Astarion Talks Romancing Bears & Being Baldur's Gate 3's Poster Boy! - Neil Newbon Interview!

Today on The Character Sheet, our coverage of TTRPG and Fantasy news continues with an amazing interview with the man behind Astarion, the Vampire elf rapidly becoming the face of Baludr's Gate 3 and a participant in the much talked about bear romance scene, Neil Newbon! Not only is Neil happy to talk about the crazy backstory behind the bear romance that blew up the internet, but also how Astarion came about in the first place...his work on Final Fantasy and other huge fantasy game projects...and just what it has been like to see the gaming world so completely embrace Astarion and Baldur's Gate 3 just hours from it's full release!
So just how did Larian Studios come to Neil Newbon with the idea for that wild bear romance scene...and what behind the scenes event made it even more hilarious? And just why does Astarion and D&D/RPGs in general mean so much to Neil?
Find out as we go 1 on 1 with Astarion himself, Neil Newbon, in our exclusive Baldur's Gate 3 interview!
#baldursgate3 #astarion #dnd
Follow us at / dndsheet

[@TheCharacterSheet]

What is your hype level for Baldur's Gate 3?! Let us know in the comments!

[@MichaelMarler-ii3ib]

To put it nerdly, It's over 9000

[@liammurphy2725]

@@MichaelMarler-ii3ib If it was an earthquake it would shake The Pearly Gates.

[@purefoldnz3070]

its been a twenty year wait. One more day to go!

[@jacklynmccall3871]

@@purefoldnz3070 Rolled a nat 20 on hype!

[@purefoldnz3070]

@@jacklynmccall3871 haha an easy 20

[@nicwin4006]

Astarion is such a good character imo. Once you crack his defensive shell and he opens up to you, he can be such a sweetheart. I was surprised by it and I think it surprised Astarion to have someone (after 200 years of suffering) to give a crap about him. It shows in his character, Neil did such an amazing job. I'm warning all my other companions right now, if Astarion wants the world to burn, I will happily burn it all for him. Astarion gets what Astarion wants in my playthru.

[@Ragdefender]

Astarion potentially might be this generation's Minsc, a character we will keep remembering even 20 years later.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

He's one pet hamster away from showing up in a new Spelljammer setting!

[@leflyxdvd]

oh damn that's so true, didn't even think about that. His voice will be recognized from now on everywhere. and probably astarion will be referenced in many other d&d based games to come.

[@sarielle85]

Minsc was actually liked by some people?! The greatest BG1 & 2 character was clearly Edwin Odesseiron!

[@FeuerblutRM]

My feeling tells me we're about to witness something beautiful with Neil & Astarion - as we already did with Tom Hiddleston and Loki. An actor embracing his famous role far beyond a job. It's wonderful.

[@dallaerine4127]

rvs❤

[@nickrubin7312]

"Astiri.. Asti-rion.... " "Astarion, darling" lmao

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Finally a bonus of Christian being chronically unable to pronounce names!

[@cen3684]

I love this hahahaha

[@Nitryl44]

Astarion is maybe the most iconic character in Baldur's Gate 3, thanks to Neil Newbon voice acting of course, but also because of the excellent writing. The funny vampire will be in my party !

[@TheCharacterSheet]

He is a major standout for sure

[@Kaistra]

Neil got me giggling and kicking my feet every time with the astarion rp voice fr lmao. but seriously he does a fantastic job bringing Astarion to life and its so fun to hear how hes been a part of the characters growth over the years. So much love went into this game from everyone involved and it really shows.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

The game is just mind blowing in scale when you really think about all the moving parts they have involved.

[@HotDogPasta]

Astarion is a rad character and Neil seems to be an equally rad voice actor. 10000/10. Can't wait to play tomorrow

[@TheCharacterSheet]

SAME

[@Pixilatedgirl]

Men want him, women want him, animals want him. He’s unstoppable 😍

[@ComedyLoverGirl]

Not sure about the animals. Considering he sucks their blood dry. 💀

[@ManubibiWalsh]

@@ComedyLoverGirlwell… wildshaping Druids then.

