You almost mentioned Cullen as the best written character, but tbh he is written quite bad, his abuse and hate is never confronted in Inquisition and he is made victim by narrative, while he was the very problem why Chantry sucks. Even his fans admit that. He is mostly liked because of romance.
I was waiting for that moment when admitting I like Cullenās character and story arc will bite me in the ass.
TL; DR (for those who donāt want to get through my long rant)Ā
Let everyone enjoy any characters/romances/game choices they want. I have my reasons for having Cullen as a fav DA character and liking his story arc and I donāt think there are more problems with writing of his character than the majority of other companions in DA games.Ā
First of all ā I donāt want to argue that everyone should like or dislike the same elements of fiction as I do ā it would be stupid. We all have different tastes, like different character archetypes and have varying opinions on what makes a good story. Iām trying to keep my blog character positive and unless someone asks me directly to share my opinion on a certain character or plot element I prefer keeping my critique to myself. I also donāt feel entitled to confront fans who, in their own posts, state they find Cullen boring, unredeemable or overrated, even if I personally disagree with all these statements.Ā
If your ask, anon, stated the words āi thinkā or āin my opinionā I wouldnāt probably bother with such a lengthy answer, HOWEVER, you write your personal opinion like it was an objective statement, like you were in position to tell me how I should view the certain character. What did you expect, that I would suddenly realize āoh crap, NOW I see that a character and plot I had liked for my 200 hours of gameplay is actually bad, I was just too stupid to notice it!ā.
So, letās go through your comment.
ātbh he is written quite badā
In. Your. Opinion. There are people who donāt like Cullenās character development. Some like the general idea but would make some changes if they could. Others (like me) donāt have problem with his story arc and just like to add some headcanons to fill the gaps.
It is understandable that when years pass between games, fans have time to develop their opinions and wishes of what theyād like to see. And because none of them actually writes the story it is very easy to feel disappointed and say āwell, I would do it better (= my way)ā. But the truth is - your way is not necessary a better way. It may be the case that āyour versionā would be even more hated by the fandom. Some opinions are just more popular than others and therefore may seem like they are objective but itās an illusion. A well designed pool, with large sample size and good statistics may be objective. Opinions, on the other hand, are like farts ā you always think yours are less stinky than the othersā ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
Yes, I think Cullen is a well written character and yes, I like his story arc. Cullenās redemption works for me because I see it not as much about atonement for his actions as for his lack of action.
Anti-Cullen fans tend to assume that he personally did a lot of atrocities, but when you look not at fandom assumptions but at his actual actions we see in games or WoT, you can see that he caused most evil by not doing shit.
He should have protected the mages.
He should have questioned Meredithās actions.
He should have noticed sheās going mad.
He should have stopped her before she evoked the Rite.
He was very passive and basically let either Meredith or Hawke make all the choices for him. If he let Meredith decide ā people died. If he listened to Hawke (based on playerās choices) he voted for whatever Hawke had proposed.
Why was he behaving like that? Probably because he had lost faith in his own judgment so he put all the responsibility on authority figures (Templar Order and Chantry teachings). Cullenās core motivation throughout all games was to protect people and it never changes. What changes is his belief of what methods are moral or necessary to achieve that goal and whether he, as an individual, should be in a position to decide it.
In Inquisition Cullen does the opposite. He is a workaholic. He makes his own decisions (leaves Kirkwall, stops taking lyrium) and takes full responsibility for them. He doesnāt follow his leader blindly but openly states his own opinions and advice (whether they are correct or wrong is another topic). He gets really furious when someone in position of power lie to or sacrifice people under their command (like in case of Samson or Rainier). Finally, he dedicates his life, health, skills, basically everything, for a cause - to stop the war that can be blamed mostly on his former organisation, without complaint or asking for forgiveness.
And I love that aspect of his character.
In Inquisition Cullen is still a work in progress. He tries his best but his templar past comes back sometimes - and itās good. If he was completely free of his biases, it would be damn unnatural.Ā
I would never say that Cullen is a flawless ray of sunshine. He can be stubborn, biased, narrow-minded, hypocritical, bitter, aggressive and vengeful. But guess what ā so can all the other characters. Thatās why they are interesting.
