Leliana

Leliana is a fictional character from BioWare's "Dragon Age" franchise, first appearing as a party member in "". A bard who is originally from the nation of Orlais, she came to Ferelden prior to the events of the "Dragon Age" series. Following the events of "Leliana's Song", a DLC pack which serves as a prequel to the base game, she encounters the surviving Grey Wardens of Ferelden in the town of Lothering, and accompanies them to stop the monstrous Darkspawn from overrunning the world of Thedas. Leliana has appeared as a supporting character in subsequent video game sequels to "Origins" as well as other expanded media. She is voiced by French actress Corinne Kempa.
Leliana is generally well received. The character was featured prominently in promotional material and advertisements released by Bioware's parent company EA leading up to the release of "Dragon Age: Origins" and "".
Concept and design.
Leliana is conceived as a devout and religious layperson from Orlais, a human empire which is culturally inspired by Renaissance-era France. She used to work as a bard, a type of musician who often undertakes work on the side as assassins and spies for patrons in her homeland's games of intrigue. According to senior writer Lukas Kristjanson, the developers considered Leliana to be an obvious fit as the protagonist of the DLC that would become "Leliana's Song", as she is a natural storyteller due to the nature of her profession.
Leliana's face in "Dragon Age: Origins" is based on an adult model named Alleykatze. In a 2010 interview, French actress Corinne Kempa considered Leliana to be her biggest video game role to date. Kempa described Leliana as a "mix of strength and vulnerability, sexy at times, and also has a sense of humor. According to Kempa, to competently perform voice work in a video game means having to be able to simulate talking to someone or respond to a hypothetical situation and emotion, all the while being led by a voice director who puts the sentences she is asked to verbalize within the appropriate emotional context.
Leliana's video game appearances are written by Sheryl Chee. According to Chee, while she has a good grasp of their arc and personality, her characters’ voices do not really establish themselves firmly until she has written a few conversations around them as part of her creative process. Chee described her playlist when writing for Leliana to be generally dominated by feminine voices, its tone "sweetly melancholic, with occasional moments of self-indulgent gloom and anger".
Former "Dragon Age" project director Mike Laidlaw described her iteration in "Inquisition" as a character who is somewhat morally ambiguous; depending on the player's choice to influence her in "Inquisition", she could either relent and become "a joyful note amid a lot of darkness", or become even more hardened. Laidlaw noted that she ultimately is "capable of incredible resilience despite hardship", as she had grown from the naive and inexperienced young woman in "Leliana's Song" to someone who has mastered her field of expertise but remains fundamentally optimistic in "Inquisition", even though she understands what is happening in the wider world. To Laidlaw, Leliana character's arc and the iterations of her personality represents the turbulent developmental history of the "Dragon Age" intellectual property as recounted in an interview with "Eurogamer".
In "Inquisition", Leliana is presented as a representative of the secret side of the Inquisition. Her armor is streamlined to "evoke maximum intrigue", while her scarf hood communicates two sides of her character: the devout believer and the rogue. Leliana wears an ashen purple hood to help obscure her face, and her choice of armor reflects her need to remain discreet and incongruous. Her leather tunic is lined with chain mail mesh, which affords essential protection with no compromise on mobility. She wears plate greaves and leg guards to protect herself from low swinging blows. The heraldry of the Inquisition, displayed on the front of her tunic, serves to remind the organization's opponents that "their secrets are never safe".
Appearances.
"Dragon Age: Origins".
Early on in "Origins", Leliana is encountered in the Ferelden village of Lothering as an optional party member. She introduces herself as a lay sister of the Andrastrian Chantry, and after breaking up a brawl at the local tavern, she insists on joining the Ferelden Wardens after receiving what she believes was a vision from the Maker, the deity venerated by the Chantry. She is bisexual, and thus a possible romance option for both male and female player characters. Leliana is highly religious and believes in doing the right thing. This means if the player-controlled Warden chooses to commit a morally reprehensible act like defiling the fabled Urn of Sacred Ashes, she may attack the Warden and dies in the attempt. Leliana continues to appear in the "Dragon Age" series regardless of her fate in "Origins". Leliana's personal quest involves dealing with Marjolaine, her old mentor and lover.