[@rickc-arelsii6276]

The man has done an amazing job. Thanks Neil! Your work is much appreciated.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

He crushed it with the Astarion character

[@austinburtt9640]

@@TheCharacterSheet can't wait to kill astarian dude annoying af no cap a vampire doesn't sound like that

[@oOVanillaMelOo]

Ngl if I ever went to a convention and saw Neil as Astarion speaking with that silk voice of his… I would probably die 💀

[@ZoeBellCake]

He slips into Astarion so easily. It's perfect.

[@TheStorm357]

I am very much the good guy in any rpg, so I have never liked the evil companions in any other game, however, I have found myself with the conundrum of having Astarion as my favorite companion. Neil, your work on that role is absolutely awesome. I've spent way to much time in EA trying to find ways to tempt him to the light side!

[@isbammoi3358]

Gosh me too. I can already tell I'm gonna give in to some mischief I normally wouldn't lol

[@TheCharacterSheet]

He's an amazing companion for sure

[@rsick266]

Larian said we will be able to influence their alignment during the story. Sounds actually interesting to take evil companions and turn them good or the other way around.

[@GraceUnderSiege]

Sameee. This comment describes me.

[@mslydialove]

The evil is the result of being a trauma victim for 200 years. We don’t know what his moral center was like before Cazador. The character development on him is incredible.

[@kingsmanmmadd5716]

Astarion is not really a character that peaks my interest that much (he has a good story and all but i mean more personality wise) BUT even i cannot deny Neil absolutely nailed this character and he and the crew deserves all the praise coming to them.

[@thesongoflunch]

Agreed, he reminds me of some of the gay guys here in Soho (London) that lean into the darrrrrrrrling energy. They are a good laugh but fuck me you couldn't travel on an adventure with them hahahah

[@Sabbathtage]

@@thesongoflunch Well to be honest, how many of these Soho guys are ALSO vampire elves willing to kill for you? I'm just saying such details would stand out on on a resume.

[@geraltGalleg0s]

This actor did an incredible job because Astarion has the best voice acting in the game. 90% of his charisma goes from Neil (and from good writing of course). I fell in love with this character almost immediately, and his whisper was pure ASMR. 😍 Thank you very much, good sir! 🖤

[@Zandalorscat]

The voice acting in the deeper and more vulnerable scenes is phenomenal. New favorite voice actor right there. I have managed to get a decent approval for Astarion while playing a good character and it's definitely worth the effort. (Don't take him out of the party when doing things he disapproves of, just move him far away. He also approves of some objectively nice things as well.)

[@L33C333]

I love Neil Newbon's work, glad to see him get some praise

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Its fantastic work

[@frankreynolds7640]

Astarion's voice reminds me of Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show and that alone is awesome.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Yeah, big Frankenfurter vibes

[@zeldinhagamer1234]

Exactly!

[@ManubibiWalsh]

I think that’s subconsciously part of why queers have immediately latched onto him and his voice. He definitely does give a lot of Frank-N-Furter vibes ❤

[@MizuMing]

As a community we latched onto Astarion, and we never let go. Most of us want a happy ending for him, and will do whatever it takes to get it for him. 23:40 That is the best thing, because his laugh is magical and gives life. 💞

[@damned0wl]

The hard part is gonna be figuring out what ending is the happy one :)

[@MizuMing]

@@damned0wl Well freedom from Cazador for a start, in whatever form that takes. Being able to be free and to just a live like a normal person would probably be the best ending for him, and hopefully that ending has been written in for him. ✌️

[@damned0wl]

@@MizuMing I'm hoping it gets complicated in a variety of different ways :)

[@MizuMing]

@@damned0wl Oh, no doubt! We have a vampire lord, a devil's pact, monster hunters and who knows what else to contend with before we even get to a potential happy place. 👀

[@damned0wl]

@@MizuMing yesss, and that's not even taking into account the tadpoles or the Thayan Necromancy book... No idea what I'm gonna do with those, but can't wait to find out! 😅

[@heatherp4745]

Neil Newbon's Astarion voice is SUMPTUOUS... it's as if Frank-n-Furter and Alan Rickman had a baby.

