Misunderstood NPCs and why they're misunderstood

Wondeful idea for a thread, Beren! Too bad that my job here has been done already...

Hey, perhaps you know where could I get a T-Shirt with Jaheira's pic on it? And something like "Hard and bossy chicks rule!" written on the back? Ok, maybe somtething not as tasteless, but you get my point.

I'd also agree with that there alignment thing. If I hadn't see that she has TN courtesy of being a druid, I'd swear she's a NG. It shows in everything she does, she is a force of righteousness - it is next to impossible to keep her in an evil party.

I suppose that balance thingy was carved in her brain by those druids and it is very hard for her tob abandon it... in the course of the game she sees that the balance she seeks is a vanity and her actions prove it, even if she will never admit it. The loss of ideals is a tough thing to cope with.

I'd also agree with Chevalier that her INT and WIS scores should be higher, they contradict what we see in the game. I would say INT - 13, WIS - 15 or 16. There is no way her INT can be lower than Korgan's... And her CHA is a bit too high for someone who has a tendency to be overly blunt from time to time... 15 is a bit too much. Maybe it's so high because of her good looks?

Hmm, I wonder whom shall I champion, if the work on my favourite has been done. I have to say, I like Nalia and she is taking quite a bashing... but it will be tough to justify the flaws of her personality, hehe...

 

Officer on duty!

Nothing really can be added to Beren's and Jurts's points except some deeper reflexion on her doing it on top Khalid's grave and Jurts' evaluation of Jaheira's charisma.

So, here am I to defend her. For a person of her personality, it's truth that matters, not display, display here standing for appeasing the public. Thus she neither needs nor wants a cover for her feelings, simply as it is. If she happens to love charname shortly after Khalid's death, then be it. From Khalid's point of view which is according to beliefs either nonexistent or eternity, this doesn't make any difference in material sense. She all the time up to the end of the game holds Khalid's memory in highest regard. One could even say he was the love of her life while charname is a special sort of friend (in a bit morbid kind of friendship). It's hard for her to get used to Khalid's being no more, but she's seen and had too much of life not to hold her mind tight and keep the personality away from disorder when the soul is sick (and it is sick).

However, taken the records of their life together, Khalid might well be turned into an episode as compared to charname with just a little additional bit of storyline or background information added and some new light cast on the interpretation of what's already known - especially considering Jaheira's long half-elven lifespan and charname's eventful life with average three major battles a day .

Agreed on stats (with an exception I'll refer to later on) - I still consider making that mod, only there's not many people who seem to care... Int 13 granted, just think of a person of IQ 130. Still, nothing below the genius level of 17 could really be excluded (but it's less likely). Wisdom 14 is worth a laugh (unless we see her as prone to judge hastily and submit to emotions - which is true in some moments, but rather proves wisdom then lack thereof, but this would take a separate post that I would gladly provide).

Last but not least, charisma. Her looks indeed are said to be legendary, so anything below 14 would require a serious attitude problem to justify. However, I can't agree with her having one that would reduce the charisma score. She possesses a great strength of personality (also argument for higher wisdom) and some sort of magnetism typical for born leaders and strong individualities. Being blunt at times doesn't reduce charisma at all - charisma doesn't really rely on diplomacy (that is secondary to charisma). Of course conditional upon not hurting the others' feelings carelessly - which maybe doesn't preclude high charisma, but well... just doesn't fit it. In fact highly charismatic persons are far more often blunt than 'ordinary' ones. It's just a choice between silent manipulation and taking over. What's more Jaheira is acting in extraordinary circumstances - just imagine your husband or wife has just been found dead with body torn apart.

 

Let's not forget everyone's not-so-favorite warrior-priest of Helm, Anomen.

Too many times, I have read posts that talk about how useless and arrogant he is. Let's see if I can dispel some of these theories.

First of all I want to say that with the exception of my "girl power" party, Anomen is always present. I have romanced him, sought revenge with him, and prevented revenge from destroying his dream. Admittedly it isn't easy but then if life was easy, it would be very boring. More than once he has proven himself invaluable to me and my party and, like Jaheira and Nalia (who I'll try to defend later), are always immediately sought out when starting a new adventure

Early on in the story, we learn that Anomen hardly led a normal life. His mother died when he was young and he and his sister Moira were raised by a drunken father. It would be safe to presume that it was abusive, thus his desire to leave home as soon as he could. His only dream in life is to become a Knight of the Order and he strives, and struggles, daily in order to make his dream a reality. He is still very much a frightened child in the world of men and he wants nothing more in life than to please others. Despite his upbringing, more than anything, he wants to please his father and make him proud. What son doesn't want to make their father happy? He just wants acceptance, whether it be from his father or the party.

