Talk:Cullen Rutherford

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From Game Files

Directly from the game files: da3/designcontent/characters/global/specialist/cullen "After serving as a templar for over ten years, Cullen is now Commander of the Inquisition's forces. He believes in the Inquisition's cause and is proving to be a strong leader. Cullen is trying to move on from the events of his past. Since DA2, he has taken a step back from his more extreme views. He still distrusts magic, but is less prejudice towards mages as people. Wishing to break from his old life, Cullen has stopped taking lyrium."

Epilogue

This article implies Cullen will always get a mention in the epilogue if the Warden is a mage and sides with the mages in the Broken Circle. I'm not sure about this, but I think Cullen only goes postal at the end if the Circle of Magi is freed from the control of the templars. If the monarch doesn't grant this freedom, I don't think Cullen gets a mention in the epilogue. Can anyone confirm or refute this? --Zoev 08:48, December 19, 2009 (UTC)

Regardless of boon you want or the decision Queen Anora/King Alistair make if you die and were a Mage the Cirlce of Magi are always granted freedom from the Templars - I ran multiple playthroughs of the ending (The Archdemon actually seems to get harder the more you replay it...) to make sure, if I'm wrong then the PS3 has some major differences I suppose. Zf6hellion 19:52, December 19, 2009 (UTC)

Unless there's some randomness built in, I think there must be a difference, as I'm almost certain that, if you live and don't ask for it as a boon, the Circle aren't granted freedom in the PC version. I've got the impression that this makes a difference to the epilogues for both Cullen (who only makes an appearance if the mages are freed - as long as you sided with the mages) and Dagna who only makes an appearance if the mages aren't freed. Could just be imagining things, though, so I won't update the article. --Zoev 21:21, December 19, 2009 (UTC)

These things match my experiences on the PS3; if my mage sides with the mages, lives, and doesn't ask that the Circle be given its freedom, it isn't freed. If it isn't freed, Cullen isn't mentioned while Dagna is. Alfaerin 02:52, January 25, 2010 (UTC)

Someone I know who played the Mage Origin sided with the mages, but purposefully let them all die during the Uldred encounter. Then he played different options, one had him not grant the autonomy to the Tower and Cullen became Knight Commander after Greagoir with strict rule etc. The second he did grant autonomy and Cullen went insane etc. Third he did the ultimate sacrifice and Queen Anora granted the tower autonomy and Cullen went insane as well. The choice of siding with the mages and letting all the mages die is the consistent factor here. So apparently, the Mage Warden does not need to side with Cullen (Templars) in order for him to become commander etc., as long as you don't grant the tower autonomy. Celsis (talk) 01:58, September 30, 2010 (UTC)

Female Mage during second meeting

When playing a female mage, the second time you see him in the force field thing, he says how he is being tormented by the one thing he always wanted but could never have. Should be mentioned. Id do it, but I am unsure of how to word it.--Miumaru (talk) 07:27, June 29, 2010 (UTC)

Mage-Warden (Female) Dialogue

I've made an entry in my blog (Link below), I think it pretty much covers the whole Broken Circle dialogue between a Female Mage Warden and Cullen (Before the fight with Uldred)

[1]

Drakeling (talk) 14:16, October 14, 2010 (UTC)

Glitch or Not?

In my epilogue Cullen went cuckoo, killed three mages, and later escaped from prison. I imported this account to DAII, but Cullen's codex entry says that Gregoir sent him to work with Meredith, I think it was because he kept saying the mages were all evil, I can't quite remember. Is this a glitch or what? Is it that whole 'codex entry is based on what the PC knows' thing? Or did Gregoir help Cullen escape (though I find this highly unlikely). Mikazuki (talk) 23:28, August 5, 2011 (UTC)

Epilogues are hearsay and rumors: not a glitch. --D. (talk · contr) 00:17, August 6, 2011 (UTC)

I heard the opposite. That the codex are in the PC's POV, thus, not always accurate. Though I'll take your word for it.Mikazuki (talk) 20:02, August 6, 2011 (UTC)

In the Darkspawn Chronicles after i killed Cullen i looked up his Codex and it said something like his Templar comrades whispered behind his back that he was mentally unstable but when i talked to him he seem's just fine is he really unstable.

