Companion Sub-Races
Buttercheese
Member Posts: 3,766
Originally I wanted to make a topic about the possible heights of each of the companions, but while researching I noticed that for the vast majority of characters we don't know the sub-races, so here is a topic about that instead.
What do you think each companion's sub-race is and why?
Here's what I got so far. Unless it says (fact) next to it, it's my personal theory.
I will update this post based on the discoveries we make on this thread.
Elves:
- Aerie: Avariel (fact)
- Baeloth: Drow (fact)
- Coran: Wood elf. Because he's from Tethyr.
- Kivan: Wild elf. Because he's from Shilmista.
- Viconia: Drow (fact)
Humans:
These are really tricky, because the different human sub-races intermingle and migrate far more than those of other races. Unless it's outright stated or strongly hinted at that the character has a migrational background, I'll assume that they descended from the region they grew up in. Either way, unless it's stated as a fact, take all of these with a massive grain of salt.
- Ajantis: Illuskan.
- Anomen: Tethyrian.
- Branwen: Illuskan.
- Cernd: Tethyrian. He looks like a native North American, but aside from Maztica (which is based on Mexico), Faerûn hasn't seen anything of the FR's "new wold" yet, so it's highly unlikely that he/ his family actually descends from there. So he's probably from Amn and just "accidentally" looks this way.
- Corwin: Illuskan.
- Dynaheir: Rashemi
- Edwin: Mulan or Rashemi. Most Thayan Nobles are Mulan, but his thick beard suggests that he has at least some Rashemi blood.
- Eldoth: Illuskan or Tethyrian. I'd go for the latter because of the black hair.
- Faldorn: Illuskan. Because she's from Uthgardt.
- Garrick: Illuskan.
- Hexxat: Chultan (fact)
- Imoen: Illuskan or Tethyrian.
- Keldorn: Tethyrian.
- Minsc: Raumviran. He's to pale and tall to be a Rashemi, but they are basically short, tanned Raumvirans, so it fits the bill.
- Nalia: Tethyrian.
- Rasaad: Calishite (fact)
- Safana: Calishite (fact). Though she might be lying about that.
- Sarevok: Tethyrian or Calishite. He's too tanned to be Illuskan like most Baldur's Gate natives, but it's imo also unlikely that he's from far away.
- Shar-Teel: Illuskan.
- Skie: Illuskan.
- Valygar: Partially Tethyrian, partially Chultan or Turami. Since he comes from a long line of really powerful mages, at least one of which we know was a planeswalker, pretty much any background may be plausible for him. Might even have decended from Externars for all we know. But since he's from an Amnian line of nobles, it's safe to assume that he is partially Tethyrian.
- Voghiln: Illuskan.
- Xzar: Chondathan, maybe Illuskan or Tethyrian. Problem is his Zhentarim background. Though this organization does recruit all over the realms, there is still a chance that he is actually from somewhere close to Zhentil Keep. Sadly I wasn't able to find out which sub-race is native there, so I went with Chondatan, which is the next closest.
- Yoshimo: Kozakuran. Maybe Wa?
Halflings:
- Alora: Lightfoot halfling.
- Mazzy: Lightfoot or Strongheart. The fact that she grew up in a multi-racial town hints at Lightfoot, but her personality hints at Strongheart. Personally I'd go with the latter one.
- Montaron: Lightfoot halfling.
Gnomes:
- Glint: Rock gnome.
- Jan: Rock gnome.
- Tiax: Rock gnome.
- Quayle: Rock gnome, maybe forest gnome. His dark skin and his devotion to Baervan Wildwanderer suggests forest gnome, but those are tiny even by gnome standards (around 70cm/ 2'5'' tall, compared to rock gnomes who are around 1m/ 3'3''; that's even shorter than your average halfling). Not to forget that they are known for their exceptionally timid nature and Quayle is pretty much anything but timid. So either he is a very odd forest gnome or he is a slightly unusual rock gnome.
Dwarves:
- Kagain: Shield dwarf.
- Korgan: Shield dwarf.
- Yeslik: Shield dwarf.
I am starting to see a pattern here.
Goblins:
- M'Khiin: Just ... goblin. I wasn't able to find anything useful on goblin subraces.
Bears:
- Wilson: Grizzly bear (fact)
Hybrids:
- Dorn: Half Illuskan and half mountain orc. We know that he is from the Spine of the World and that his mother was a slave, so it makes sense.