His arrogance is a ruse. Remember that he is training to become a knight, so he must abide by the tenets of the order. Not the easiest of things to do, particularly when he is constantly riddled with self-doubt and, for whatever reason, refuses to face his demons. All work and no play, you know. He comes across as egotistical only because he lacks some social skills. In his mind he believes that people will accept him and like him because of what he is; not who he is. While eloquent in his words, his delivery of them is poor. You learn this from him later on, particularly if you are romancing him. He does not start out with the intention of offending anyone. Of course the exception to this would be if you are evil but even then, short of something absolutely heinous, he gives you a wide latitude. His tolerance of Viconia and Korgan is proof of this. Their banter is the classical, and often humourous, story of good vs. evil -- both sides strong and unwavering in their beliefs as well as able to defend it.

Now for those of you who are strictly numbers oriented, Anomen is one of the strongest characters in the game (Minsc and Korgan are stronger, but not much). His wisdom is such that he can cast sufficient spells for protection and healing but remember he is definitely better suited for melee, especially against undead, than spell casting. Maces and flails, especially the Flail of Ages, are good weapons for him and even better if dual wielded. I've also found him quite good at using a sling for ranged fighting.

While I'm probably not the best defense attorney for him, Anomen is a good NPC to have on your side. Think about where he is coming from the next time he starts a conversation. Remember that his bark is far worse than his bite and that for all he has had to endure, he really does have the best of intentions for everyone; not just himself.

 

Haer'Dalis

Yeah, he's probably not misunderstood past the notion of "he sux0rz". But here we go.

Haer'Dalis is Niesztche (I'm sure I spelled that wrong). He is abandon. He is a Doomguard. If ya didn't catch the forty-so times he said that, he means that he believes in entropy. Chaos. The mad swirling of destruction until all becomes nothing.

But he ain't a crazy terrorist. Ya've gotta understand that. He looks at the big picture, with his nihilstic frame. Everything ends. Construction is a mean to the great end of destruction. When you build a house, good for you. The termites will eventually tear it down, and that's step #53643 toward nothingness.

But there's nothing wrong with that. Oho, no. Haer'Dalis is a bard. He emphasizes beauty. He revels in the glory of entropy and chaos. It's wonderful, beautiful. And no one, most of all, Aerie, the woman he tries to woo, can understand him. His love of chaos cannot complement his love of others. Both will destroy each other. And that, as Haer'Dalis sees it, is as it should be.

The Tiefling is cunning. He can see past people, and uses liberal use of metaphors to describe their inner emotions. His naming of his companions as "doves", "ravens", "blackbirds", and "hawks" couldn't be more appropriate. His stats are right on the spot (15 Int, 13 Wis, 16 Cha).

I do believe that Haer'Dalis was one of the best thought-out characters in Baldur's Gate II. He is unique and deep. I only wish that they had included a romance for him, and extended his dialogues.

 

As for Anomen... I don't want to bash him, since it's a defence topic and well, if I turn the sound off I even like him. I have never heard the original IPLY's waves, but I suppose they're no less annoying than the ones I have. He's not even arrogant - in this regard if I stand my own voice I can stand anything. It's either some sort of self-admiration or cheap soap-opera romance style. Of course, he's had no social life really and perhaps lots of time to read in some remote order's posts, so this is not a crime on his part. It's only the self-praise that worries me - but still, he's the one to be helped - simply as it is. It's not his part to be perfect.

I would even say that for he's more amiable than I would previously think a Lawful Neutral character can be, especially with his average intelligence and good but not really exceptional wisdom. Once he has switched to Lawful Good and wisdom 16 he gets some nicer dialogues.

 

Right on! What a thread. I'll address a few characters:

1: Haer'Dalis: His abilities complement every party, and by ToB, his bardsong is fixed, his lore is sufficient to deal with anything, his spells are relatively formidable, and his melee skills are an asset. As for his character, he is funny, and helpful. The triangle with Aerie is priceless.