[@danielledaniel1900]

Yes that what I was thinking

[@omanitoo]

That night Astarion refused to sleep with all my party friends and even me because he had "standards" he became my favorite haha

[@snaggiz]

Dude has some serious range as a VA. Even though I probably won't bring Astarion along for my first playthrough, the voice acting is seriously impressive.

[@MichaelMarler-ii3ib]

It's going to be hard to select a party for me. Astarion doesn't seem like the type a Lawful Good character would run with. Having said that, that's also going to mean the interactions are going to be interesting. There's so many reasons to take so many different routes. Really love it.

[@katarinakremberg1319]

@@MichaelMarler-ii3ib Actually he is fine. He doesn't agree with your good choices most of the time, but at the same time I feel like his approval mostly depend on how you treat him, not the others. Sure we don't know what's gonna happen in the full game/

[@MichaelMarler-ii3ib]

@@katarinakremberg1319 I meant more for my character, not for Astarion. A Paladin of Devotion running around with a vampire with questionable morals is harder to justify. But I agree, Astarion fits wherever you want to put him - no pun intended. He's a favorite and one of several companions I'm going to be IN CHARACTER justifying not taking.

[@damned0wl]

Great interview! Neil is an amazing actor, playing an amazing character, and him being a TTRPG nerd is absolute perfection!

[@sampreston200]

He was one of my favourite characters in the early access and it is the voice of the character that truly brings him alive, cannot wait for the release almost there now!

[@Ashbrash1998]

I knew Neil and Dave were pretty friendly when after the last panel they posted a pic on social media gazing into each others eyes, with DAve wearing a bear t shirt lol

[@Sengial]

Why'd they have to make Astarion so hot its practically not a competition

[@prospectrontv5518]

Dont laugh it was through Astarion i discovered i was Bi

[@TheCharacterSheet]

People said similar things years ago with Dragon Age 3 and Dorian, so it doesn't sound far fetched at all!

[@hackbod]

@@SandiegoDFS If you think interacting with a character in a video game counts as sufficient "indoctrination" to make someone Bi, you are probably not very straight.

[@damned0wl]

@@SandiegoDFS doesn't work like that, mate

[@prospectrontv5518]

@@TheCharacterSheet Thank you

[@Zandalorscat]

That is actually kind of awesome

[@alexw4482]

His voice acting really portrays the character and makes him come to life. I don't think he'll be with me my first playthrough since i'm tired of seeing "astarion disapproves" every time i choose to not be a murder hobo. He'll be fantastic for my dark urge run though.

[@mbwilding]

Yeah he was fun in my dark urge playthrough

[@grim2197]

If you want to have him as a companion and don't want him to disapprove so often there is a distance requirement to conversations. So just have him a decent distance away so he is classed as not being in the conversation and therefore won't disapprove.

[@LynMildner]

Argh can’t wait for BG3!!! Love astarion and his way of telling stories!!

[@isa_the_icequeen]

Love Neil, have since Detroit: Become Human, and cannot wait to see how Astarion probably breaks my heart, lol. It's obvious Neil's been living his best life playing Astarion and is always excited to talk about his work on him. Can't wait to learn more about Astarion and set my Tiefling Bard loose on Baldur's Gate to be the little menace I know she's going to be, haha--Also, as a long time subscriber to Neil's Twitch stream. . .it's chaos. He's the king of chaos and always good for a laugh, I always end up smiling so hard my face hurts (specially when he plays XCom)

[@NaturalAegyo]

Who did he voice in Detroit: Become Human?

[@isa_the_icequeen]

@@NaturalAegyo He voiced, and motion captured, Gavin Reed and Elijah Kamski. And was Elijah's face model.

[@mlj3347]

Neil NAILED the voice acting. Some of the best lines in the game came from him. He’s a new talent to me and I hope to see more from him soon!