To put it short: in DAO - most likely yes, in DA2 - most likely no. The extent is highly debatable ;) Asherinka (talk) 00:40, February 27, 2012 (UTC)

Gallery section

I find the gallery cluttered with almost-similar images which do not improve the article at all. Subsequently, I'd like to remove some of them. Bofore I do so, however, I'd like to hear some other opinions too. 13:44, March 29, 2013 (UTC)

Yeah i would have to agree. With the current version the article as a whole probably warrant a bit of a clean up.-HD3 (talk) 13:50, March 29, 2013 (UTC)

Agreed. Some of them, if not most of them simply duplicate each other. -Algol- (talk) 13:53, March 29, 2013 (UTC)

Agree. It would be nice to include only the more "iconic" moments in the gallery (e.g. Cullen bowing, Cullen at DA:O Harrowing, maybe only one of Cullen challenging Meredith at the end). Also, the text cleanup edit from Mar 28 11:00 that was just rolled back with the most recent "undo" was actually a great improvement in a lot of places, IMO. In the current version, there's a lot of speculation on Cullen's state of mind that I don't think we really know (e.g. being timid, fearful, hating, etc.). I'd like to see many of those simplifying edits included again. --R2sMuse (talk) 14:56, March 29, 2013 (UTC)

Since I have been the one who added most of these pictures and made the current selection in cooperation with Loleil I have now deleted half of the pictures from the entry's gallery and left only those that seem more distinct. --Kendira (talk) 17:57, March 31, 2013 (UTC)

The anon's edit a few days ago except the changes in the gallery, it had several other improvements which I have restored them back. However the Gallery section is not touched as Kendira's latest tweaks on it are in accordance with the opinions that everyone expressed in here. 18:56, March 31, 2013 (UTC)

Great compromise. Thank you both for doing that.--R2sMuse (talk) 19:21, March 31, 2013 (UTC)

I'd like to suggest we remove the picture in the gallery of cullen and meredith. We already have an extremely similar picture in the DA2 section of the article and the gallery is not covered by a spoiler tag yet includes a major character plot twist.-HD3 (talk) 13:37, April 1, 2013 (UTC)

Good point, particularly given the caption. Agree. --R2sMuse (talk) 14:34, April 1, 2013 (UTC)

Done. 15:59, April 1, 2013 (UTC)

Is Cullen a companion

Is Cullen a companion for inquisition

Hasn't been confirmed or denied yet. --Kelcat (talk) 23:42, April 13, 2014 (UTC)

It has been confirmed by BioWare at PAX 2014 to a member of Dragon Age Fans Facebook. According to him he even will be romancable. --Kendira (talk) 19:31, April 15, 2014 (UTC)

And another person at that same exact conference stated that BioWare never said Cullen would be a companion, just that he would be romanceable. more info here and here. So as of right now his companion status is still speculation by people not directly involved with BioWare, and it shouldn’t be added to his article yet. --Kelcat (talk) 23:33, April 15, 2014 (UTC)

Can someone be romancable but no companion? --Kendira (talk) 16:23, April 16, 2014 (UTC)

Steve Cortez can. Henio0 (talk) 16:44, April 16, 2014 (UTC)

I saw in this video (http://www.ign.com/videos/2014/04/23/rewind-theater-whos-back-in-dragon-age-inquisition) he's a military advisor. If you watch 3 minutes and 33 seconds before the video ends, you'll hear it yourself and more. -- Altaïr 22:23, April 23, 2014 (UTC)

Profile picture

I noticed on the talk page for Leliana that there were discussions on whether to update her main infobox image to an Inquisition pic, with the general agreement being to wait. So why has Cullen's image been updated? Surely the guidelines mean we should still be using his DA2 image for now. Welshman15 (talk) 08:14, October 21, 2014 (UTC)

