Dragon Age

Dragon Age is a fantasy role-playing franchise developed by BioWare. The series focuses on the continent of Thedas, tells stories spanning multiple nations and various time periods. The series is named for the time it primarily takes place in; the Age of the dragon.

Overview

Dragon Age was first announced during the 2004 E3 expo. It currently has 38 installments, four of which are video games (as well as one expansion), five books, twelve comics, one film, four mobile, browser or flash games, six novels, one short story collection, a tabletop role-playing game, three web series, and a podcast. The most recent addition to the series is Dragon Age: The Missing, whose last issue was released on March 29, 2023. The latest video game is Dragon Age: Inquisition, which was released on November 18, 2014.

Cast and crew credits for individual installments are documented here.

Dragon Age installments

Video games

The first game of the Dragon Age series, Dragon Age: Origins, was released on November 3, 2009. The expansion pack, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, was released on March 16, 2010.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.

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The game focuses on the Fifth Blight, a cataclysmic event where twisted creatures called darkspawn rise up and leave only death and corruption in their wake. The player character is a Grey Warden, a member of an ancient order who historically are the only ones who have stemmed the tide of evil. As well as defeating the Archdemon who leads the darkspawn horde, the Warden must unite the shattered kingdom of Ferelden, which is in the grip of a civil war.

The second game of the series, Dragon Age II, was released on March 8, 2011.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age II.

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The game spans ten years, and focuses on the adventures of Hawke, a Fereldan refugee who flees the Fifth Blight. They become a citizen of Kirkwall, and must reclaim their noble wealth and heritage by hiring on to a lucrative expedition. They are later tossed into a maelstrom of chaos and destruction, forced to intervene in a battle with the Qunari, and must then desperately attempt to ease the growing unrest between the templars and mages of the Free Marches city-state.

The third game of the series, Dragon Age: Inquisition, was released on November 18, 2014.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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The game focuses on the Inquisition, an organization re-created with the purpose of restoring order to Thedas following the explosion at the Divine Conclave and the creation of the Breach. The player character is the sole survivor of the explosion, and the only one capable of closing the rifts that are opening over the world. As the Inquisitor, they must close the Breach and find those responsible while dealing with the chaos of the Mage-Templar War and Orlesian Civil War.

The fourth game of the series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, is under development and was revealed during The Game Awards 2018 on December 6, 2018. It is set to release during fall 2024.

Books

The first volume of the guide book, Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 1, was released on April 30, 2013 and revolves around Dragon Age lore. The first volume of Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1 was released on June 4, 2014 and is the hardcover edition of Dragon Age: The Silent Grove, Dragon Age: Those Who Speak and Dragon Age: Until We Sleep. Furthermore, the art book named The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition was released on November 18, 2014 and the lore book Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2 on May 12, 2015. An anthology of short stories, Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was published on March 10, 2020. The art book The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard was announced on July 24, 2024.

Comics

There are twelve comic series. The first one, Penny Arcade webcomic created by Penny Arcade and released on September 4, 2009 follows a group of templars trying to find Flemeth. The second comic to be released was Dragon Age by IDW, published on March 1, 2010, following the origin of a templar named Duty. The next comic was also created by Penny Arcade, Penny Arcade Awakening comic; it takes place directly before the start of the expansion to Dragon Age: Origins, and follows Nathaniel Howe as he sneaks into Vigil's Keep.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Silent Grove.

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The next three are part of one series written by David Gaider and published by Dark Horse Comics. King Alistair investigates his father's disappearance with the help of Isabela and Varric. The search continues through Dragon Age: The Silent Grove, Dragon Age: Those Who Speak, and Dragon Age: Until We Sleep. The first issues of these comics were released February 22, 2012, August 22, 2012, and March 27, 2013, respectively.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Magekiller.

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The seventh comic series, Dragon Age: Magekiller, is a comic from publisher Dark Horse by writer Greg Rucka. It tells the story, in several arcs, of the mage-killer Marius and his handler, Tessa Forsythia. The story takes place before and during the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition. The five issues were released once a month starting on December 16, 2015 and ending on April 20, 2016.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Knight Errant.