[@superstar5042]

I would say he NEILED it

[@RoyalJester17]

this dude's voice is like posh velvet

[@Fuzzywumple]

You brought so much life to astarion. Thanks

[@TheCharacterSheet]

He did an amazing job

[@DJNightshiftMoondai]

Neil plays 'pompus noble elf dandy with a vicious streak' perfectly

[@mayaamis]

Neil Newbon what a voice actor such a legend. Astarion is one of best characters I had a pleasure of hearing and seeing in years!!! love love love him! Thank you Neil! Astarion is one of those characters that will be famous game characters forever

[@ownageDan]

While I think Astarion is an asshole, that's also the exact reason why he's a great character. Neil did an amazing job.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

agreed!

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

Oh trust me, if you spend the time getting through the Astarion lines and his backstory you will see his asshole-ness is a defense mechanism and a lot of his seduction rotes are a persona, a mask he learned to put on (faking smiles throughout the fear and pain Cazador put him through) and he's suffering from massive PSTD. But a lot of his mockery is also directed at himself once he allows himself to show some vulnerability in front of others. He's certainly not a _nice_ person, as he learned that selfishness is his key to survival & he can lash out in anger whenever his fear of being enslaved again is triggered or people mock _him._ He's indifferent to poking jokes about his flamboyant persona, hell he will do it himself. But if you mock any moments of vulnerability (esp him being abused and used like a toy by Cazador) or if _you_ use him in the same way, he gets extremely shocked, pained and then pissed off and might even leave the party. Sao yeah, it's less that Astarion is an asshole on purpose, he's just very broken emotionally... including not even being able to remember his own eye colour or what his face looked like before he was forced into becoming a vampire (as he states, his options were "let the vampire bite him" or "bleed to death on the street"). No wonder the mirror scene involves a shattered mirror.

[@VChong1991]

He's not evil. He's not chaotic evil...he is his own alignment. The asshole alignment 😂

[@mikaylasmith7600]

Goodness I loved Neil before this and I love him more after this. Such a wonderful actor who truly loves what he does! I cannot wait to take Astarion with me on this wild mind flayer infected ride!!

[@djnorth2020]

What a great performance in writing and voice acting. Colourful characters really bring the game to a higher level. 👌

[@agirlnamedbrett.]

can we just give these casting directors the recognition they deserve. each voice actor fits there characters so perfectly. i truly can't imagine anyone else voicing Astarion other then Neil.

[@AnnaAnanasova]

Neil is such an amazing guy❤❤❤awesome work with astarion. Really made him alive.

[@isbammoi3358]

I hope I get to see this 'championed moment' and figure out if I had Cause I can tell you right now not knowing what that is is gonna HAUNT ME FOREVER

[@TheQuirkyNerd]

22:00 Pretty sure Neil is talking about the one take of the Pale Elf quest ending. He also mentioned this in his Twitch streams.

[@Alex-lm7cx]

When Astarion appears in the footage speaking it's like he's speaking Neil's words 😆

[@purefoldnz3070]

9:00 I also had the Dragon Warriors books growing up. They were very much D&D for kids

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Yeah, I remember seeing them at our local library even

[@AlexandreD30]

Amazing voice and performance.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

couldn't agree more!

[@Poesjewel]

i love this character! even tho i just got the first camp party last night and he was disgusted at the idea of hooking up with me LOL it was hilarious! great job!

[@epli72]

Must. Restist. The. Hypestarion! 🤩

[@izabodzon9173]

Wonderful voice, amazing work, the scene after killing Cazador is absolutely mindblowing. I hope to hear/see Neil Newborn in mamy more RPG productions.

[@TheQuirkyNerd]

15:50 “Not everyone knows what I look like…” Not anymore darling…

[@TokenElezen]

I love that angsty vamp. Honestly, anyone would be screwed up going through everything he has. Spending 200 years as the puppet of a cruel and unforgiving slavemaster? I'm surprised he's not worse. I sympathize with him and don't blame him one bit for being the sadistic gremlin that he is. So he's a bit selfish and narcissistic. It's the first time he can be and do whatever he wants in the last two centuries. I will forever support his chaos, he deserves it. Besides, once you get past his defenses, he's really sweet...in his own way.