Good question. I was not aware of any sort of policy/guideline, and I think it was a while ago now that someone updated his pic (with the ensuing edit war about which pic was better). I don't know if it depends upon how much screentime a character had in a certain game, vs. just waiting for the game to actually come out first? Leliana's biggest game is probably DA:O. For Cullen it will be DA:I. But I have no idea what the primary reasoning was for this on Lel's page. I'm fine either way. --R2sMuse (talk) 21:37, October 26, 2014 (UTC)

The profile pictures are determined by how importaint the characters role in a game is and how often they appear. As Cullen is an Advisor in Inquisition, and therefore will likely appear much more compared to the sequels, his profile picture was updated to show this. In the case of Leliana it's a little unclear as she was a companion in Origins but the Advisors have been said to be just as importaint as companions. For now it has been agreed to wait for DAI to see how much she appears and her importance to the story. If her contribution is more than Origins her profile picture will be updated to reflect so. From what I've seen of the game so far I think it will be likely her picture will be changed to an Inquisition one. --Xsari ^(Talk) 00:24, October 27, 2014 (GMT)

This sounds perfectly reasonable to me. --R2sMuse (talk) 01:47, October 27, 2014 (UTC)

Cullen in Inquisition

• SPOILERS* In Inquisition Cullen makes a very small reference about his love for the Female Mage Warden. In Skyhold and in a romance with my female Elf Inquisitor, I inquired if it bothered him I was Dalish. His ending response after I told him I wasn't bothered by him, he mentions that "It's been a long time since I wanted someone. I wasn't expecting to find that here or you"

It's very, very small. But so far this is the only mention he has made with the Hero of Ferelden being a Female Mage and it's only after you start a romance with him. --Unokitsune (talk) 16:12, November 27, 2014 (UTC)

He makes a much more direct reference to the Hero of Fereldan if you choose to ask him about himself later on in the story progression, and his response about her varies depending on whether BIG *SPOILERS* you're in a relationship with him or not. You can ask him if he knew the female mage, to which he will respond "I attended her Harrowing, actually. She was a lovely woman". The inquisitor will keep pressing him about it, and if you are in a relationship with him, he'll say something hesitantly about having had a youthful infatuation with her and say that it was a feeling he had forsaken until recently (to reinforce the fact that he loves you now and she's in his past, I expect). HOWEVER, if you are not romancing him or if he broke up with you (not sure if it matters which, I just know the scene I saw was from after he had cut things off with you if you force him back on lyrium) he will be less hesitant about saying that he had a youthful infatuation with her and will sound particularly wistful as he says "I found her...compelling." I'd post links to the videos here but I think they are private so maybe someone can link the clips as proof once somebody chooses to upload public versions of the scenes. Sephirona (talk) 03:00, November 28, 2014 (UTC)

I managed to get that very scene on my last elven inquisitor; it made me very happy. I also just got an interested War Table discussion as well which went something like this:

• Cullen: Inquisitor We...I...
• Josephine: Were eagerly awaiting your presence.
• Leliana: Some of us more so than others.
• Cullen: Yes I um...Let's get to work.
• Leliana: Of course.

I could swear both of my female advisors were laughing, you could almost hear the smirk in their words.--Unokitsune (talk) 17:50, December 15, 2014 (UTC)

Move proposal

The page should be moved to Cullen Rutherford per precedent. Every character page uses both the given and family name regardless of how often they are used.--Swampshade (talk) 11:04, November 30, 2014 (UTC)

I support the page rename. --♫ Kelcat ^Talk 21:54, November 30, 2014 (UTC)

Seconded. - 00:33, December 1, 2014 (UTC)

Actually Cullen's full name is apparently Cullen Stanton Rutherford, per the introduction in Orlais.

- 15:13, December 11, 2014 (UTC)

True, but we don't tend to include middle names in character article titles. --♫ Kelcat ^Talk 20:03, December 11, 2014 (UTC)

I agree, but in that case, why hasn't Alistair's page been renamed Alistair Theirin?

