With the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition set to remaster the original trilogy, BioWare's Mac Walters recently revealed a document full of early companion concepts which were cut or changed well before the game's retail release. With many drawing direct influence from other areas of popular culture, these cut Mass Effect 2 companion characters range from the stoic and serious to the downright silly.
It will be hard for many BioWare fans not to read about Mass Effect 2's cut characters and wonder what might have been. Many of the character concepts, however, would still be perfect fits for one of BioWare's major upcoming releases, Dragon Age 4. With a few world-required tweaks, there's plenty of reasons why some would fit into Dragon Age 4's world.
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The Crazy Quarian King was a cut character that Mass Effect 2's writers originally conceived as approaching Shepard while on the Quarian flotilla. The concept is derived from the character of Stephen the Irishman from Braveheart. Stephen is a king only in the sense that he believes himself to be—he refers to Ireland as "my island" and believes himself to be in direct communication with God.
In Braveheart, the character provides a balance of comic relief and tension, which the Crazy Quarian King would likely have done in Mass Effect 2. Stephen's instability even leads him to put a knife to the throat of one of William Wallace's companions during their first encounter. When Wallace confirms that if Stephen fights for him he'll get to "kill the English," Stephen replies with "excellent!" and immediately lowers his weapon and introduces himself in full. Stephen quickly proves his worth, however, killing a traitor who attempts to take William Wallace's life during a hunt.
It's heavily implied that Stephen lost his mind after seeing his friends and family killed by the English in his home country. In Mass Effect 2, this would have been paralleled in the Crazy Quarian King by having had the character's friends and family killed by the Geth on his home world. The cut character document describes the Quarian's desire for revenge as "whimsical" and even gives this example line to sum up the character:
"Do I get to kill Geth?"
"Yes, you get to kill Geth."
"Excellent!"
If there was any character who might seem most well-suited for Mass Effect 2's suicide mission, it would be the Crazy Quarian King. However, the concept would also fit fantastically into Dragon Age 4. The next Dragon Age will take place in the Tevinter Imperium, the only human nation still at war with the Qunari, who occupied much of Thedas over a century before the main events of the game. Since Tevinter and the Qunari never stopped warring, Dragon Age 4 could easily have a character who lost everything to the Qunari and is hell-bent on "whimsical" revenge.
If the character is an elf, not only could his extended lifespan have allowed him to lose everything during the Qunari Wars of the Steel and Storm Ages, but the Qunari might also be replaced with Tevinter, with the character desiring revenge for the destruction of the elven empire by the mages of Tevinter in Thedas' distant past. With plenty of wars across the history of Dragon Age, it wouldn't be hard for BioWare to create a character who lost it all and seeks only revenge.
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The Fallen Paragon is a character Shepard would have found in a Star Wars-inspired "wretched hive of scum and villainy." The idea was that this character would have been a once high ranking doctor who fell from grace. However, the concept could just as easily be applied to a few major factions in Dragon Age based on the lore.
This character could be a Qunari who fell out of favor and fled, abandoning the Qun. This might be a little too similar to Sten in Dragon Age: Origins, though he eventually regained his place in Qunari society and is the Arishok by Dragon Age 4. With the mage and Templar war central to the last game, this character could also be a disgraced former Templar or Circle mage, depending on which side the player chose.
They could be a Grey Warden who fled the Battle of Ostagar and never helped defeat the Fifth Blight, or a once proud dwarf forced to flee to the surface by political turmoil. With so many major conflicts having taken place across the series, it would be great to see a character who, instead of rising to the challenge to become a hero like the player, fell from grace and finds themself in dire need of redemption.
With Solas the Dread Wolf planning to unite the elves, tear down the Veil, and restore the ancient elven empire, the Fugitive Rebel concept could have a particularly interesting place in Dragon Age 4. In Mass Effect 2, this character would have been a human, Salarian, or Quarian with a skill for getting in and out of secure locations, and who had been forced to go into hiding after a rebellion gone wrong.
In 9:32 Dragon—the same year the Origins DLC Witch Hunt takes place in—the elves of the Edgehall Alienage in Ferelden attempted to rise up, with many being killed by the city's Arl. A Fugitive Rebel elf from Edgehall might have a particularly interesting view of rebellion and the future of the elves that could contrast with Solas. While Solas is willing to risk the destruction of all other races in Thedas to restore the elves to their former glory, the Fugitive Rebel could at once sympathize while feeling that they have a duty to prevent the bloodshed they saw in Edgehall from ever happening again.
Solas' cause is complicated, and it could be very interesting to have an elven character who wants to see the elves liberated but does not want to see it done by releasing the destructive power of the Fade onto Thedas. Though these character concepts never made it past the early development of Mass Effect 2, many Dragon Age fans will be hoping to see some of the ideas generated for Mass Effect 2's cut characters make a return in Dragon Age 4.
Dragon Age 4 is currently in development.