Anders

Character Overview

Anders is a troublemaker. He was found by the Templar's as an adolescent who has already learned some magic of his own. He hates being at The Circle and has tried to escape their walls and the Templar's as many times as a child. He only wants his freedom and still tries to outrun the Templar's control.

During his stay in the Circle Tower, Ander's befriended the mouser cat to which he called Mr Wiggums. He considered him his only true friend throughout the tower. Mr Wiggums was eventually killed, after he was possessed by a hunger Demon.

Anders stated that Wiggums managed to take down three Templars before being slain, to which he was ''never more proud of Mr Wiggums'' for such a deed.

The player character can eventually find a stray cat, to which can be given to Anders as a gift. Ander's will name him Ser-Pounce-Alot and carrys him in his robes throughout the game. The player can actually use Ser-Pounce-Alot as an item to revive all fallen party members too, if Anders is apart of the character's party.

During Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Anders is voiced by Greg Ellis, while in Dragon Age 2 Adam Howden.

Dragon Age Origins: Awakening

The Warden-Commander encounters Anders in the Vigil's Keep Jail, fighting Darkspawn over the corpses of the Templar who were escourting him back to the Tower. He agrees to aid the Warden-Commander in cleaning up the keep's Darkspawn, during which he hits of Mhairi and exchanges jokes with Oghren. He is also delighted by the idea of a talking Darkspawn. After the battle ended, the ruler of Ferelden and a small army of guards arrive, and one of the Templar Knight-Commanders warns them that Anders is a dangerous apostate who should be hanged for murder. The Warden-Commander can ask the ruler to show Anders mercy for his helpfulness in the battle, or they can invoke the right of conscription to recruit the Spirit Healer in to the ranks of the Grey Wardens.

As a member of the Grey Wardens, Anders helped the Warden-Commander reopen trade on the Pilgrim's Pass, destroy the broodmothers in the ancient Dwarven city Kal'Hirol, fight the Orlesian Baroness in the Fade and recruit the spirit of Justice, and learn of the Darkspawn civil war between the Architech and the Mother's sentient brood. Over the course of the quest he has a friendly rivalry with Oghren, and becomes friends with Justice and Sigrun, while Velanna and Nathaniel are much more irritated by him. At one point while wandering Amaranthine, it is revealed that the Templar were forced to move the phylacteries of many mages a warehouse in the city. The Warden-Commander can choose to help Anders destroy his phylactery, freeing him from the control of the Chantry, or they can opt to give Anders to the Templar guards.

Anders has multiple endings- If he is left to guard Vigil's Keep during the final battle, and the city has been upgraded, Anders will be hailed as a beloved hero for killing vast numbers of Darkspawn with his magic, and he would later engage in a drinking contest with the men, which he would lose. If he is left to guard the Keep, and it has few or no upgrades, his body will be found, with an arrow in his neck, surrounded by hundreds of Darkspawn felled by his magic. When he resigns from the Grey Wardens, if his companion quest is incomplete, the Templar will capture him two more times, before he disappears for a third and final time. He may also last be seen on a pirate ship with a familiar looking woman.

Dragon Age Origins: Witch Hunt

While Anders does not actually appear in Witch Hunt, pictures drawn by a much younger Anders can be seen, showing a massive tiger named Ser Pounce-a-lot attacking a group of Templar. One of the new companions also makes mention of the Spirit Healer's many escapes.

Dragon Age II

Anders returns in Dragon Age II, having since allowed his friend Justice to enter his body, but his hatred for the Chantry and the Circle has corrupted Justice into a Demon of Vengeance, making Anders an abomination who must constantly struggle to not lose control of his once-friend. He decided to quit the Grey Wardens sometime after the Warden-Commander's disappearance, claiming that they had made him get rid of Ser Pounce-A-Lot. He fled to the Free Marshes, and made his way to where he could hide amongst all the refugees still there. Anders opened a clinic in Darktown where he could help the Fereldans using his magic.

When Hawke was trying to convince the Dwarf Bartrand Tethras to take him on an expedition into the Deep Roads, he was told by Varric Tethras that a Grey Warden was apparently in town, and that he would have maps of the Deep Roads. Anders decided he would help Hawke, but only if the refugee would help him find his friend, Karl, who wants to escape the Gallows and will meet with Anders at the Chantry that night. When Hawke and Anders arrive however, they discover that Karl has already been made tranquil, and the meeting is a trap. Filled with rage, Anders gives in to Vengeance and is forced to mercy kill him.

After they escape, Anders joins Hawke for the rest of the Champion’s journey. If the player takes either Carver or Bethany Hawke into the Deep Roads on the expedition, they will become tainted and the only way to save them is if Anders is in the party, who will recruit them into the Grey Wardens. After three years, tensions between the citizens of and the Qunari stranded there are reaching their peak. During this time, Anders helped Hawke battle the Qunari, a battle which resulted in Hawke ascending to the rank of Champion. After another three years, Anders discovered a possible way to split himself and Vengeance, and Hawke helps him find samples of a rare plant in the Darktown sewers and Drakestone in the Bone Pit mines. After that, Anders asks Hawke to sneak him into the Chantry without being seen, but he won’t say why. When Hawke does so, and returns to Anders’ clinic, he admits that he can’t actually separate himself, and that Justice died the moment they joined together.

During the Mage-Templar war that engulfed in the years to come, Anders enacted his final plan. As the sides prepared to meet, and perhaps reach a compromise, Anders used the Drakestone and Plants to blow up the Chantry in the middle of the city- killing the Grand Cleric and many innocent people, claiming that he had to remove any chance of compromise because there can be no compromise. Hawke will then be forced to either to kill the mages, including Anders and Merril, and possibly Bethany, or fight the Templars, as well as Fenris and possibly Carver. Hawke must also choose Anders’ fate after his bombing, he can kill Anders or protect him, depending on his choices, however, protecting Anders will cause Sebastian Vael to quit regardless of what your previous friendship or rivalry status is.

Like in Awakening, Dragon Age II Anders starts the game with the Spirit Healer specialization. He also has the unique specialization- Vengeance, which allows Anders to branch into two different paths. Panacea allows Anders to heal the full party, revive the fallen and give healing bonuses to team members. Vengeance lets him sacrifice health to do more damage, heal with each killed foe and increase the speed with which his spells cooldown.

Varric gives him the nickname “Blondie” and the two become good friends, exchanging jokes and stories. The dwarf also uses his underworld connections to keep criminals and the law away from Anders’ clinic, allowing him to keep operating without pressure from the outside. He and Merril constantly argue about blood magic and demons, and despite his best attempts, he never seems to convince her to stop using either.

Raising Anders approval meter

Anders is a fan of fine taste. Vases, gold ear rings and stylish clothing are the best choices for gifts.

During conversations, Anders much likes to be agreed with on his views about the Circle and how unfair they are with how they handle mages.