- Haer'Dalis: Half-elf tiefling. All we know about him is that he's a tiefling from Sigil. From his facial features and ears we can tell, that he has elven blood and since half-elves vastly outnumber elves in Sigil, we can assume that he's that. But yeah, it's almost impossible to guess his ancestry beyond that, because it could be from literally anywhere in the multiverse. Planescape is a clusterf*** >.>
- Jaheira: Half Tethyrian and half wood elf. We know that she is from Tethyr and that Tethyr has a notable population of wood elves.
- Khalid: Half Calishite and half moon elf. We know of he's from Calimshan, but his skin is rather pale, so I am guessing he got that part from his elven side of the family, ergo moon elf.
- Neera: Half Illuskan or Kara-Tuan (Shou, Kazakuran, etc) and half moon elf. Since she's from High Forest, both moon and wood elf qualify, but judging from her extraordinary pale skin and her almost white hair, I think moon elf is a safe bet. Given her rather asian looking facial features, I wouldn't be suprised if her human side of the family would be of Kara-Tuan descend. Locationwise Illuskan makes sense, but she doesn't really look the part. Though it could be that she got her "Asian" looking features from her elven side or is an odd one out.
Aaaand I think that's all of them.
What do you think?
PS: I should probably mention that I want the discussion here to be civilized, specifically when it comes to the humans. I don't want to see any personal wishfulness here. Just cold, hard facts and logic applied to it. So don't make any commentaries like "but character X has to be white/ black/ purple because I just like it better that way" and then try to back your argument with "but I can interpret it any way I want".
No. Not in this thread.
What do you think each companion's sub-race is and why?
Here's what I got so far. Unless it says (fact) next to it, it's my personal theory.
I will update this post based on the discoveries we make on this thread.
Elves:
- Aerie: Avariel (fact)
- Baeloth: Drow (fact)
- Coran: Wood elf. Because he's from Tethyr.
- Kivan: Wild elf. Because he's from Shilmista.
- Viconia: Drow (fact)
Humans:
These are really tricky, because the different human sub-races intermingle and migrate far more than those of other races. Unless it's outright stated or strongly hinted at that the character has a migrational background, I'll assume that they descended from the region they grew up in. Either way, unless it's stated as a fact, take all of these with a massive grain of salt.
- Ajantis: Illuskan.
- Anomen: Tethyrian.
- Branwen: Illuskan.
- Cernd: Tethyrian. He looks like a native North American, but aside from Maztica (which is based on Mexico), Faerûn hasn't seen anything of the FR's "new wold" yet, so it's highly unlikely that he/ his family actually descends from there. So he's probably from Amn and just "accidentally" looks this way.
- Corwin: Illuskan.
- Dynaheir: Rashemi
- Edwin: Mulan or Rashemi. Most Thayan Nobles are Mulan, but his thick beard suggests that he has at least some Rashemi blood.
- Eldoth: Illuskan or Tethyrian. I'd go for the latter because of the black hair.
- Faldorn: Illuskan. Because she's from Uthgardt.
- Garrick: Illuskan.
- Hexxat: Chultan (fact)
- Imoen: Illuskan or Tethyrian.
- Keldorn: Tethyrian.
- Minsc: Raumviran. He's to pale and tall to be a Rashemi, but they are basically short, tanned Raumvirans, so it fits the bill.
- Nalia: Tethyrian.
- Rasaad: Calishite (fact)
- Safana: Calishite (fact). Though she might be lying about that.
- Sarevok: Tethyrian or Calishite. He's too tanned to be Illuskan like most Baldur's Gate natives, but it's imo also unlikely that he's from far away.
- Shar-Teel: Illuskan.
- Skie: Illuskan.
- Valygar: Partially Tethyrian, partially Chultan or Turami. Since he comes from a long line of really powerful mages, at least one of which we know was a planeswalker, pretty much any background may be plausible for him. Might even have decended from Externars for all we know. But since he's from an Amnian line of nobles, it's safe to assume that he is partially Tethyrian.
- Voghiln: Illuskan.
- Xzar: Chondathan, maybe Illuskan or Tethyrian. Problem is his Zhentarim background. Though this organization does recruit all over the realms, there is still a chance that he is actually from somewhere close to Zhentil Keep. Sadly I wasn't able to find out which sub-race is native there, so I went with Chondatan, which is the next closest.
- Yoshimo: Kozakuran. Maybe Wa?
Halflings:
- Alora: Lightfoot halfling.