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The eighth comic series, Dragon Age: Knight Errant, is a comic from publisher Dark Horse by writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. It tells the story of the elven thief Vaea, who arrives in Kirkwall just in time for the appointment of Varric Tethras as Viscount. The five issues were released once a month starting on May 10, 2017 and ending on September 13, 2017.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Deception.

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The ninth comic series, Dragon Age: Deception, is a comic from publisher Dark Horse by writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. It tells the story of Olivia Pryde, a failed actress turned con artist who targets the heir of a powerful Tevinter house, Calix Qinatara. The three issues were released once a month starting on October 17, 2018 and ending on December 12, 2018.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith.

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The tenth comic series, Dragon Age: Blue Wraith, is a comic from publisher Dark Horse by writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. It tells the story of a powerful young mage's desperate search for her father as it brings her face-to-face with a notorious mage hunter - Fenris, the Blue Wraith. The three issues were released once a month starting on January 15, 2020 and ending on March 18, 2020.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Dark Fortress.

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The eleventh comic series, Dragon Age: Dark Fortress, is a comic from publisher Dark Horse by writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. It tells the story of Fenris and several Inquisition agents as they attempt to break into an unbreakable fortress. The three issues were released once a month starting on March 31, 2021 and ending on May 26, 2021.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Missing.

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The twelfth comic series, Dragon Age: The Missing, is a comic from publisher Dark Horse by writer George Mann. It tells the story of Varric Tethras and Lace Harding as they pursue Solas in northern Thedas. The first three issues were released once a month starting on January 25, 2023, but the fourth and final issue ended on May 10, 2023.

Films

BioWare has joined with FUNimation Entertainment to develop an anime film set in the Dragon Age universe, called Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker. It was expected to be released for home video in 2011, but was delayed to 2012. It was finally released straight to DVD on 11 February 2012 in Japan, 29 May 2012 in the US, and 1 October the same year in Europe. The anime focuses on Cassandra Pentaghast, and her early career as a member of the Seekers of Truth of the Chantry.

Flash, browser and mobile games

There are two flash games which are respectively tied to the two video games. Dragon Age Journeys was released in 3 November 2009 and was tied to Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age Legends was released in 18 March 2011 and was tied to Dragon Age II.

The mobile game, Heroes of Dragon Age, was released on December 5, 2013.

The browser game, Dragon Age: The Last Court, was released on November 7, 2014 and serves as a prelude to the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Novels

There are five published novels: Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, Dragon Age: The Calling, Dragon Age: Asunder, Dragon Age: The Masked Empire and Dragon Age: Last Flight. The first three novels were written by David Gaider, lead writer for the Dragon Age series at the time, while the fourth one was written by Patrick Weekes, writer for Dragon Age: Inquisition and current lead writer of the series, and the fifth one by Liane Merciel. There is also an anthology of short stories: Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne.

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The Stolen Throne focuses on the last years of the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden and the rebellion that Maric Theirin led after the death of his mother, chronicling his rise to the throne. It was published on March 3, 2009 and is a prequel to the events of Dragon Age: Origins.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Calling.

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The Calling focuses on the mission of a group of Orlesian Grey Wardens who venture along with King Maric underground in search of Bregan. It was published on October 13, 2009 and is a prequel to the events of Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Asunder.

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Asunder centers around the prelude of the Mage-Templar War with the separation of the mages and the templars from the Chantry, and was released on 20th December 2011 and is a prequel to the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire.

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The Masked Empire focuses on the beginnings of the Orlesian Civil War and was released on April 8, 2014. It is a prequel to the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Last Flight.

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Last Flight deals with the events of the Fourth Blight in the Exalted Age and the Grey Wardens of Weisshaupt during the Mage-Templar War of the Dragon Age. It was released on September 16, 2014.

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This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights.

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Tevinter Nights is a collection of fifteen short stories set throughout Thedas, and was released on March 10, 2020.

Tabletop RPG

Green Ronin have released a pen and paper RPG set in the world of Dragon Age, originally in three boxed sets, covering character levels 1-5, 6-10, and 11-20, respectively. In 2015, they have revised and re-released all previous published rules in the Dragon Age Core Rulebook. They have also published several adventure modules to be run with their game system, none of which is intended to be canon in the Dragon Age universe of the video games.

