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Best Female NPC from the BG Universe?

DebaserDebaser Member Posts: 669
edited February 2013 in Archive (General Discussion)
You can only have 10 options in a poll, so the final choice is a write in, but I'm curious, who are your favorite women characters in BG and BG2? I wrote down a list whom I think have more interesting story components or as characters have stronger personalities to start, but my challenge to you is to make your choice and explain why.
  1. Best Female NPC from the BG Universe?239 votes
    1. Viconia
      33.05%
    2. Jaheria
      11.72%
    3. Neera
        5.44%
    4. Dynaheir
        1.26%
    5. Arie
        9.21%
    6. Imoen
      23.01%
    7. Mazzy
        7.11%
    8. Faldorn
        0.42%
    9. Shar-Teel
        2.93%
    10. Write In: Alora, Safana, Skie, Nalia, etc.
        5.86%
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Comments

  • Jared4242Jared4242 Member Posts: 130
    *Aerie
  • DebaserDebaser Member Posts: 669
    Jared4242 said:

    *Aerie

    @Jared4242

    Is that a vote for Mazzy or Arie?
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    @Debaser

    I assume that's a vote for Mazzy and a spelling correction for Aerie.

    Anyway, I voted Imoen. Well-executed dual-class allows her to fulfill support thief roles and still become one of the best mages in the game, making her among the most useful NPCs.
  • DebaserDebaser Member Posts: 669
    Madhax said:

    @Debaser

    I assume that's a vote for Mazzy and a spelling correction for Aerie.

    Anyway, I voted Imoen. Well-executed dual-class allows her to fulfill support thief roles and still become one of the best mages in the game, making her among the most useful NPCs.

    @Madhax

    Ah my apologies for typos...apparently you can't edit a poll. =/
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    Well, of course...
  • DrusycDrusyc Member Posts: 44
    I voted Nalia because her quest chain is rather long and she is a "suitable" alternative to Imoen once she is captured. She has great DEX, the highest useable CON and good INT.

    ...Actually, she's not a very good NPC, but she won't get too much love I don't think, and I like her portrait :3
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    edited February 2013
    Kneel before the dominance that is Viconia. Kneel in supplication. Hmm, they should make a movie about that. maybe her and two other Drow come to ear.... the surface and face some puny, pasty faced so called "Hero" with an S on his chest. Oh, wait.... Never mind.

    Edit: Hmmm.... I could totally see a young Sarah Douglas in some makeup playing Viconia. Interesting....
    Post edited by the_spyder on
  • Pluc082Pluc082 Member Posts: 80
    Jaheira <3
  • FenghoangFenghoang Member Posts: 160
    Toss up between Viconia and Mazzy for me. Voted Viconia because she's in the entire trilogy and you can romance her. Mazzy wins in the banter column with the other NPCs though. I find both to be the most interesting and unique out of the female cast.

    Jaheira for the bronze. She has the strongest story component.
  • DebaserDebaser Member Posts: 669
    Lemernis said:

    Considering both personality and usefulness, I would have to say I like BG1 Imoen best. I like her best changed to Bard, actually.

    @Lemernis

    Wow...in retrospect, now I think that she ALWAYS should have been a Bard!!!!!! She just doesn't feel like a street urchen being raised in Candlekeep...nor a criminal due to her alignment...and the dual-classing to mage thing is a pain and forced on us...a Bard would have really made sense.
  • NifftNifft Member Posts: 1,065
    "Just like old times! Well, except for the torture and all."
  • LuigirulesLuigirules Member Posts: 419
    I feel like it would've been Safana, if, you know, they'd actually given the NPC's in BG1 real personalities.
  • DebaserDebaser Member Posts: 669
    I myself am having a hard time choosing between Jaheria and Viconia (I really like Jaheria's development in BG2, but Viconia grows as well and has alignment changing story options...) They're both strong women and driven...but Vicky can be a little twisted and Jaheria a lot stubborn.

    Imoen is a bronze for me...hrmn. Must mull before I cast my vote.
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    edited February 2013
    She's delightful as a Bard. This is years ago now, but I first used a little mini-mod available from G3 called "Imoen the Bard" and later on did it via Level 1 NPCs. I didn't really miss her having Thieving skills. Had her pickpocketing all the time, using wands, and always loaded up her quickslots with all those spells scrolls you acrue throughout the course of the game. She could identify everything damn near immediately. (Using her as Bard taught me how to get the most out of Garrick, actually.)
  • atcDaveatcDave Member Posts: 2,387
    Really not an easy choice! But I like Imoen, and she's the one character I just always have with me.