- Mazzy: Lightfoot or Strongheart. The fact that she grew up in a multi-racial town hints at Lightfoot, but her personality hints at Strongheart. Personally I'd go with the latter one.
- Montaron: Lightfoot halfling.
Gnomes:
- Glint: Rock gnome.
- Jan: Rock gnome.
- Tiax: Rock gnome.
- Quayle: Rock gnome, maybe forest gnome. His dark skin and his devotion to Baervan Wildwanderer suggests forest gnome, but those are tiny even by gnome standards (around 70cm/ 2'5'' tall, compared to rock gnomes who are around 1m/ 3'3''; that's even shorter than your average halfling). Not to forget that they are known for their exceptionally timid nature and Quayle is pretty much anything but timid. So either he is a very odd forest gnome or he is a slightly unusual rock gnome.
Dwarves:
- Kagain: Shield dwarf.
- Korgan: Shield dwarf.
- Yeslik: Shield dwarf.
I am starting to see a pattern here.
Goblins:
- M'Khiin: Just ... goblin. I wasn't able to find anything useful on goblin subraces.
Bears:
- Wilson: Grizzly bear (fact)
Hybrids:
- Dorn: Half Illuskan and half mountain orc. We know that he is from the Spine of the World and that his mother was a slave, so it makes sense.
- Haer'Dalis: Half-elf tiefling. All we know about him is that he's a tiefling from Sigil. From his facial features and ears we can tell, that he has elven blood and since half-elves vastly outnumber elves in Sigil, we can assume that he's that. But yeah, it's almost impossible to guess his ancestry beyond that, because it could be from literally anywhere in the multiverse. Planescape is a clusterf*** >.>
- Jaheira: Half Tethyrian and half wood elf. We know that she is from Tethyr and that Tethyr has a notable population of wood elves.
- Khalid: Half Calishite and half moon elf. We know of he's from Calimshan, but his skin is rather pale, so I am guessing he got that part from his elven side of the family, ergo moon elf.
- Neera: Half Illuskan or Kara-Tuan (Shou, Kazakuran, etc) and half moon elf. Since she's from High Forest, both moon and wood elf qualify, but judging from her extraordinary pale skin and her almost white hair, I think moon elf is a safe bet. Given her rather asian looking facial features, I wouldn't be suprised if her human side of the family would be of Kara-Tuan descend. Locationwise Illuskan makes sense, but she doesn't really look the part. Though it could be that she got her "Asian" looking features from her elven side or is an odd one out.
Aaaand I think that's all of them.
What do you think?
PS: I should probably mention that I want the discussion here to be civilized, specifically when it comes to the humans. I don't want to see any personal wishfulness here. Just cold, hard facts and logic applied to it. So don't make any commentaries like "but character X has to be white/ black/ purple because I just like it better that way" and then try to back your argument with "but I can interpret it any way I want".
No. Not in this thread.
Post edited by Buttercheese on
6
Comments
Coran originates from the forest of Tethir (possibly Suldanessellar) which suggests he's probably a wild or wood elf.
Safana's biography claims she's Calishite but for all we know she's lying.
Valygar is almost certainly Tethyrian with Calishite roots in his ancestry.
Yoshimo is unlikely to be Shou, which takes elements of Imperial China. His use of Japanese phrases and a katana makes him more likely Kozakuran (the novels make him one, but well... novels, enough said) or from Wa.
Dorn is a weird case. He looks too humanlike to be a half-mountain orc. I thought he was half-gray orc, who look less bestial as a whole. He's also... not green enough, except in BG2 where he inexplicably and suddenly has green skin on his paperdoll.
I don't think Neera looks even remotely Asian personally, but to each their own. I'd much rather buy that she's Mulan or Tethyrian.
Since he's chaotic neutral, it's most likely from a demon. His fiendish features are the blue hair and the strange facial marks that look like cuts (they might simply be tattoos though).
So, here are my picks:
1. Babau. They feature bloody cuts all over their bodies (look), which is where Haer'Dalis could have gotten his strange markings from.
2. The obvious choice: Succubus/ Incubus. These are the most likely to have sex with mortals, so it's a safe bet that a really good chunk of tieflings ascended from them in general. They are also known for their charisma, which fits Haer'Dalis.
3. Night Hag. Unlike with other hags, a child with specifically night hag blood becomes a tiefling instead of a hagspawn (as demonstrated with Gannayev in NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer). Since night hags often have blue skin (which is wher Gann got his from), this might be where Haer'Dalis got his blue hair from. It's a very weak lead though.