[@locktitude]

Super hype for this game!!!

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Tomorrow will be a good day!

[@thearcanamodernau8130]

From what I understand, the druid guy sometimes turns into a bear when he's nervous. His performance anxiety is turning into a fucking bear 💀

[@roguejester4986]

Love the actor and character!

[@ImpastaLarry]

I love it all. All the characters are fun interesting and not just generic boring samey characters that are in every game. Neil did an amazing job one of my fav characters so far

[@jhod555]

You have created the most beautiful monster to ever exist. Well done indeed.

[@ghostprojekt]

Neil doing an Astarion would be so much fun. Man really *owned* that role.

[@kylekermgard]

Dude looks like he's on vacation partying a bit lol

[@morgan9660]

im pretty sure that was a blunt that he lit in the middle of the interview

[@SageAndRosemary]

Could someone suggest to Larian a series on this setting with all the VA’s in their roles?

[@isabellapucci3443]

Why did I think he was gonna say “I’m astarion and welcome to Disney channel!” 😂

[@purefoldnz3070]

sounds like a character from a camp British 70's sitcom. In a good way

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Not wrong!

[@purefoldnz3070]

@@TheCharacterSheet something like Are You Being Served which is way way before my time haha

[@Primnose]

23:47 Okay, that laugh sounded like Bryan Dechart's, but I don't know if that's who he was talking about

[@bomberlemmy5037]

Im playing Astarion this guy is fucking awesome!

[@mrsgamer9218]

Neil is such a snack ❤

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

Now I have a burning wish to see a buddy comedy crossover between Baldur's Gate 3 and the D&D comic _Downer_ by Kyle Hunter[*] featuring Astarion the luckless vampire spawn rogue and the down-on-his-luck-but-still-kicking magic-less punk Drow rogue and trapmaker Downer Tarantula (think Adam Ant as a Drow outcast) who is surviving in the Underdark and the Outer Planes by mercenary work. Two elf guys with attitude and wit, fabulous white hair and even fabuloser outfits, stumbling into wacky adventures. [*] A comic which used to be published monthly in the back of the D&D _Dungeon_ magazine years ago, until Wizards of the Coast with little forewarning pulled the publication rights of _Dungeon_ and _Dragon_ magazine (including the back issues) from Paizo -- which led to Paizo developing _Pathfinder_ RPG based on the d20 D&D 2.5 OGL -- and changed those magazines which had been a famous part of the D&D community for many many years into in-house subscription-only publications. The writers and artists who were publishing comics in those magazines were given just three more issues (or was it five? Not very many if you have like 2 pages per issues) or so to hastily wrap up the storyline, which sucked. Hunter later managed to get the rights to his own comic to at least publish a printed collection of the first half of the _Downer_ comic, but to my knowledge there was never a print or PDF collection of the second half of the storyline. So... yeah. Unless you have all the old magazine issues, that's forever lost.

[@Mizako96]

Neil is so ridiculously skilled. I have his autograph! My favorite character in BG3 by far ❤

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Awesome!

[@EugeniaShepard]

Gosh, I love his voice 😅

[@yxcvbnmyxcvbnm9353]

it just came to me to check for interviews. wish they were more publicized I would have liked to find it sooner. Better this than the drama videos. But drama is drama I guess

[@norpatrick]

Game of the year!

[@ChrisfromDevelopment]

One more day!!!!!

[@Snoozler]

I'm so curious what the scene he was talking about around 22:00 was

[@finchythepirate]

About recording the lines with they/them pronouns even though it's more expensive, honestly, as a non-binary person playing a very genderqueer tiefling bard, it's incredibly affirming to have all the NPCs use they/them pronouns for my character without ever questioning it. That's one of the many reasons why I'm loving this game so much, tbh

[@tami3456]

Neil is amazing

[@ForbiddenSlurp]

This was such an awesome interview. I think the way Larian treats their staff and the people they work with is the most "industry standard" thing that should come out of this game.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Marvelite]

Neil Newbon Astarion cosplay when

[@ManticoreRO]

I play a paladin and astarion will disaprove on anything yet... I love him nonetheless

[@alluke24]

This is so Flippin cool😊

[@the.toycromancer]

I hear Astarion's laugh when Neil gets asked about sex scenes

[@shadyhavok1]

its over 9000!

