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".[1] 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.[2]
Pre-rendered male Hawke from Destiny trailer
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)
- Sarcastic/Charming: Purple highlight (comedy mask/diamond)
- Aggressive/Direct: Red highlight (fist/hammer)
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 their established personality, but the "stack" of previous personality choices is reduced. This gives the player an opportunity to change Hawke's tone.
Involvement
Dragon Age II
Around the year 9:30 Dragon, the Fifth Blight has just begun and, following their victory at Ostagar, the darkspawn fell upon the village of Lothering. The Hawke family was among the last to escape alive. Hawke's mother Leandra suggests that they flee to Kirkwall, where her younger brother Gamlen holds the Amell estate. On the road they stumble into Aveline and her templar husband, Wesley, also survivors of the massacre. During their escape, they run into further bands of darkspawn. Though the party defeats many of these creatures, victory comes at a cruel price: Aveline's husband contracted the darkspawn taint and one of Hawke's siblings was slain by an Ogre. Surrounded by darkspawn and on the verge of death, Hawke's party was rescued by an attacking High dragon. The dragon turns out to be Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds. Flemeth offers them safe passage to Gwaren in exchange for a favor. Hawke has no choice but to agree.
Hawke's party boards a ship to Kirkwall but finds that the city if filled with an influx of Ferelden immigrants, all fleeing the Blight. The city guard has been turning the refugees away and banning them from the city. Worse, they discover that Gamlen has gambled away the Amell estate and fortune. Gamlen is able to get a contact to bribe Hawke's party into the city, but only if they agree to work off a tremendous debt. Hawke has no choice but to agree to be under the contact's employ.
One year later, Hawke has managed to work off the debt but still lacks the funds needed to properly care for the entire family. Hawke was persuaded by an associate, Varric, to become a business partner in his and Bartrand's Deep Roads Expedition. Though Bartrand betrayed both Hawke and Varric during the expedition, the treasures found within the Deep Roads have brought Hawke both fame and fortune.
Three years later, Hawke's status in Kirkwall has improved substantially. Hawke was asked by the templar Emeric to investigate the mystery of the missing women in Kirkwall. Hawke's mother, Leandra, was abducted by the white-lily serial killer while on her way to visit Gamlen. Following the killer's trail, Hawke finds that Leandra has been murdered and pieced together with parts of other women. Her killer and the instigator of all the serial killings is a blood mage named Quentin. Keeping Leandra alive with his magic, Quentin aspires to recreate the image of his dead wife. Hawke battles Quentin and his demon and abomination forces. After Quentin dies, Leandra also dies. Her last words were telling Hawke how proud she is of her eldest.
Tensions between the Qunari ( who have been stranded in Kirkwall for several years and refuses to leave without their missing relic) and the city's denizens have also been escalating. Things reach a boiling point when Aveline, now captain of the guard, enlists Hawke's aid in trying to arrest some criminal elves who have been granted religious sanctuary in the Qunari Compound. The Arishok takes offense to the attempted arrest of his new converts and counterattacks, marshaling his forces to conquer the city and convert it to the Qun. Hawke is able to rally the templars and mages and fight back the Qunari. They reach the Viscount's Keep where Hawke defeats the Arishok. Having saved the city, Hawke is crowned the new Champion of Kirkwall.
Another three years pass. Knight-Commander Meredith has taken stewardship of the city at the request of the Chantry, but so far has prevented the election of a new viscount. Meredith's stance against the mages has become harsher. After several more mages escape the Circle, Meredith orders more raids, crackdowns, and unwarranted incarcerations. Meanwhile, tales of insurrection from the Mage Underground have been becoming more frequent.
Things reach a boiling point when Anders blows up the Kirkwall Chantry in order to remove the chance of peaceful compromise. Meredith immediately orders the Rite of Annulment and demands that the Champion stand with her and her templars in executing every mage in the city. First Enchanter Orsino pleads with the Champion to defend them against the templars, citing that the Circle had nothing to do with the attack on the Chanty. Hawke will have to choose to support First Enchanter Orsino and the mage cause, or the knight-commander and her templars.
The final battle ends in the Gallows. Desperate to defeat the knight commander's forces, Orsino uses blood magic to become an abomination. Meredith, driven insane and paranoid by her "Primeval" lyrium forged sword, also becomes an enemy of Hawke. Both are eventually defeated by Hawke to restore the peace.
Two possible endings occur depending on who Hawke supports in the final battle:
- Defend the Mages:
The Champion and their allies escape Kirkwall before templar reinforcements arrive. Hawke's name becomes a rallying cry for oppressed mages everywhere.
- Support the Templars:
The Champion sides with the templars and shows determination in exterminating the mage threat. Gaining the respect of the Order, Hawke is appointed the new Viscount of Kirkwall. Hawke's name becomes a reminder of templar oppression for oppressed mages everywhere.
Whatever path the player takes, Varric recalls that Hawke has mysteriously disappeared. Hawke's whereabouts are currently unknown.
Quotes
- Main article: Hawke/Dialogue
- (To Carver during Family History) "I'm sure someone thought far too long about my name."
- (Approaching a varterral in A Murder of Crows) "Didn't I kill this once before? Why is it still here?"
- (To Varric about Dog) "You taught my dog how to gamble?"
- (Diplomatic Hawke) "Let's make Kirkwall a better place for everyone."
- (Sarcastic/charming Hawke) "Hawke this, Hawke that. Why does everything fall to me?"
- (Diplomatic Hawke) "When in doubt, run away and let me handle it."
- (Sarcastic/charming Hawke during On the Loose) "Someday, I'd like to go one week without meeting an insane mage. Just one week."
- (Aggressive Hawke during Finders Keepers) "They say your life flashes in front of your eyes before you die. Any helpful flashes yet?"
- (Sarcastic/charming Hawke) "Oooh, cloak and dagger phrases! How about... the queasy crow... flies at midnight?"
- (Aggressive Hawke in Blackpowder Promise) "Seems to me, the last man standing gets final say on who is right or wrong."
- (Aggressive Hawke in Raiders on the Cliffs) "Anyone who leaves, is a deserter. And we all know what happens to deserters..."
- (Sarcastic/charming Hawke to Isabela during Mark of the Assassin) "You have pretty eyes."
- (Sarcastic/charming Hawke in Mark of the Assassin)) "Next time, could we hunt something small and cuddly? Maybe vegetarian?"
- (Sarcastic/charming Hawke in Mark of the Assassin) "Looks like the Duke... has fallen from grace."
- (Sarcastic/charming Hawke in Legacy) "I'd like to know who this "Corypheus" is. With a name like that, he's bound to go "mwa-ha-ha" at some point. I just know it."
Trivia
- Hawke is the second cousin to the Warden from the Magi Origin through Leandra, whose maiden name is Amell.[3]
- 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, apparently in a romance with Isabela, and 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.
- 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. This would mean that by the end of the game, Hawke is 30-31.
- The name Amell means "power of an eagle". This may be why Hawke's name is that of a bird's.
- During Act 1, an additional plot was supposed to address Hawke being a mage, but it was ultimately cut since the story, which involved going into the Fade, was complicated and didn't work very well.[4]
- Possible pop-culture reference: Hawke's default customizable name is Garrett, same as the hero of the Thief video game series. Other Dragon Age II characters have names very similar to Thief characters, such as Ser Karras, possibly a reference to the main antagonist of Thief 2: The Metal Age, Father Karras.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Press Release
- ↑ Game Informer article
- ↑ Lead Writer David Gaider forum post
- ↑ Thedas UK (January 14th, 2012). "David Gaider Interview". Retrieved January 29, 2012.