GamesRPGDragon AgeDragon Age: InquisitionBioware’s art lead shared some off-the-wall rejected concepts for Dragon Age: Inquisition’s multiplayer characters, including the return of a controversial companion we never saw againWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

GamesRPGDragon AgeDragon Age: InquisitionBioware’s art lead shared some off-the-wall rejected concepts for Dragon Age: Inquisition’s multiplayer characters, including the return of a controversial companion we never saw againWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

Turbaned warrior, dwarf with hammer, Qunari Swashbuckler, and a gold-clad blood mage all in a line in concept art sketch for Dragon Age: Inquisition

BioWare art director Matt Rhodes has shared21 character conceptsthat never made it into Dragon Age: Inquisition on X: “The Everything App.” The rejected character pitches were originally intended to be playable in Inquisition’s aggressively monetized yet surprisingly great co-op multiplayer mode.

The released mode had plenty of out-there, zesty concepts for the characters you could play (theSilent SisterandSaarebasspring to mind), but these rejected concepts bring a sense of zany fun that I can get behind. I’m a big fan of “The Pirate Queen,” a swashbuckling Qunari rogue who looks like DA2 companion Isabela but with horns. The Rivaini Guard, meanwhile, brings a bit more pizazz to the classic sword and board warrior concept.

Image1of4(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

Image1of4(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

Image1of4

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

Dragon Age character concepts, including an undead assassin and Qunari swashbuckler

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

Character concepts for Dragon Age, including a “Bearserker,” armored knight, and Orlesian automaton

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

Concept art for Dragon Age characters, including a cuboid golem and a “Hermit” who is clearly Anders from Dragon Age 2

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

(Image credit: BioWare, Matt Rhodes)

Dragon Age character concepts, including a spirit warrior and an Orlesian noblewoman-turned berserker

Others are truly out there, or otherwise offer exciting tidbits of Dragon Age lore. I love the description of the “Cube Golem,” a construct that looks more at home in Destiny than Dragon Age: “Some rocks can be really weird.” The “Automaton,” on the other hand, is an Orlesian “metal soldier who knows how to cry,” while the cheeky little candle to help the dwarven “Excavator” see in his dark tunnels really makes my heart sing.

The biggest surprise is “The Hermit:” Yep, that’s just Anders from Dragon Age 2 and Origins' Awakening expansion. “There are many reasons for mages to hide in the wilderness,” his description reads. “From Templar persecution, to the crippling guilt of starting a war that threatens to burn the world to ashes.”

BioWare (or maybe just Matt Rhodes) were clearly turning over a number of options for an Anders appearance in Inquisition that never came to be. Shortly after Inquisition’s release ten years ago, Rhodesshared a similar conceptof a mad hermit Anders getting discovered out in the desert. “Some guy in a cave,” Rhodes wrote of the controversial companion.

Even if we never got to see these guys in-game, I appreciate getting the chance to see the concepts now. Rhodes also recently shared a look at some of theearliest conceptsfor this year’s Dragon Age, The Veilguard.

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