    I would also put Mazzy and Aerie up there as my next choices. If Neera finishes well in BG2 she may be another of my very favorites.
  • SeveronSeveron Member Posts: 214
    Gotta be Imoen. Yes she can be annoying but endearing. Even better with BG NPC Project. I find it hard to play any game without her.
  • NifftNifft Member Posts: 1,065
    Lemernis said:

    She's delightful as a Bard. This is years ago now, but I first used a little mini-mod available from G3 called "Imoen the Bard" and later on did it via Level 1 NPCs. I didn't really miss her having Thieving skills. Had her pickpocketing all the time, using wands, and always loaded up her quickslots with all those spells scrolls you acrue throughout the course of the game. She could identify everything damn near immediately. (Using her as Bard taught me how to get the most out of Garrick, actually.)

    Imoen as a Bard is a very compelling idea.
  • DelvarianDelvarian Member Posts: 1,232
    I'm voting Alora, she's like a sweeter version of Imoen with a clepto side. She has a cool rabbits foot, and a great friendship with Edwin. She's faster than Cheetarah fast paws. Her only drawback is how late you get her in the game, NPC Project fixes that though.
    They dropped the ball not putting her in BG2 as she would have fixed the lack of pure thief issue. She plays well with a good or evil party.
    Team Alora all the way.
    Or if you have Edwin as well I call them Edlora.
  • pcmodempcmodem Member Posts: 16
    edited February 2013
    Hrm... must create expiremental party to see the Alora -- Edwin interaction.

    The NPC development for Neera is far greater than the other ladies in BG1.

    On the other hand, as the Enhanced Edition isn't out yet for BG2, this is presently a vote based on BG1:EE and BG2 existing -- ie, Neera doesn't exist yet in BG2.

    Imoen as a bard does sound intriguing.
  • DelvarianDelvarian Member Posts: 1,232
    I can't believe someone voted for Faldorn, I like her but didn't think she would make it as anyone's favorite.
  • SelabocSelaboc Member Posts: 64
    edited February 2013
    Tough to choose between Imoen, Aerie, Nalia, and Neera. As I think they're all wonderful additions to any party. In the end I had to go for CHARNAME's sister, despite her always wanting to hear saucy tales about trollops and plugtails.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    Imoen , Jaheira and Viconia are the Anima of Baldur's Gate series.
  • MelicampMelicamp Member Posts: 243
    Shar-Teel needs more love! She quotes predator! She's Chaotic Evil! She has great stats! Cmon peoples. :P
  • KidCarnivalKidCarnival Member Posts: 3,747
    Torn between Shar-Teel and Safana. Both are stereotypes in a way - amazon brute and seductress - but I find them to be a nice change. If either had more personality than the few lines BG1 NPCs have, they'd stand out for being different.

    I also give a lot credit to Alora (which is why I voted "write in" over Shar-Teel) because she's the cheerful one who doesn't annoy me. (I'm allergic to BG1 Imoen) and has a bit more personality (thanks to her role as Edwin's morality pet). In 4th place, I put Branwen. With a more developed personality, I imagine she'd be a somewhat quiet, reserved person, but not in a shy way; and represent "wisdom" best out of all clerics.
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356
    Jaheira for depth of the additional story content in BG2 which you get by including her: the most complex and interesting of all the NPC quests, and also (although of lesser importance) the most complex of the romances. She has a well-defined personality too.

    (Well, I suppose it could be argued that Imoen's quest is the most complex, but her "quest" is the first half of the main plotline in SoA, not an optional extra which you can choose whether or not to include, so I'm not counting it.)

    I think @Delvarian has a good point that the original devs dropped the ball by not continuing Alora into BG2, that would've been very useful in gameplay and she had the makings of being quite an interesting character. But as it is, her appearance is too brief to be a winner.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,754
    edited February 2013
    Flattery will serve you no purpose, male. I will tell you when you may speak to me thus.

    Pain is the handmaiden of my people.

    I am a cruel mistress, but my slaves always found their subjugation to be most satisfying to their own physical desires as well.

    Even your dreams will be but a pale shadow of my true decadence.

    Indignity after indignity.
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    You know, though I voted for Imoen, I have to say: Of the romanceable ladies, I actually prefer Aerie. I had to point that out since she seems to be getting no love. She's fragile and her personality can be annoying to some, but holy crap does she kick some ass once she's got a few levels under her belt. She casts so many spells per day, and tends to make more of a difference than either Viconia or Jaheira do in my parties.
  • AquafluteAquaflute Member Posts: 5
    Voted for Imoen because she's been with me since the very start, that nostalgic factor alone makes me really love her the best. I still remembered the first time I played BG1 and was soooo surprised they would give you a young energetic female companion from the start (I was under the impression WRPG was dominated by male NPCs, I am glad to be wrong!)

    Then in BG2 I think they did a really good job of balancing her positive and cheery personality with her torturous experience and heritage. So there is both a funny side as well as a serious side of Imoen. In the end it made me admire her for staying positive after all she's been through, makes her charm 10 times more powerful when combined with her experience.
  • KenjiKenji Member Posts: 251
    For a time I actually had a crush on Mazzy, and prayed that there would be a romance mod out there for her.

    Apparently I'll have to wait longer.
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