Mages are a hot topic in the world of Thedas due to their immense power. People have a lot of good reasons to fear them. Due to this though, mages typically face oppression and have mixed feelings about the various systems put in place for them.
Even fans have split ideas about how mages should be dealt with. Some fans are pro-Mage Towers while others think mages should be totally free. However, Tevinter exists and serves as a warning for how mages can hoard all the power if they have too much freedom.
Mage discourse aside, there are a ton of interesting mage characters in the games. They each have unique ideas and feelings about their powers, and all have very different skill sets as well. Some are more powerful than others and have more reason to be feared and/or respected.
Updated August 19, 2021 by Allison Stalberg: Mages are a driving force in Dragon Age’s story. On one end, they can be dangerous and unpredictable and on the other hand, they can be saviors of Thedas. Ignoring the mage conflicts in the Dragon Age universe is impossible, as it is central in main quests. No two mages are cut from the same cloth though. Some agree that they are dangerous while others think they deserve freedom, no matter the fears of people. Aside from their own opinions though, they also can differ greatly in power.
15 Bethany
Bethany from Dragon Age 2 is the little sister of Hawke and Carver’s twin. She can actually die to an ogre in the prologue, depending on the class Hawke is. This makes her one of the weaker mages in the realm of Dragon Age companions.
Depending on the choices you make, Bethany can get stronger as a Warden or Circle Mage. Of course, she can also die in the Deep Roads. That is two conditional deaths, making her certainly not the strongest mage out there.
14 Anders
Anders is the king when it comes to mage discourse. He is a man with a lot of feelings about the oppression mages face and even goes as far as to romanticize the Tevinter lifestyle in certain banters. He is a popular character, but there are fans who hate him for blowing up a Chantry at the end of Dragon Age 2.
Part of his frustrations may stem from the fact that he isn’t one the strongest mages out there. In fact, his intertwining with the spirit of Justice has given him far more weaknesses than strengths. He can go berserk if his emotions get too intense. The man barely has control over himself, let alone anything else.
13 Dorian
Dorian (voiced by Ramon Tikaram) is a mage hailing from Tevinter. In that sense, his life has been built for learning about magic and power.
His magical skills are in necromancy. Unfortunately, the games have not yet gone into much detail about the power and cultural implications of necromancy (however, the books have hinted this will be explored much more in Dragon Age 4). Despite the lack of information though, it is a no-brainer that necromancy is a powerful tool.
12 Merrill
The most feared form of magic is Blood Magic, and Merrill is not afraid to put Blood Magic into practice to get results. It is feared because of its power. With it, mages can go as far as to mind-control others. So don’t let her cute face fool you!
Luckily, Merrill never goes that far. The fact that she practices Blood Magic though, puts her above some other Thedas mages in terms of strength. She is also the First to the Keeper of her Dalish clan, which requires a lot of knowledge in magic.
11 Danarius
Danarius is as evil as Tevinter magisters come, and he is a blood mage who holds onto his title for a reason that Tevinter tends to respect: power. He is known as one of the most powerful magisters in the whole Imperium. He refined an ancient technique that binds lyrium to skin and created one of the deadliest warriors in Thedas.
However, Danarius stood no chance against Hawke and their companions. His power and knowledge were not enough to survive going toe-to-toe with them.
10 Vivienne
What makes Vivienne so special as a mage is that she came from nothing and worked her way up to many mage titles. Through her magical skills, she became one of the youngest full-fledged mages in Circle history.
Besides her skills in magic, she is quite clever. She is a scholar and is adept at the Game. She is the sort of character who plays the game of life like a chessboard. In fact, she is so good at what she does that, depending on the players choices, she can become the first mage Divine.
9 Fiona
Former Grey Warden, First Enchanter, and Grand Enchanter, Fiona is a mage of many titles. She has a lot in common with Vivienne, but is arguably stronger. She was an orphan, a slave, and was abused before she came to the Circle. Despite those atrocities, she thrived in major leadership roles the Circle and as a Grey Warden. Vivienne also started out powerless, but not to the extent that Fiona went through.
