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, and regrets to determine Hawke's rise to power.



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

Personality
Based on what dialogue options the player chooses, Hawke exhibits one of three personalities.


 * Diplomatic / Helpful: Light green / Light blue highlight (Olive Branch / Angel Wings and Halo)
 * Humorous / Charming: Purple highlight (Comedy Mask / Diamond)
 * Aggressive / Direct / Attack: Red highlight (Fist / Hammer / Twin Swords)

The first dialogue choice the player chooses sets Hawke's personality. As the player keeps choosing similar dialog options, the number of times that attitude is chosen will "stack". If the player decides to change Hawke's personality in the later stages, it will take more than twice the amount of dialog lines to activate that version of Hawke's voice. The idea behind this system is to ensure a consistency in Hawke's delivery throughout each Act. After a certain number of specific dialogue choices, Hawke's personality is effectively crystallized. It is possible to check Hawke's personality by switching to a companion and talking to them. If Hawke says something funny, for example, they are Humorous/Charming.

At the start of each Act, Hawke retains his or her established personality, but the "stack" of previous personality choices is reduced. This gives the player an opportunity to change Hawke's tone. For more information on the Dialogue wheel, see Dialogue wheel.

Quotes

 * "I'm sure someone thought far too long about my name." (to Carver | Family History)
 * "Didn't I kill this once before? Why is it still here?" (approaching Varterral | A Murder of Crows)
 * "You taught my dog how to gamble?" (to Varric about Dog)
 * "Let's make Kirkwall a better place for everyone." (Diplomatic Hawke)
 * "Hawke this, Hawke that. Why does everything fall to me?" (Sarcastic/Charming Hawke)
 * "When in doubt, run away and let me handle it." (Diplomatic Hawke)
 * "Someday, I'd like to go one week without meeting an insane mage. Just one week." (Sarcastic/Charming Hawke | On the Loose)
 * "They say your life flashes in front of your eyes before you die. Any helpful flashes yet?" (Aggressive Hawke | Finders Keepers)
 * "Oooh, cloak and dagger phrases! How about... the queasy crow... flies at midnight?" (Sarcastic/Charming Hawke)
 * "Seems to me, the last man standing gets final say on who is right or wrong." (Aggressive Hawke | Blackpowder Promise)
 * "Next time, could we hunt something small and cuddly? Maybe vegetarian?" (Sarcastic/Charming Hawke | Mark of the Assassin)
 * "So I just fell off the Fereldan turnip cart, is that it?" (Sarcastic/Charming Hawke | Mark of the Assassin)
 * "I have an excellent sense of dramatic timing. And good hair." (Sarcastic/Charming Hawke Mark of the Assassin)

Note

 * With The Black Emporium DLC, Hawke can get Dog, the Hawke family Mabari war hound, which can be summoned as a small fifth party member akin to a DAO Ranger summoning animals. It is not related at any point with Dog, the Mabari of The Warden.

Trivia

 * Hawke is the second cousin to the human Warden from the Magi Origin through Leandra, whose maiden name is Amell.
 * If played as a warrior or rogue, Hawke is revealed to have been part of the King's army at Ostagar, before their flight from Lothering.
 * The default male Hawke seen in the Destiny trailer is a blood mage. He uses the Staff of Parthalan.
 * If the players purchase and play Dragon Age II logged on, they will receive Dragon Age Legends Bioware Signature Pack which unlocks Hawke as a companion.
 * In Dragon Age Legends he wears the Mantle of the Champion (mage) and fights with the Staff of Parthalan despite some scenes showing him fight with a two-handed sword.
 * His war cry in Dragon Age Legends 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.
 * There was a character of the same name in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, but without the 'e' at the end.
 * The name Amell means "power of an eagle". This may be why Hawke's name is that of a bird's.