2: Anomen: He can get 5 slots in a weapon, and three in two weapon style, which is against 2nd edition rules, but I'm not complaining. By ToB, his turning deals with about anything -- and does it properly, not just enslaving them. His spells are sweet, too -- like I say, by ToB he is dangerous in both physical and magical combat.

3: Jan: I've mentioned it before, he is a major stud muffin. His Illusionist status helps to compensate for his multiclass, and by ToB he is all the thief you need. I've used him as my only mage before successfully.

4: Nalia: For the majority of the game she is a better spellcaster than Imoen -- those who complain about her initial selection of spells, my suggestion is to find a scroll and hit the "write magic" button when you are looking at the damn scroll! EVERYONE has a sucky initial selection of spells.

5: Mazzy: She rocks! Tough, funny, and a full fledged fighter who will stay with a good party. Load her up with a good strength belt or potions and watch her slice through morons. I love it.

 

Hmm mazzy good fighter? I thought she couldnt use any 2handed weapons... or maybe im thinking of NWN. Anyway, her starting proficiencies suck tho. 5 pts in short sword and short bow is more like a weakling thief...

BTW, i love that comment about Jaheira doing it on top of khalid's grave, very funny.

 

Aerie

Yes, I've read all the posts about her being a whiner and a weakling. Hopefully I can clear some of that up.

She has had a traumatic life. Having a body part amputated, well, that's enough to depress anybody. The men that did it used torturous methods as well.

She's young, and unsure of herself. Just like most youngsters just starting out in the world. Is it really a crime to be mentally like everyone else? She does not have a true weakness of character, though. Just listen to how she snaps at Jaheira and you will see that she possesses a stronger self-assuredness than what you are led to believe.

She's not the strongest fighter perhaps, but that is due to her working more on her mind. How many elven mages are good melee characters? Very few. She has enough spells to protect her in the heat of combat, so doesn't need helped that often.

For those who are into powergaming, she is the only character that has access to every spell in the game, and can chain them all together in sequencers and contigencies. How tough would it be to overcome a chain contigency set to fire on herself at 10% health containing: heal, absolute immunity, stoneskin? I can recall many battles in ToB where she and my protagonist were the only characters left standing after a major battle. In fact, I don't think I had her die once past Chapter 3, a feat that no other character can claim.

 

I also wanted to add some things in Aerie's defence, for example the explanation of some traits of her personality... but I found this story does it much better than I could ever explain it... enjoy:

http://www.gamejag.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1247

 

Reading Rastor's post I thought it's amazing how the difficult past and complicated present is used in Anomen's defence by all his fan girls while nothing of that is said in Aerie's favour - and well, Anomen's temporal torments can't compare to Aerie's life. As Rastor said she's had a part of her body removed, the wings that distinguish Avariel from other elves. Just imagine a noble of ancient line dispossed and revoked his status and privileges - that's about how a beatiful Avariel girl must feel without her precious wings once taken as granted. What's more she has no real hope of recovering them. I suppose she might well become more bitter and cynical than Jaheira in her best moments and also visibly broken and lost, at least until some moment later on. I think adult (meaning mature) version would put more stress on these aspects.

 

Oh, I spend many hours of my work, reading Baldur's Gate FanFiction on The Attic. There are many lovely novels there, including a lot of juicy Jaheira romance stories... The stuff is really of a great quality and if you want some recomendations on which stories are worth reading, just PM me. If you are interested, that is.

It could be interpreted in both ways, after all - in the responses many readers said that they sympathize with poor, little, innocent Aerie.

WHAT? I am incensed! Ugly comparing to who? Aerie? Viconia? I'm sorry, but Jaheira isn't the sort of woman who spends a lot of time in backlines, polishing her fingernails or painting her lips, while the fighters toss it out in the frontlines... Now imagine if she actually paid any attention to her looks and worked on it - she would swipe every man from his feet and she would never need to cast Nature's Beauty to blind men...

To describe her beauty? Is that even possible?

Her beautiful, almond-shaped, blue-gray eyes, watching your every move both in tender care and scrutiny at the same time...
Her sensual lips, capable of speaking the most menacing insults, yet also capable of the softest, juiciest kiss ever imaginable...
Her cute little elven nose, that she often tends to stick in other people's businesses...
Her deliciously sensitive elven ears, that overhear every evil scheme planned by your enemies... and those tempting tips of her ears that you just dream about kissing...

Errr... missed anything? Ah, yes... the hair need improvement... can you imagine Jaheira actually bothering with braids???? I can't.