Web series

Three web series have been released to date. The first, Dragon Age: Warden's Fall follows Kristoff as he investigates the darkspawn threat in Amaranthine before the arrival of the Warden-Commander. It was released on a weekly basis for five weeks starting on May 22, 2010; and Redemption for six weeks starting on October 11, 2011. It is a prequel to Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

The second one, Dragon Age: Redemption, is a live-action series that focuses on Tallis on a mission to capture a Saarebas. It is a prequel for the Mark of the Assassin DLC for Dragon Age II.

The third one, Dragon Age: Absolution, is a six-episode animated series that focuses on a group of mercenaries hired to retrieve a powerful magical artifact from the city of Nessum in the Tevinter Imperium. All episodes were released on December 9, 2022.

Chronological order

• Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne
• Dragon Age: The Calling
• Dragon Age by IDW
• Dragon Age Journeys
• Dragon Age by Penny Arcade
• Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age: The Warden's Fall
• Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening by Penny Arcade
• Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
• Dragon Age: Redemption
• Dragon Age II
• Dragon Age: Legends
• Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1
  • Dragon Age: The Silent Grove
  • Dragon Age: Those Who Speak
  • Dragon Age: Until We Sleep
• Dragon Age: The Masked Empire
• Dragon Age: Asunder
• Dragon Age: Last Flight
• Dragon Age: Magekiller
• Dragon Age: The Last Court
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Dragon Age: Knight Errant
• Dragon Age: Deception
• Dragon Age: Blue Wraith
• Dragon Age: Dark Fortress
• Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights
• Dragon Age: Absolution
• Dragon Age: The Missing
• Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Installments without a set time period

• Heroes of Dragon Age
• Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 1
• Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2
• Dragon Age TTRPG by Green Ronin
• The Art of Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Dragon Age Adult Coloring Book
• Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas
• The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Major characters

While Dragon Age aims to focus on the world, and the conflicts within it, some characters inevitably become prominent figures of the series.

• The Warden: Protagonist of Dragon Age: Origins and member of the Grey Wardens, an elite order of warriors devoted to eradicating the monstrous darkspawn.
• Hawke: Protagonist of Dragon Age II, a Fereldan refugee who rises to power in the city-state of Kirkwall and is involved in events that will change the world forever.
• The Inquisitor: Protagonist of Dragon Age: Inquisition, leader of the restored Inquisition dedicated to ending the chaos caused by Veil tears across Thedas.
• Rook: Protagonist of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, leader of the Veilguard.
• Flemeth: The fabled Witch of the Wilds remains an enigma, and her existence is still widely disbelieved, though she has saved the lives of many world-changing figures during the Dragon Age.
• Morrigan: A powerful and mysterious apostate and daughter of Flemeth, Morrigan aids The Warden at the behest of her mother.
• Alistair: Grey Warden and companion to the Warden, Alistair is also the bastard son of King Maric of Ferelden.
• Leliana: A former bard turned Chantry sister, this deadly temptress accompanies the Warden, and rises to become the left hand of Divine Justinia V, carrying out her actions throughout Thedas.
• Varric Tethras: A dwarf businessman and storyteller originating from Kirkwall, a close associate of Hawke and the Inquisitor.
• Solas: An elven apostate and associate to The Inquisitor.

Canon and continuity

The epilogues in the Dragon Age game series are not meant to be canonical: they should be treated as rumors or hearsay. Companions such as Oghren or Anders may die depending on the player's character choices, but they become major characters in another campaign, the latter is always a Grey Warden who defects before the events of Dragon Age II.

Any story written outside of the game series establishes its own canon, regardless of the game events such as Dragon Age: Asunder in which Leliana, Wynne and Shale are alive, or in the Dragon Age: The Silent Grove comic where Alistair is the King of Ferelden. David Gaider explains:

The nature of a novel means it must establish its own canon, and the novel's canon has no relation to the game's canon (such as it is). If you wish, think of the novel as an alternate universe where things took a specific path with regards to Wynne or other events. How those events would have played out in the world of your personal game might have been very different. I am not, however, telling that particular story.

Gaider also stated that "nothing happening in the novel [...] will directly tie into a future game. They are tangentially related at best." Despite his statement, some of the tie-in materials did still end up affecting future games. This could be seen with the character of Cole who was originally created for Gaider's novel Dragon Age: Asunder and was later incorporated as a character in Dragon Age: Inquisition.