I'll show you why mages are feared!" (shouted in battle)
 * "Never taunt a mage!" (shouted in battle)
 * "Destructive forces of nature, coming up!" (shouted in battle)
 * "I'm losing my focus!" (when mana is low)
 * "Someone hand me a poultice, quick!" (when health is low)
 * "I'm a mage, not a miracle worker." (when asked to pick locks w/o any rogue in party, or rogue has insufficient Cunning)
 * "What, do you think I'm magic?" (when asked to pick locks w/o any rogue in party, or rogue has insufficient Cunning)
 * (To Hawke's dog)"Be a real pet! Ignore me until you want something then sit on my head."
 * "In my experience, all Dalish women are crazy." (Upon arriving at the Dalish camp, perhaps referring to Velanna or a Dalish Warden from Origins.)
 * "Andraste's flaming knickers!"
 * "You are the one bright light in Kirkwall." (To Hawke after accepting Dissent)

Dialogue

 * Anders: When I see templars now, things that have always outraged me, but I could never do anything about... He comes out. And he is no longer my friend Justice. He is a force of vengeance. And he has no grasp of mercy.
 * Hawke: So that explains your whole sexy tortured look.
 * Anders: Perhaps I should check a looking glass more often.


 * Hawke: So I shouldn't slit my wrists and dance naked under the moonlight just to fit in?
 * Anders: I would pay to see that!


 * Hawke: Anders may have talents, but playing the lute isn't one of them. (If both Anders and Orana reside in the Hawke Estate)

Trivia

 * Greg Ellis also voices Cullen, a templar.
 * 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", but this is purely by chance since both words come a completely different origin.
 * 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.)
 * 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.
 * David Gaider was the original writer for Anders in Awakening, but Jennifer Hepler took over the role for Dragon Age II.
 * Anders's situation in Dragon Age II bears resemblance to the character, Wild Flower, from Jade Empire, another BioWare title. (Since both characters are hosts to two separate 'good and evil' spirits of which they are bound to.)
 * Jennifer Hepler describes the choice of keeping Anders alive as "poetic justice", as he would have to face and suffer the knowledge of the lives he took. She also states her belief that he wishes death so the people that he inevitably kills receives proper justice as well
 * Jennifer Hepler, who wrote Anders in Dragon Age II, also penned a short story to accompany the game, which focuses around the mage's possession by Justice.
 * Although there is a possibility for Anders to join Hawke and the other companions when siding with the templars, Anders will refuse to do so.If a debug cheat is used and anders is brought back in the party his final speech will change and like the other romanceble companions he will kiss hawke before the final battle.
 * If Sparing Anders for his crime, Sebastian will take the throne of Starkhaven and vow to find him one day and kill him, Anders fate yet remains unknown.

Preview

 * Dragon Age 2: Anders