Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters explained, from The Dark Urge to Karlach

There are loads of Origin characters to choose from in Baldur's Gate 3, each with their own backstory, skills, and class. If you fancy playing as one of them in Baldur's Gate 3, we'll explain exactly who they are and what separates them from a custom character you can make when starting the game.

As a CRPG, Baldur's Gate 3 features a fair few companions you can spend your time with, but as an alternative option, you can also play as these characters and make them your main character. If you want to know how this works, and learn a little more about each one in the game, check out our breakdown of the Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: Which to choose?

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When starting out in Baldur's Gate 3, you have a number of options that can be broken down into a few categories. First, you have a custom character. This is the likely option for most players, as it allows you to create the character you want to be.

If you play this way, the origin characters become characters in your story that you can interact with, and who can become your companions.

Your other option is to choose one of these premade origin characters as your main character. This will require some degree of role-playing, as these characters have their own defined personalities and traits.

That said, there is plenty of freedom in Baldur's Gate 3, so you could view this similarly to an RPG like The Witcher 3, where you play an established character, but you choose who they become through the story.

One of the origin characters blends the two previous options into one. The Dark Urge is not a set person or class - you will notice if you choose them in the select screen that they can be anyone or anything. This character will be detailed further below, but suffice it to say that playing as The Dark Urge is a totally different way to play.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: Astarion

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Astarion is a High-Elf Rogue, who has been in the thrall of a vampire for centuries. His everlasting life was unnaturally extended (kind of) when a vampire made him a vampire spawn.

As a result, Astarion has some of the powers of a vampire. He was completely under the control of the vampire Cazador Szarr, until he was captured by a mind flayer and infested with a tadpole.

The tadpole gave Astarion his freedom and subdued the weaknesses of his vampiric affliction (sunlight, running water, needing to be invited into homes, etc.) giving Astarion conflicting thoughts about whether or not this tadpole is such a bad thing.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: Lae'zel

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Lae'zel is a Githyanki Fighter, a race of interdimensional beings that were once enslaved by the mind flayers. Once captured by a mind flayer and brought aboard a nautiloid, she was infested with a tadpole that would gradually transform her into a mind flayer.

Lae'zel's mission is quite simple. Remove the tadpole, defeat the mind flayer, and return home to her people.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: Karlach

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Karlach is a Tiefling Barbarian you can play as or recruit in Baldur's Gate 3. After being imprisoned for a decade in the Hells fighting the Blood War, a mind flayer nautiloid ship appeared suddenly above the battlefield.

Seeing her chance to escape, Karlach stowed aboard the ship, only to become infested with the same kind of tadpole as the others. When the nautiloid crash-landed on the Sword Coast, Karlach found herself with two problems. She must remove the tadpole in her head and the infernal engine in her chest.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: Shadowheart

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Shadowheart is a Half-Elf Cleric dedicated to the goddess Shar. She was given an important mission, to retrieve a powerful artefact and bring it back to Baldur's Gate. However, in order to undertake this mission, Shadowheart had to agree to have her memory temporarily wiped.

Seemingly en route to her destination, Shadowheart was taken by the mind flayer and implanted with a tadpole aboard the nautiloid. Adding complications on top of complications, she must deal with this tadpole situation while also trying to find the mysterious artefact, all the while having no memories of her life before.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: Wyll

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Known as the Blade of Frontiers, Wyll is a Human Warlock who works as a monster hunter. While clearing a village of goblins, he was captured and tortured. The experience left Wyll feeling a need for more power.

As such, he sought out a fiend named Mizora and made a pact with her. This made him a Warlock, a powerful being who owes his life and soul to his fiendish patron. Wyll sought to escape her clutches, but just as he was about to make his attempt at freedom, he was captured by the mind flayer.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: Gale

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Gale is a Human Wizard, and an ambitious one at that. His life's goal was to become the most powerful wizard that Sword Coast had ever known, but he flew far too close to the sun. In his effort to become a powerful wizard, he attempted to court Mystra, the goddess of magic.

How successful he was in that endeavour depends on who you ask, but suffice it to say it did not end well. In an effort to gain/regain her favour, Gale attempted to reunite Mystra with a piece of her magic that had been sealed away. Instead, he became host to a Netherese destruction orb.

This orb draws in power within Gale's body, and it is only a matter of time before it explodes with a force that could wipe an entire city off the map. As if that wasn't enough, Gale is also abducted by the mind flayer. With both a bomb and a tadpole in his body, Gale has multiple ticking clocks he must get ahead of if he wishes to survive.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Origin characters: The Dark Urge

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The Dark Urge is a unique choice among the origin characters, as they are essentially another player-created character, but with a twist. The Dark Urge can be any race, and use any class. You craft the character as you normally would, but the Dark Urge plays much differently from a regular created character.

First of all, the Dark Urge has no memory of its past. They do not know who they were before being abducted by the mind flayer, and they do know that they did horrible things in their past. The Dark Urge is divinely compelled to commit atrocities and to do harm at every turn.

Playing as the Dark Urge, you will be plagued by a voice telling you to do terrible things, and it is up to you whether you fight the urge or give in to it. This is very different from playing a normal created character as an evil person, as the Dark Urge has unique cutscenes, dialogue, and choices throughout the game.

The Dark Urge is not for everyone, but surely everyone should try the Dark Urge at least once. What's the harm?

That is it for our Baldur's Gate 3 origin characters guide. For more Baldur's Gate 3 guides, check out our build guides, starting with the best Baldur's Gate 3 Wizard build.