āhis abuse and hate is never confronted in Inquisitionā
It is, at least for the standards of this particular game. DA:I doesnāt have full developed friendship-rivalry mechanics like DA:2 and you canāt even get approval points from advisors. The Inquisitor basically has far less options to condemn the Inner Circleās actions or change their worldviews than Hawke (you donāt really argue with Dorian about slavery or with Iron Bull about Saarebas or Reeducators either).
But even if the Inquisitor has limited dialogue options to confront Cullenās actions directly, Cullen himself brings the topic to the player. Cullenās dialogue and actions in DA:I show that
he is ashamed of the person he became after Uldredās uprising Ā Ā
he knows he needs to atone for his actions and he wants to work for it
but doesnāt really believe he can fully atone for what he did
supports the reform of the Chantry, Templar Order and Circles rather than agreeing to their traditional methods
That man already hates himself, give him some rest.
And if you still think he needs an extra punishment for his crimes - Cullen is actually one of only 3 companions/advisors in DA:I whose life you can literally ruin through your choices (the other two being Blackwall and Iron Bull). If your Inky thinks that Cullenās actions are unredeemable and he deserves nothing better than to forever be chained to the templar life he has chosen as a kid - they can order him to take lyrium again. For me itās a heartless and morally wrong choice, but anyone can play their game however they want.
āhe is made victim by narrativeā
Ok, that part really bothers me. Are you saying that it is a bad thing that a narrative treats a person who has been physically, mentally and sexually abused for weeks as a victim of that abuse? Or encourages empathy towards a character fed drugs, manipulation and propaganda? Acknowledging Cullenās PTSD doesnāt automatically result in ignoring or diminishing traumas and abuse that happened to Anders, Carl or any other character. Empathy doesnāt have to be reserved to people you personally agree with, just saying.
āhe was the very problem why Chantry sucks.ā
Iād say he was an example showing why Chantry sucks. A symptome, not a cause. Chantry benefits only high ranking members of that intitution + some nobles and rich dudes. Mages are abused and denied most of the rights because of the Chantry. Templars are drugged and brainwashed because of the Chantry. Common folk canāt freely benefit from things like healing magic because of the Chantry. Non-humans are treated like heretics and barbarians - because of the Chantry. The Chantry, as we see at the beginning of DA:I is a corrupt, powerful institution that has forsaken almost all ideals it had been built upon and desperately needs a reform. Everyone can see that. I have NEVER met any fan who said āyeah, Circles, Templar Order, the Chantry ā they were perfectly alright, no need to change lolā. Same goes to characters labelled by fandom as pro-Chantry (like Cassandra, Cullen or Vivienne). They all see that major changes must be done, they just believe the reformation is better than abolition.
āEven his fans admit that.ā
Some, yes. Others donāt have a problem with his arc. Personally I donāt think there are many Cullen fans that would agree with every single point you made.
āHe is mostly liked because of romance.ā
Um, no. The reason why the game developers even bothered with making Cullen a romance option in DA:I is that he was already quite liked and popular among fans, despite being just a secondary character. Iād agree that the romance plot made Cullen even more popular, especially among players who didnāt play previous games, but it is wrong to assume that the only reason people enjoy his character is because heās a pretty boy. I played the games in order and Cullen was one of my fav characters in DA2 - I just like paragon anti-villains with redemption potential. Fight me.Ā
To conclude this overly long rant - Iām generally under impression that some DA fans tend to point certain aspects of Cullenās character and story as āstupid excuses made by Bioware and fans to redeem a son of the bitchā and then use almost exactly the same arguments to defend their own favs. Itās the topic for maybe another discussion, but I think itās a good thing to confront your own biases sometimes.
P.S. I also recommend watching this video about writing redemption arcs. Just for fun.
(thanks, Ania, for the high quality picture to sum up my feelings)
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