Defend your hero: Solas

The stately elf is a villain to begrudgingly admire, says Malindy Hetfeld

For a villain to be truly engaging, a lot of things need to combine: a flair for the dramatic; a grand plan; and, most importantly, a motive you can sympathise with. For most of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Solas takes the role of the level-headed, considerate mentor, someone who rarely loses himself to his emotions. In hindsight, it makes you wonder – maybe he was suspiciously calm and forgiving.

But Solas isn’t inherently evil. He is the vessel of a god who watched their subjects and found them lacking. Looking at everything that happens across Thedas, from war to racism to people rejecting their own makers and enslaving benevolent spirits, you can’t help but see where he’s coming from.

Solas is either the first or the last person you’d expect to be capable of a grand betrayal, and that’s what makes him so intriguing. Over the course of your adventure, you get to know him very well, and you encounter someone who’s firm in his beliefs (and his dislike of tea), but also just your resident bookworm, the uncle who likes to tell stories and comes across as a bit preachy at times. Not all villains wear capes, essentially. Also, Solas is interesting in that he wants to right a wrong he’s partially responsible for, having caused the fall of the

Elven people. Through him, you learn the gods of Thedas are a bit like the Greek gods: powerful, but prone to lapses of judgement, just like their mortal subjects.

The prospect of having to fight someone you have come to know so well is what makes the inevitable reunion with him in Dragon Age 4 both exciting and sad. After all, while the player character will be different, players will find themselves going up against an old friend.

SOMETIMES TO ACHIEVE THE WORLD ONE DESIRES, ONE MUST TAKE REGRETTABLE MEASURES.”

A justification for his own actions or a simple assessment? Solas remains a mystery, after everything.