[@Ravenhill171]

Astarion is just a bit too mean for my maincharacter, in early access Astarion does NOT approve of my choices... oh well. But... I need a Rogue in my party! 😭

[@WynneL]

We can fix him!

[@Ravenhill171]

@@WynneL i hope so, but I just fear that at the that's possible he'd already hate me and left 😭

[@barryjames73]

I despise Astarion but he's a damn good character and Newbon is a phenomenal voice actor.

[@mslydialove]

If Neil shows up to cons in Astarion cosplay… may I respectfully suggest he have a security detail? Fan reaction could get a little unhinged.

[@heroofRaven]

Honestly to be Blunt. I think all of the issues people had with the Bear scene. Was more about they were two dudes.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Definitely some aspects of that involved

[@HiyaCoffee]

It's about a man literally having sex with an animal. Keep trying to normalize beastiality though. Degenerate.

[@heroofRaven]

@TheCharacterSheet seeing that clip was weird but it was hysterical. And it reassuring to see the freedom and breadth the game will allow I can't wait.

[@MyNameIsBucket]

Same people who were posting vomit emojis at the mere mention of pronouns. The bigots had already shown their asses.

[@hunivan7672]

definitely not

[@kiterafrey]

Look, I know he did full performance capture but......when he does Astarion's voice showing his IRL face you can really really see how much he looks like Astarion. Like trim Stari's hair and give him human ears.....it's uncomfortable, but because I really really want to keep seeing him as Neil and not get conflicted feels.

[@neolynxer]

Interviewer is sub par. He does not know the name of the character, but bear sex got two first stupid questions. I'm sorry for Neil.

[@EdinMesic11]

Shut up!!! No way!!! Omggggggggggggg yaaaassss!!!! My body is ready!!!!

[@dharpoon]

Why do I picture the voice actor to look like Lucifer.

[@MichaelMarler-ii3ib]

Very similar. Honestly I think if the actor who played Lucifer on Netflix (whatever show) was more effeminate, that's pretty much Astarion. If BG3 was a live action movie, yeah, I would buy that casting. I can imagine quite a few characters in live action, but perhaps that's just a great sign that they're practically cast and well written.

[@voidwizard2067]

Good luck to him. But, without knowing anything about the characters I started playing Baldur's gate a couple weeks ago. Easily disliked this character the most immediately and told myself when I met him and left him that is one NPC I know I will never use on any character play through. Still do not get the hype, but to each their own. Just glad he is not a main character to be stuck with or I would have dropped the game.

[@xser4321]

Say Astirion one more time. I dare you, I double dare you MFer.

[@dominika3762]

You're doing an interview with a person and you didn't check how to pronounce a chatacter's name he is voicing?

[@PodChklilpp339]

Astarion is the gayest thing since gays, im here for it

[@danlayne9436]

So... I shouldn't kill Astarion for being a pompous ass and attacking my guy?

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Not if you don't want to miss out on some of the best dialogue in the game!

[@MichaelMarler-ii3ib]

The real answer is probably, if it makes sense for your character to do so. There's going to be so many opportunities you're going to miss by nature of the game's design. You won't be able to experience everything, so follow your gut (and/or your characters). Asterion is absolutely my favorite party member for banter. I understand he might get on nerves and he'll not make sense for some play throughs. But he's redeemable and irredeemable, power-hungry yet not over-the-top evil. The "I can fix him" potential for friendship or romance is going to be tempting. And for an evil play through, where you're not a rogue, he's going to be an amazing utility pick. Evil play through for me is probably looking like Dark Urge MC Sorlock , Asterion, ShadowHeart, and a certain Drow.

[@danlayne9436]

@@MichaelMarler-ii3ib I just downloaded a couple days ago, so I'm running through different possibilities. I've only killed him once, but, damn, it felt good.