ForcesOfNature (talk) 20:43, December 11, 2014 (UTC)

Not only is Theirin as massive spoiler, it's not even his last name unless he becomes king. As an urecognized bastard he isn't legally Maric's child unless you make it so.--Swampshade (talk) 22:19, December 11, 2014 (UTC)

Inquisition bug

Having done Sera's pranks, I was able to interact with the agent in Cullen's office telling me he was with Cassandra. The bugged step was clicking on Cassandra, which gave me the usual conversation options with her, and not her interaction with Cullen. (That might not be important information since I hope it'll be debugged soon, but still.) 81.65.146.82 (talk) 15:11, December 14, 2014 (UTC)

I think I found a way around the bug (knowing I could interact with the agent in Cullen's office, which doesn't seem to be everyone's case). After the Wicked Hearts quests, I spoke to absolutely no one, and went first to Cullen's office, to be told he was with Cassandra. Then, I went to Cassandra, and got the cutscene in which she talks with Mother Giselle. After that, I had the quest marker for Perseverance, and had the cutscene with Cullen and Cassandra. I hope this can help. 81.65.146.82 (talk) 16:29, December 14, 2014 (UTC)

Like you I had no problem talking with the agent in his office even after the prank quest with sera but when talking to Cassandra I got only normal dialog options. However, when I entered the armory via the front door (the building with the forges in it but in the courtyard near where Cassandra normally is... not the one in the undercroft) the cut scene with Cassandra and Cullen began to play normally. PC Version. --73.48.113.168 (talk) 03:01, January 13, 2015 (UTC)

I am wondering about what you said. You don't need to speak to Cassandra at all. Just enter the smithy through the door next to her. The cutscene triggers immediately.--Kendira (talk) 19:15, January 13, 2015 (UTC)

In regards to the scout bug itself, I do wonder if certain events "fix" the problem. Maybe finishing a major quest or having story cutscenes triggered by talking to Cullen that have not been activated yet? I suspect the bug itself is caused by Sera's prank quest loading a completely different version of Cullen's room, and after the quest is completed, the game doesn't actually load the proper room again. I guess it's possible that the suggestions I gave above "fix" it by force loading Cullen's proper room. I personally did not encounter any bugs of this nature, though I had not talked to Cullen even a single time in Skyhold until well after I completed Sera's pranks.

As far as the quest not triggering when talking to Cassandra, if you look at the map, the exclamation point is over the armory room that you need to go into to trigger the cutscene. This is most definitely not a bug. Eternalspirit (talk) 04:37, July 4, 2015 (UTC)

Knight-Commander

Can anyone else confirm that Cullen is only referred to as former Knight-Commander of Kirkwall if Hawke supported the Templars? - 10:07, December 17, 2014 (UTC)

Nope. I had Hawke side with the mages and Cullen is still referred to as former Knight-Commander of Kirkwall at the Winter Palace. --♫ Kelcat ^Talk 23:21, December 17, 2014 (UTC)

I have just started another playthrough with the history that my Warden did what Cullen asked at the Circle Tower and the mages where killed. My Hawke in this playthrough had supported the mages. I don't know which of these two events made the change, but he was addressed as Knight-Captain instead of Knight-Commander in front of the Haven chantry. --Kendira (talk) 10:03, December 18, 2014 (UTC)

Hmm, I didn't pay attention to what he was addressed as at Haven, I just went back to a save right before going to the Winter Palace where he was announced to the crowd as such. Is that how he was introduced to the Herald/Inquisitor when they first meet? I might be able to dig up a save from before that, using the same Keep import. --♫ Kelcat ^Talk 17:44, December 18, 2014 (UTC)

I don't remember that he was named by title at all when he was introduced to the Herald. They just spoke of him as former templar. The only situation I remember was the dispute with the Cleric in front of the chantry. --Kendira (talk) 18:50, December 18, 2014 (UTC)

Just to add to my earlier post. In my first playthrough I had the background: Warden saved the mages and Hawke fought aside the templars. With that background Cullen was called Knight-Commander. --Kendira (talk) 18:52, December 18, 2014 (UTC)

I'm at the Winter Palace right now and there Cullen is named "former Knight-Commander of Kirkwall", although he was called Knight-Captain earlier (see my post from 10:03, December 18, 2014 (UTC)), so it seams he was Knight Commander no matter the background.--Kendira (talk) 21:10, December 30, 2014 (UTC)

He is always called Knight-Captain by the Templar at the Chantry (regardless of side chosen in DA2) and always referred to as the former Knight-Commander of Kirkwall at Orlais, regardless of side chosen in DA2. ~ Bethgael (beta tester) [Also, can someone revert the names of his brother and other sister, can't get it to work--they are never named, only Mia (his oldest sister) is ever named. Looks like someone's trying to make their fanfic names "canonised".]

