10 Best RPG Characters Of All Time

Almost every character on this list is from a game or series so well written that selecting one character from even that limited of a field is a nightmare.

Baldur’s Gate 3 made this impossible with its pile of 10/10 companions, all of whom have incredible backstories and game-long progression. I chose Astarion because of his stellar performance and growth. Also I romanced him. And I romanced the next entry on this list. The biases are biasing.

The tortured vampire is supported by Larian’s incredible writing, the nuance of his characterisation, his pitch perfect animation, and Neil Newborn’s award-winning delivery. It would be so easy for Astarion to have been your classic bad boy hottie but he’s far more complicated than that.

Due to a twisted relationship with his abusive sire who made Astarion use his looks and charm to lure in victims, Astarion isn’t used to any form of freedom. Though he seems forward in your connection early on, it’s revealed that this is largely because it’s the way he’s been taught to ingratiate himself to people.

Upon replaying you notice little things, like him assuming you’re intimately interested while donning a sad expression, quietly hoping you want him to be around for more than that.

While initially coming off as sexual and egotistical, your connection with him actually only develops by asking him what he wants, and, if you’re romancing him, backing off and reassuring him you actually like him as a person. Strangely it’s one of the least physical of any of the game’s romances. It’s more than a little heartbreaking once you see how warped his self image is, and it’s a treat to watch him claw his way back to a place approaching peace if that’s the way you go with his storyline.