While she can die in Inquisition, it is due to tragedy instead of weakness. David Gaider even hinted that the Rebel Mages could have been influenced by blood magic to side with the Venatori.
8 Calpernia
Calpernia only appears in Dragon Age: Inquisition if you have the Templars join the Inquisition, which is a real shame since she is a very fascinating character. Oddly enough, she has a lot in common with Fiona. She was a slave, taught herself how to read, and rose from being nobody to somebody. Corypheus deemed her strong enough to lead the Venatori.
Her loyalty to Corpyheus is not blind though, and she is smart enough to step back if the Inquisitor can provide proof that he will betray her.
7 Zathrian
Casual fans may have forgotten about old Zathrian from Dragon Age Origins. He is the Keeper of his clan and a blood mage. With his abilities, he got creative enough to make a werewolf curse. He bound the Spirit of the Forest to the body of a wolf and as long as he lives, so does the curse and vice versa.
No other mage does anything like this in the Dragon Age series. It is an oddity and one that displays how powerful Dalish Keepers can actually be with the power of Blood Magic.
6 Wynne
Wynne is an amazing mage not only for her power but for her age as well. She keeps up with the Wardens’ team and often is the one saving the party with her healing spells. She is a hard-worker and never shows signs of wishing to stop (even in the face of war and Archdemons). Like Anders, she is also possessed by a spirit (a spirit of faith). However, it works in her favor rather than against her.
When Wynne does pass away in the book, Asunder, this is just through choice by passing on the spirit of faith to someone else. She was basically undefeated to the end.
5 Morrigan
Morrigan (a major fan favorite) is a Witch of the Wilds, and was raised by Flemeth. Due to that, she knows all kinds of ancient and forbidden magics. She can shapeshift, put an Archdemon soul in a baby, and is quite knowledgeable about other cultures.
She can also put on many masks. She goes as far as being a Witch of the Wilds to the Arcane Adviser to the Imperial Court of Orlais. Being adaptable is a great sign of strength, and one that gives her an edge in any situation. Like her mother, there are still a lot of mysteries surrounding her character.
4 Corypheus
Being an ancient darkspawn magister, Corypheus is definitely not a run-of-the-mill mage. There are still many mysteries about him, but what fans do know is his power. He somehow broke into the Golden City and that’s is basically adjacent to humans breaking into Gods’ dwelling place. That takes a crazy amount of power.
With his power, Corypheus can control the minds of dragons, make armies, and rip down the veil itself.
3 The Architect
One of the main villains of Dragon Age: Awakening, The Architect is a talking and intelligent darkspawn capable of strong magic. He has a lot in common with Corypheus in terms of mystery and power. He is arguably a stronger mage though, as he commits himself to experiments and working from the shadows than attracting a lot of attention.
In fact, the Architect can still be alive depending on your choices in Awakening. However, Corypheus is utterly defeated no matter what decisions are made in Inquisition.
2 Solas
Fans have only just gotten a taste of Solas’ real power in the Trespasser DLC, and it is terrifying. He can turn people into stone without even looking at them. Players can try to attack him but he is untouchable, able to make the Inquisitor just writhe in pain before they can even get to him.
Such is the power of the Dread Wolf, and many fans have a feeling that we still haven’t seen what he is really capable of yet. This has inspired a ton of fan art and fanfiction until we can get the real details in the next game title.
1 Flemeth
Flemeth is the obvious choice for the most powerful mage in the series, mostly because she is always a step ahead of everyone. She has numerous names from different folklore of different Thedas cultures due to her powers.
In Origins, she appeared as a simple bog witch but it’s obvious from how she speaks that she knows far more than anyone else. It was her idea to bind the soul of an Archdemon into a child through Morrigan, and fans are still unsure what her endgame is in that respect. Though it appeared Solas killed her at the end of Inquisition, it was clear that she was prepared for it and (as usual) is ten steps ahead).
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