Leliana is the protagonist of the "Origins" DLC "Leliana's Song", a prequel to the main campaign for "Origins" which details her complicated past and her pivotal meeting with Mother Dorothea, who is eventually appointed as Divine Justinia V within series lore.
"Dragon Age II".
Leliana appears in a cameo appearance at the ending of "Dragon Age II", where she confers with her colleague Cassandra Pentaghast following the conclusion of the latter's interrogation of Varric Tethras. In "The Exiled Prince" DLC pack, she is encountered by Hawke's party at the Viscount's Keep in Kirkwall. Revealing herself as Sister Nightingale, a special agent who is known as the Left Hand of the Divine, she asks Hawke to persuade Grand Cleric Elthina to flee the city out of concern for her safety.
"Dragon Age: Inquisition".
In "Dragon Age: Inquisition", Leliana is appointed as the organization's spymaster who deals in secrets and is quick to move amongst the shadows when diplomacy fails and when a deft touch is needed instead. She is presented as "suspicious and deliberate" who carefully chooses her allies to protect against betrayal and deception, and someone who is emotionally hardened due to her time working as an agent of the Divine due to her many enemies. If a world state is configured where Leliana had an relationship with the Hero of Ferelden during the events of "Origins", this will be acknowledged within in-game dialogue.
Leliana is depicted as having become ruthless and unforgiving due to experiencing a crisis of faith following the untimely death of Divine Justinia V. the Inquisitor has the option of accepting her emergent personality, or attempt to reach the idealistic part of her seen in "Origins". Mid-way through "Inquisition's" narrative, Leliana will emerge as a potential candidate for election as the next Divine of the Andrastrian Chantry, potentially succeeding Divine Justinia V.
In other media.
In the 2011 novel ", Leliana is presented as an agent of Divine Justinia V who attempts to mediate between the warring Mage and Templar factions. She later participates in a raid on the White Spire to free some captive mages, but her presence convinces the Templar Order that Divine Justinia is conspiring against them.
In the 2014 novel ", Leliana appears as an envoy to Empress Celene on behalf of Divine Justinia V. Among the topics of discussion between the characters include the ongoing Mage-Templar War, as well as a rebellion led by elves in the city of Halamshiral.
Leliana makes a brief appearance in the 2015 comic book miniseries "". She assigns Dorian Pavus and the Bull's Chargers on a mission to help the main characters of "Magekiler", Marius and Tessa Forsythia, defeat the Venatori. She greets them upon their return to Caer Bronach, an old Ferelden military outpost in the Crestwood area.
Reception.
Leliana is described by "Gamesradar" as a popular and well received companion character. Kimberley Wallace described her as a wild card and her return in the then-upcoming "Inquisition" to be most exciting, as her motivations and true loyalties are shrouded in an aura of mystery. In an article written in commemoration of International Women’s Day 2020, Jamie Sharp from "Power Up Gaming" praised Leliana for representing the virtue of strength and persistence, who has been through a lot of opposition and struggles in her life and yet retains her semblance of self and eventually becomes "the person she wants to be". On the other hand, Charles Onyett from IGN took the view that Leliana was hardly the most compelling character from the series.
As a love interest in "Origins" who is available for a player character of either gender, Leliana is noted for not conforming to clichéd stereotypes of sexual minorities; her traits are neither overtly feminine nor overtly masculine, and the potential same sex relationship between her and the player character is depicted as stable and revolve around love as opposed to sex, and does not lead to a tragic end unless the player sacrifices their player character at the game's ending. Corin Bae from "TheGamer" credits her experience of replaying "Origins" in 2017 and interacting with Leliana for aiding her to come to terms with her traumatic personal experiences. She believes that the greatest thing she took away from experiencing Leliana's story, is "the willingness to let myself want".
For her work as Leliana in "Inquisition", Corinne Kempa was nominated for the Supporting Performance In A Drama award for the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers' 14th annual awards program honoring video game art, technology, and production in 2015.