Actually the silbing names are CANON. They are named in World of Thedas Vol.2, in one of the preview pages, here (http://www.reddit.com/r/dragonage/comments/32qqcr/spoilers_all_odds_ends_from_world_of_thedas_2/) Along with the book revealing his parents died during the blight Phoenix96 (talk) 14:41, April 24, 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I stand corrected. My comment was made before the appropriate references were added. :-) I own the World of Thedas Vol 2 now (bought since the comment) and was dropping by to correct myself :D ~ Bethgael (58.107.28.231 (talk) 08:33, July 2, 2015 (UTC))

Is there a citation format for Wot2 yet?? Since that needs to be added. Their names are on pages 223,226 --R2sMuse (talk) 11:11, May 1, 2015 (UTC)

Nevermind. Done.--R2sMuse (talk) 11:17, May 1, 2015 (UTC)

Cullen's writer Brianne Battye has confirmed that for a pro-mage Hawke world state, Cullen was never promoted and so remains Knight-Captain. In the scene in Haven, he is alternately called commander or captain depending upon this flag. The ball announcer at Halamshiral will always call him Knight-Commander, Battye says, because he was the de facto leader there, independent of his actual title. Tweets are "here", since her account is now locked. Maddox calls him Knight-Captain regardless, perhaps because he last knew him in Kirkwall. --R2sMuse (talk) 10:53, May 1, 2015 (UTC)

Regarding one of the DAII quotes on the page:

"There is a vigil before templars take their arms, but the gravest danger they face is falling asleep."

From the way this quote is presented on the page it seems like it is meant to be another example of Cullen's cautionary advice regarding the dangers Templars face when they are lax in their duties, but I don't think it was meant this way in-game based on the context. Hawke mentions that the recruits have been thinking they are in danger due to some ritual they thought Meredith was performing, and Cullen points out that there is a vigil before they take up arms but that the gravest danger they'll face is falling asleep. Meaning the vigil is boring but harmless in response to Hawke's statements, and not the general statement that Templars are in danger if they fall asleep while watching mages. I'm just wondering if this quote was intended to be included this way on the page as an example of something he says? It's fine if it is, I'd just like to make sure since all the other quotes listed from DAII illustrate his anti-mage sentiments at the time and if the intention was to continue this then the quote is misplaced. Sephirona (talk) 07:57, December 31, 2014 (UTC)

There's no intended theme when it comes to quotes listed for characters. We usually try to find an array of quotes to represent the character as a whole, and give a variety. --♫ Kelcat ^Talk 08:11, December 31, 2014 (UTC)

Good to know, thank you for the clarification! Sephirona (talk) 08:18, December 31, 2014 (UTC)

Trivia -- Smell

In multiplayer banter between Luka and Tamar, Luka remarks that the commander smells like "elderflower and oakmoss," which she apparently thinks is suspicious. Is this worth adding? Crazylace (talk) 00:26, September 22, 2015 (UTC)

Hmm might be worth adding. Any ideas why it's suspicious? Loleil ^Talk 01:14, September 22, 2015 (UTC)

I suspect it's because Luka is paranoid as hell. Crazylace (talk) 19:56, September 23, 2015 (UTC)

Inquisitor in family infobox

The other marriageable LIs don't get the PC in their family infobox. It was never added for Sera, and removed for Alistair after discussion on the talk page. Should the Inquisitor also be removed from Cullen's infobox for consistency, or added to the other LIs' infoboxes? --Evamitchelle (talk) 03:41, February 13, 2020 (UTC)

I vote for remove. It's not even clear that they are actually married or just friends with benefits. DaBarkspawn (talk) 05:21, February 13, 2020 (UTC)