Coran: Then he's probably a wood elf, he's too pale to be a wild elf. That and Tethyr has mostly wood elves.
Safana: Well, she does look the part, so you got that. I think we can believe her in this case.
Valygar: I don't see the Calishite part, but okay ...
Yoshimo: My knowledge of Kara-Tur is less than basic, I wasn't aware that Kozakuran was also a sub-race.
Dorn: As for the beastial features, he might just have gotten lucky and gotten more human features. I mean, Gromnir is his cousin (or uncle, I don't exactly recall) and he's also a half-orc, a green, very beastial one at that. So yeah, I think he's just the odd one out. As for the skin ... no clue.
Neera: Yeah, no, I noticed this part when drawing her, doesn't look very caucasian to me. The eyes and chin specifically. You see how she has no lower eyelid folds and how her upper eyelid/ lashes give off a very prominent shadow, especially in the outer courners? Also the dark irises. That's rather typical for asian women. I mean, it could be from the elven blood, but judging from the other elves we have seen so far, I wouldn't bet on it.
I just realized that he is much more likely a forest gnome instead of a rock gnome, because he has brown skin and and worships their patron deity Baervan Wildwanderer. Though he does dress rather atypical and his personality is contradictory to their timit nature.
Btw, speaking of skin colour, how does it work for gnomes? Are "regular" surface gnomes always light skinned/ caucasian looking? Seems kinda weird unless there are no gnomes in the hotter climate zones. Forest gnomes do seem to be rather out of the ordenary, especially because they are extra short and usually keep to their own.
But yes, true, her hair colour could be fake for all we know. The very pale skin still stands though (unless that one is also of magical origin). From what I can find, the High Forrest is inhabited by wood and moon elves, so it would be either one. I am still playing my bet on moon elf though because of her looks.
As for her human side, Mulan is pretty much out of the question, Illuskan makes location-wise much more sense. I still can't shake the feeling that she may have Kara-Tuan blood though.
@Fardragon Most of the sub-races haven't been around, this is going by the overall lore which exceeds the different editions.
I would also peg Quayle as a rock gnome. They can have a brownish skin, though his is much more of a deep tan than any woody brown that forest gnomes have. Sure, he's worshiping a gnomish god typically worshiped by forest gnomes, but don't forget that Aerie also worships the same god, and she's an avariel. Really, as long as one isn't an "enemy of the pantheon," like an orc trying to worship Moradin or a kobold trying to worship Garl Glittergold, you're pretty much okay. He still could be a forest gnome, true, I suppose arguments could be made, but as long as no one says he's a svirfneblin, we're okay.
All my digging shows tiefling always having pointed ears, so we can't really say if Haer'Dalis has elvish blood in him somewhere, though of course, we can't deny it either. Tieflings area hard to judge like that. At least modern tieflings all look (relatively) the same these days. Make it easier to point them out and go, HEY! It's a tiefling everyone. Still have their pointed ears too.
- Korax: Ghoul (well kept secret)
Dwarves:
- Arkanis: Shield Dwarf
Halflings:
- Deder: Ghostwise Halfling,
Half-Elves:
- Osprey: Half-Elf, Half-Halfling
Humans:
- Canderous: Chondathan
- Mordaine: #BAD STRREF
Gold Dwarves: I'd love to see some gold dwarves (I actually wanted to play one, but I wasn't able to find any portraits I liked
Quayle: Point. So currently we are leaning towards rock gnome.
Haer'Dalis: True. Sigil also has a larger human population than half-elves (37% to 9%). Though his facial features show some elven traits. The relatively large eyes with the upward pointing outer corners, the high cheek bones. It might be the fiend blood, but if I'd have to choose I'd go with half-elf. As for the modern tiefling look, that one apparently is based in that all of them descended from Asmodeus. Well, and that is also roughly a 100 years after BG, if I am not mistaken. I like PoE's version of the "planetouched" so much better, you can at least tell relatively easy which race is behind the godlike features.
Firkraag: Red
Adalon:Silver
Sorry, I just wanted to post something. xD
I'm loving the whole analysis!
Thaxll'ssillyia: shadow
I was looking for some info regarding non-playable NPC's subraces (Tethoril, Ulraunt, Thalantyr, Kelddath Ormlyr etc.), but Volo's Guide to Sword Coast lacks such information. I think this was added in later 3.0/3.5 ed. books. I'll keep digging.