A lot of people dump on Dorian for being mostly okay with slavery (for good reason imo), and one common criticism is he comes off as a selfish hypocrite for disliking anti-gay discrimination because it affects him, but doesn’t mind racial or class discrimination (slavery) since it doesn’t.
But honestly? This is nothing new.
Most Dragon Age characters have shown they only mind discrimination when it affects them.
- Loghain Mac Tir HATES Orlais for “enslaving” Ferelden freeholders like him, but not only had no problem selling Ferelden elves into slavery, but he’d dismissive and contemptuous of an Elven Warden who calls him out on it.
- Anders hates anti-mage discrimination but isn’t too bothered by anti-elf discrimination. He also suggests elves should help mages since they’re both oppressed by the Chantry, but doesn’t suggest mages should help elves.
- Fenris hates slavery but isn’t bothered by anti-mage OR anti-elf discrimination because, in his mind, mages control Tevinter and slaves can be any race, and since slaves have it worse then those groups need to chill.
- Aveline didn’t do anything when a group of elven brothers formally reported that one of her guards raped their sister, but then dropped everything to arrest those same brothers when they killed the guard they accused.
- Sera hates general “common folk” discrimination but DGAF about anti-mage or anti-“elfy” elf discrimination. She’s totally fine with mages being locked in Circles to protect the common folk, and flat-out blames most elves for their own discrimination under humans since they’re “too elfy.”
- Vivienne calls all mages who resist Circles “selfish,” and has no problem forcing them back in, because she gets power and influence from the Circles. She also condemns them for killing muggles and fellow mages to gain freedom, yet she herself butchers muggles who revolted when she was elected Divine, and declared outright war on rebel mages to force them back in Circles.
- Cassandra and Cullen both condemn mages for being “dangerous” and killing Templars in self-defense, but are much more lenient to Templars for years of systemically abusing, raping, lobotomizing, and killing mages to keep them in line.
On a wide scale, Ferelden hates Orlais for occupying them but think nothing of treating elves exactly the way Chevaliers treated them, and Orlais praises the Maker for freeing them from Tevinter while enslaving elves and other humans.
Dorian is in good company. I guess it’s more “realistic” that way, but Dragon Age is filled with characters that think discrimination is only a problem when it affects them.
I can count on one hand the characters that not only care about other groups besides their own, but actually try to help them once they’re able.
- King Alistair elects the Denerim Alienage Hahren a royal advisory position regardless of the Warden’s race or boon (and even though it’s unpopular with nobles), and governs the alienage so well they don’t riot from hunger the way they do under Queen Anora.
- Divine Leliana greatly reforms the Chantry to free mages and drop its race and gender discrimination for the priesthood, even though she’s a human muggle woman who benefits from the Chantry’s race, gender, and anti-mage discrimination.
- I guess Varric sort of counts for Inquisitor Lavellans who don’t accidentally kill their clans, since once he’s named the new Viscount of Kirkwall he’s one of the few nobles in the Free Marches who’ll trade and support them. (And I think helps search for survivors if Lavellan did get them killed?)
- The Arishok’s views on mages are absolutely shitty, don’t get me wrong. That said, for all his faults he is disgusted by Kirkwall’s race and class discrimination (and rightly calls Aveline out on supporting it) and tries to conquer Kirkwall partly to bring what he sees as race and class equality, even though as a Qunari he’s not 100% affected by it. (Sure, Petrice’s antagonism against the Qunari doesn’t help, but he seems as enraged by the injustice the elven brothers face as he is by his own Qunari’s mistreatment.)
There are probably others, but I can’t think of them now.
Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. Dorian being okay with slavery because it doesn’t affect him but troubled by Tevinter’s homophobia because it does is shitty, but he’s far from the only character who only hates discrimination that affects him.
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