The Children are a unique variety of darkspawn birthed by the Mother.
Background[edit | edit source]
The Children are mutated hurlocks born by the Mother, an unusually intelligent broodmother.
Like the Mother, the Children are free of the Call of the Old Gods, but unlike her, they are not any more intelligent than other darkspawn. Other darkspawn, even the mighty ogres, tend to avoid them, since the Children are not particularly picky about their food and will eat other dead or even living darkspawn, if given the chance.[2] The Children are also capable of disrupting blight magic, making even emissaries wary of them.[3]
The Children are born as childer grubs, worm-like darkspawn that hibernate in cocoons after they have been birthed. This is the only vulnerable stage of their development.[2]
As opposed to their worm-like larval state, the childer hatchlings develop spindly feet and small claws, which make them stronger and more agile, even though their transformation is not yet complete.
The final form of the Children is by far stronger and deadlier than all previous forms. Their claws have grown long and sharp, and they sprout additional insect-legs. Their body is encased by a protective carapace, making them much harder to kill than a childer grub or hatchling. They are also frighteningly fast; adult childers are capable of speed unmatched by every other type of darkspawn.

They only exist to serve and protect the Mother, and have no goals of their own beyond to destroy and feast on anything that comes near them.[4] When childer grubs feel another living being nearby, either by sensing their movements or their body heat, they emerge from their cocoons to attack and devour their unfortunate prey.[4]
If a childer grub or a childer hatchling devours the flesh of a tainted creature, such as another darkspawn, it will transform into their next form.[4]
Types[edit | edit source]
Children are classified by the forms they take as they mature:
- Childer grub
- Childer hatchling
- Adult childer
Abilities[edit | edit source]
All variations have:
Poison Spit - DoT is 4 seconds.
Devour - Children gains health by eating its victim.
Metamorphosis - Grub and hatchling grow into advanced form while in combat phase.
Childer hatchling and adult childer gain:
Frenzy - "Pincer Flurry"
Adult childer gains:
Trivia[edit | edit source]
Newborn darkspawn of all kinds look more or less like the Children.[5]
Gallery[edit | edit source]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Official BioWare page
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Codex entry: The Children
- ↑ According to dialogue with the Architect in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, as he is unable to get close to the Mother because of the Children.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Dragon Age (tabletop RPG), Core Rulebook, p. 292
- ↑
David Gaider (2011). "What do darkspawn eat?" . The BioWare Forum. Retrieved on January 19, 2011.
- ↑ Game Banshee
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