Favorite Paladin?

Aribeth. Strong and cunning, proud but not arrogant, experienced and wise in the simpler and rougher ways of the world and a champion for the greater good without being a zealot. Granted, Nasher's stupidity/hypocrisy, Fenthick's death and the power of the Old Ones broke her, but Morag was very thorough and I doubt others would have fared better.

Pity the NWN PC hadn't befriended her sooner, then the outcome might have been different.

 

Keldorn for me. Great character.

 

Gladimir. My own paladin who's played through the gold box set and the Baldur's Gate saga (along with pnp games).

 

Aribeth. Paladin's are generally stick in the muds with their more righteous than thou and one-note personality. Wasn't a stick up their you-know-what a class feature? However, Aribeth has a great character arc where she falls from grace and her doing it out of love makes her relate-able. What makes it stand head and shoulders above the rest though, is in Underdark where you can either redeem her or convince her to accept her dark side. Plus she is a romance option which equals awesome character development.

 

Don't forget her character background. Most paladins are "stick in the muds" because of their background (long years of propaganda, growing up as the spoiled brat of some rich noble or pampered member of the clergy, etc). Aribeth knew (and survived) poverty, loss, suffering and who knows what else on her quest for revenge, before ultimately earning her faith. When dealing with evil PC's in the OC she also demonstrates a more down-to-earth personality that's pretty unique for a paladin.

 

No other option?

If I am choosing from those four, my answer is Keldorn. Though I enjoyed Saerilith more.

 

Haven't tried Saerileth, but out of the present options I'd say Keldorn. Aribeth was too high and mighty for the first part of NWN, then she almost immediately went (near) full reverse. I just enjoyed Keldorn more - I got the feeling he's a tough old guy, who has had his share of scars, troubles and defeats, but kept doing the right thing year after year. A paladin who can make it to where s/he got grey hair and a disfunctional family without dying, falling or just giving up is worthy of respect, and one that still comes off as likeable is a fine example of how you can make a good good character. He's kind of an Obi-Wan in full plate and non-lightsaber-sword .

 

Saerileth is a fan made NPC, who is both very well written and highly controversial. She's controversial because she's 16 years old (IIRC) and a romance option. This was written in a very Romeo and Juliet sort of style, using Old English and looking at a timeframe where it was socially acceptable for a girl of 16 to marry.

She's also controversial because the modder who wrote her dialogues got fed up with all the criticisms and stopped supporting the mod (again, IIRC). I had her in a playthrough once and very much enjoyed the content she added. The mod was clearly a labor of love.

Aribeth was my vote here though, by a longshot.

 

Aribeth! Pure badassness right there.

 

@ Marceror - I've watched/read some LPs of Baldur's gate with that module installed and, well, I'm not too impressed with the character from what I have seen. Granted, I haven't taken her for a full game so my view may be biased. Here are the negatives that make her a less than stellar character, from what I did see: she's a bit of a spotlight hog in a story that is quite fixed on the main character, her personality is imo a lot less nuanced than most other NPCs's (nuanced and complex NPCs add a lot to the BGII tone) and at times her character can be quite jarring. Yes, paladins in general are prone to these issues, but I never quite got this vibe from Aribeth, Keldorn or Casavir - I haven't used Ajantis so I can't comment on him.

I don't doubt that there was a LOT of work and passion put into the module, but from what I've seen I can't really say that's the epitome of what a paladin should look like. I think the author(s?) might have tried a bit too hard to make her a great NPC and might have pushed her a bit into Mary Sue territory. That doesn't necessarily mean I can't respect the work that went into this or even that I think it's a bad character, it's just that it's very hard to roleplay or write a paladin well.

 

Fair observations Shaman. Like I said, she's a rather controversial NPC. Most people seem to really love her, or really hate her.

I enjoyed my runthrough with her, but I had a pretty good idea what I was getting myself into when I went into it. I expected some high drama, and appreciated it for what it was. It certainly wasn't the same old Baldur's Gate 2 runthrough with her in the party, and I think I appreciated that as much as anything else about her.

 

What I enjoyed about Saery was I felt it gave the game a different twist, really bringing your PCs love story to the forefront. She is definitely not overpowered, but the mod introduces some powerful items. Her Physical Stats are rather weak for a Tank. But I can see how some might thought it was over done, I thought it was a little over done, but still enjoyed it.

I think Keldorn's is a nice story as well. Ajantis is boring to me in BG1. BG2 his rescue was plot line was decent. Especially if you are already involved with the Order.

 

The poll should include Dupre, from the Ultima games. Best paladin ever. None even close.

 

She's controversial because the writing for that mod is, in fact, rubbish.

I'm not saying that because she's 16 (hell, I loved the Imoen Romance, which is even dodgier) - but I'm saying it because I perceive it as true. Saerilith is by far the worst NPC mod I've ever seen. Shoddy content, shoddy execution, shoddy character.

Back on topic, Keldorn rocks my socks!

 

Case in point.

I believe this is all essentially "on topic." We're discussing people's favorite paladins, and the paladin Saerilith came up as a possible option for this distinction. Now the discussion about why some do and do not like her seems entirely relevant, and on topic to me.

 

The poll should have an "other" option at least.

 

Hard to say, I took them as they came. And I liked Garren Windspear too (father of Iltha, involved in the Firkraag line of quests in Baldur's Gate 2).

 

Garren was a paladin? I don't think I ever realized that. How did you learn this?

 

Was it mentioned he was part of the Order of the Radiant Heart? I think he only had contacts there.