But why is that, why is Solas more popular then other individual antagonist in the BioWare canon like Loghain, Corypheus, Saren or Anders. While some antagonists like the Reapers are iconic in not only the gaming community but pop-culture as a whole none have risen to become as popular as Solas in such a short amount of time. Solas became well known in the DA and BioWare fandom and was one of the most talked about parts of the game overshadowing almost everything else. This only increased after DAI's DLC Trespasser where Solas solidified his place as a fan favorite adversary despite not actually doing that much throughout the game.
I think this comes down to a 3 things the first of which being
You Can Get to Know Solas
One issue that video games often face is it's rather hard to get to know your enemy because... it's a game, you kinda have to spend 99% of it focused on the player character so you can't cut back to the villain to see what they're up to as that would distract from the player character which is not usually something that goes over well with players. So, having it where Solas is a companion art first means you get to spend time getting to know him. His wants, needs and fears, we get a very clear image of who Solas is in a relaxed environment, fight alongside him against a mutual adversary and help him out with a few personal quests.
With Loghain you don't really get to know him until AFTER you let him join your party and that's assuming you do as many just kill him after all the $#!t he's put you through. Solas, by contrast, is one of the first companions you pick up in the game and proves himself to be a vital part of the story before you even meet him and as the story goes on you're given more and more time to learn just how important he is to the plot. Which leads me to my next point as to why I think he's so popular.
He Betrays You
As a general rule, people don't like being betrayed. In Dante's Inferno the deepest level of Hell is shown to house traitors as it is seen as the greatest of all sins. In Avatar and She-Ra Zuko and Catra were believed to have crossed the moral event horizon when they betrayed the heroes and many fans are still unconvinced to give either character a chance because of that betrayal even though both have done more then enough to prove they are worthy of redemption. And in the Marvel Cinematic Universe a betrayal of trust between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark broke the Avengers and fans are STILL debating if Steve's betrayal of trust was justified or not.
Regardless of ones feelings towards Solas before the reveal he WAS someone we trusted. He was someone we helped, someone who fought alongside us and someone who saved our life on several occasions. And in the end, he leaves us and uses us to destroy a threat to his power. That is often the most talked about point about Solas that he was a companion that turned against us and yet, still helped us and even if your antagonistic towards him he STILL saves our life and helps to stop a Qunari invasion.
Unlike Anders, who betrays our trust and gets pissing if we call him out on it and does little to nothing to help, Solas is helpful and kind which makes him turning on us hurt all the more. Regardless if you romanced him, developed a rivalry or was just a friend him revealing that he was always working against us hurts. As bad as the Reapers are they are always upfront with us and thus we develop a sort of respect because they are honest about what they are. But those who betray us are ones we grow to hate on a personal level because people usually don't like being lied to.
And finally, the reason I think Solas is so popular as an antagonist
His Arc is Shaped by Us
I've talked about this before but Solas is rather unique as a BioWare antagonist. Characters like Loghain and Anders are pretty much going to remain who they are regardless of player choice. While you may have the option to expand on the stories of Loghain and Anders in the end they are not really altered that much by the player we just learn more about them. But Solas, we are either his enemy, his lover or his friend and all three relationships are shown in full at the end of the game and our choices are either to redeem him or kill him.
This is something we haven't seen in many BioWare games or even that many RPG game series (as far as I know) where a character's arc is shaped by the player throughout several games and within BioWare games I only know of 3 characters (not counting Solas) who are shaped, in part, by the player. Garrus, Jaesa and Khem. These characters, in both big and small ways, are the only ones who's character arcs are shaped by the players actions in someway.
By contrast characters like Liara or Leliana will always have the same arc as the story goes on regardless of player input. Somethings might change but for the most part they will develop along their own path and not the path set by the player.
While we are only on one game with Solas so far the Dragon Age online Archive (aka Dragon Age Keep) notes your relationship with Solas and makes note of if you are a rival, lover or friend, if you helped him on his personal quest AND if you choose to redeem or kill him.
Trespasser was a tease of what Solas can be depending on player choices as, again, he will react VERY differently with you depending on how your relationship unfolds and his opinion on his quest will change depending on that relationship.
One of my favorite lines in DAI is when I promised that I would prove to him that he didn't need to destroy the world and his response to this was "I would Treasure the chance to be wrong once again my friend." That hit me right in the FEELS. Solas, in my version of DAI was a tragic hero who wants to be stopped while in another players version he is on the verge of becoming another Corypheus who will destroy the world to restore the one he's lost.
I WANT to redeem Solas and have him help save the world while another player will likely want to kill him for betraying their trust and I can't think of any other antagonist in the BioWare canon that invokes such feelings in players.
Now, as the time of this writing we don't actually know if Solas will be able to live up the hype but the fact that we can possibly shape his story is something that makes me want to see more of this Egg Head and that's why I think the Dread Wolf is so popular.
Thoughts?