[@damned0wl]

You should do whatever is fun for you :)

[@danlayne9436]

@@damned0wl agreed

[@natewoods4566]

Should I be worried that a professional voice actor doesn't have access to a better microphone?

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Well, he was on a roof on an island in spain on vacation he talked to us, so don't hold him too accountable :D

[@hodor3024]

Can Halsin also wildshape into a gerbil? 😏

[@MichaelMarler-ii3ib]

I think we can imagine he could and he would, if we want to. Should George Clooney want it

[@Calico_Crow]

interviewer doesnt know how to pronounce astarion

[@TheCharacterSheet]

He's got an Ohio accent. Between that and some hearing issues, Christian just can't get certain names right lol

[@jb_19]

Seeing him speak out of character makes me realize how much of a gay caricature Astarion is. I realize he didn't write the character, but I really feel like Astarion is a cliche stereotype of gay men. Not all gay men are flamboyant Greenwich Village stage actors.

[@jb_19]

@@7ilver The ones that get the most attention. Most gay men don’t want to lead pride parades. I was actually fine staying in the closet in the military. Of course that was pre-gays allowed.

[@Mizako96]

Astarion is pansexual. As are all the other characters. Him being flamboyant doesn’t translate to being a caricature as there are a lot of people with eccentric personalities like his. He’s also a noble by birth so him speaking with a posh accent is contributed to that. Most of the time he doesn’t even act that overly flamboyant. He’s just a pretty boy with a pretty accent

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Less a gay caricature than a dandy caricature. He reminds me a lot of Tim Roth's character in Rob Roy

[@jb_19]

​@@TheCharacterSheet Thank you, I still can't quite place it, but I like your description. I don't think it's an inherently bad character trope, just feels overdone and cements an unhelpful stereotype.

[@jb_19]

@@Mizako96 I was unnecessarily harsh. I don't think he's a poorly written character. My gut reaction was that in a game that is pushing the boundaries on diversity, why does this representation of queer male sexuality feel so cliche? Either way, I just need to play the game and get to know Astarion.

[@Drassassin2]

Idk get all the love for Astarion, but to each their own. I plan on killing him in every play through.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

To each their own!

[@ComedyLoverGirl]

"I see vampire, I must stake." -You, probably. El

[@antagonisstic]

I may be playing as Astarion but i will be romancing Shadowheart yeah i swing for the opposite team. Cannot wait for this game to release tomorrow. Glad that Astarion was not wrote for being 100% gay. Unlike Dorian in Dragon age Inquisition the 1st game in the Trilogy to have a gay male character. So yeah turns out progressive have moved into the gaming industry this is not good. If you happen to be based.

[@SandiegoDFS]

The gay vampire is the poster boy? Wow….

[@Druller-y9p]

all the origin-characters are bisexual

[@robcampion9917]

At least he's not shiny.

[@TheCharacterSheet]

I mean, he's literally got his own cover of PC Gamer and also he is bi

[@SandiegoDFS]

….lame

[@damned0wl]

@@Druller-y9p "player-sexual" is more accurate imo

[@Infernal460]

My only concern, catering to the pro noun game. I think that will bite the game in the ass.

[@damned0wl]

I think they did a great job there, actually. The easiest thing for a game developer to do would've been to only have "they/them" pronouns for the player, saving money and pandering to the woke crowd at the same time. Making the effort to be genuinely inclusive with all three options is commendable

[@TheCharacterSheet]

Honestly, in a game with this many options, you need something like that given the AMAZING variety in character creation and choice

[@brilobox2]

Keep your politics out of our videogames. Yes, your politics.

[@Mizako96]

“Catering to the pronoun game” and it’s giving the option for non-binary people because they exist and deserve to be represented. You people speak of NB people being included like it’s going to kill you somehow.

[@readingwithgoblins]

Anyone who'd get upset at pronoun options won't like the rest of the game anyway, and Larian isn't going to care what they think at this point. It's like an evangelist complaining about witchcraft. 😂