| Developer: | BioWare EA2D Edge of Reality TransGaming Capital Games Failbetter Games |
| Publisher: | Electronic Arts |
| Creator: | David Gaider and BioWare |
| Genre: | Role-playing |
| First Release Version: | |
| First Release Date: | November 3, 2009 |
| Latest Release Version: | |
| Latest Release Date: | November 18, 2014 |
Dragon Age is a media franchise centered on a series of fantasy role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare, which have seen releases on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The franchise takes place on the fictional continent Thedas, and follows the experiences of its various inhabitants.
The first game in the series, , follows the story of a recent recruit to a legendary order of warriors known as the Grey Wardens. Their mission is to save the kingdom of Ferelden from being overrun by the Darkspawn, a monstrous race of subterranean-dwelling beings who swarm the surface world every few hundred years in a movement known as a Blight. A Blight begins when the darkspawn track down and awaken an Archdemon, a powerful dragon that controls the Darkspawn hordes. Its sequel Dragon Age II is centered around the eldest child of the Hawke family, a Blight refugee who moves their family to their mother's home city of Kirkwall in The Free Marches. There, over the course of approximately seven years, they begin as a criminal and work their way up the city's power structure to eventually become the Champion of Kirkwall. As such, in the midst of crisis and political unrest, they go on to help make decisions that influence all of Thedas. A third installment, centers on the Inquisition, an organization tasked with restoring peace and order to Thedas, which is suffering from multiple wars and being ravaged by a demonic invasion from beyond the mortal realm over a decade after the events of the first game. The Herald of Andraste, who later becomes the Inquisitor, is the only individual who can seal the rifts that bring demons to Thedas, due to a mysterious magical mark on their hand. They also help to bring peace to the political landscape. All three main series games have been joined by a variety of expansions and downloadable content (DLC) add-ons. A fourth installment, Dragon Age: The Veilguard (formerly Dragon Age Dreadwolf), is currently under development with a scheduled release in 2024.
The main series games have all met with commercial success as well as mostly positive acclaim for its narrative, universe lore, character development, voice acting, and emphasis on player choices affecting the experience. In addition to video games, the franchise has expanded to other media and now spans multiple spin-off games, novels, graphic novels and comic books, webseries, an anime film and an animated television series, as well as other licensed products and merchandise.
The Dragon Age franchise is set in the world of Thedas (an acronym for The Dragon Age Setting), with events from the main series games taking place primarily in its southern regions. Thedas is the only continent of the known world and consists of various clans, nations and states inhabited by multiple humanoid peoples. Several kingdoms and countries have emerged over nine centuries of a calendar era based on the traditionally reckoned year of the founding of The Chantry, the dominant religious organization in the Dragon Age series, and each century is referred to as a separate "Age".[1] Three out of several human nations play a prominent role in the series: the kingdom of Ferelden to the southeast of Thedas, which is politically organized in a similar manner to the English peerage system; the Orlesian Empire to the west of Ferelden, where its nobility is notorious for undermining each other with intrigue and subterfuge in their jostling for favor and patronage with its absolutist ruler; and the Tevinter Imperium in the northern region of Thedas, which once subjugated southern Thedas during ancient times, and is governed by a powerful oligarchy of magic-wielding magisters led by an Imperial Archon.[2] Other noteworthy civilizations explored in the main series games include the Free Marches, a human-dominated confederation of politically independent territorial entities to the north of Ferelden, and the Kingdom of Orzammar, one of the few remaining dwarven city states scattered throughout the Deep Roads, an underground highway system beneath the surface of Thedas created by the dwarves millennia ago.[2]
Race, class, and heritage combine to determine social class and political dynamics in Thedas. A recurring theme in the series consists of power struggles and internal conflicts play out between and within various factions.[2] Tevinter society practices slavery, which is outlawed and stigmatized in other human societies. Human nobility are treated with deference and respect across Thedas, whereas elves are often viewed as second-class citizens who live within overpopulated ghettos in human cities called alienages, or kept as slaves in the Tevinter Imperium. A significant portion of the elven population of Thedas call themselves the Dalish after the Dales region in eastern Orlais where an elven polity once stood. They proudly live a nomadic lifestyle away from the urban settlements of their city elf counterparts in an attempt to preserve and reclaim their cultural heritage, which was mostly wiped out millennia ago when the ancient elven empire of Elvhenan, which spanned most of Thedas, mysteriously collapsed. Dwarven society is organized around a rigid caste system and a form of ancestor worship. While the dwarves cannot wield magic themselves, their economic activity primarily revolves around the mining of lyrium, a mineral substance which powers the practice of magic, which they trade with the surface world. Some dwarves live on the surface, voluntarily or otherwise: they are considered "casteless" and are usually unwelcome within dwarven societies in the Deep Roads.[2]
A fourth sapient humanoid species unique to the setting are the Qunari, meaning "People of the Qun" in their language. Qunari is an umbrella term used to describe both the race of large horned humanoids who hail from settlements in the far north of mainland Thedas, in particular the island states of Par Vollen and Seheron, as well as converts from other races to their civil religion known as "The Qun", which guides the Qunari's egalitarian yet strictly regimented society.[2] [3] [4] The Qunari government is a totalitarian regime ruled by a triumvirate of leaders who represent the body (military), the soul (priesthood), and the mind (merchants and craftsmen) of their people. Individuals who are born outside of Qunari society are known as Vashoth, while those who abandon the Qun's fundamentalist teachings become known as Tal-Vashoth and are considered traitors or enemies to Qunari society.[2] Renowned as formidable warriors, the Qunari are taller, larger, and more physically robust than other humanoid races in Thedas.[2] They usually have skin of varying metallic colors, white or light-coloured hair, pointed ears, and eyes with colors like violet, red, silver, or yellow. Unlike other races, Qunari do not adorn themselves with tattoos or wear helmets, instead making use of war paint called Vitaar which provides a ceremonial purpose as well as practical benefits. The Qunari are locked in a perpetual conflict with the Tevinter Imperium and often seek to spread their influence throughout Thedas via covert agents or military offensives.
Magic-wielding characters known as mages, are born with an uncommon gift for magic that is identified early in their lives, but they are not always in control of their own power.[2] Mages have access to the Fade, a mysterious parallel dimension that is linked to the physical world and home to various spirit beings. It is a metaphysical realm that is normally accessible only to sapient beings (except for dwarves) when they dream: individuals who have the potential for magic have direct access to the Fade unlike most people, and conversely the Fade's inhabitants have direct access to these aforementioned individuals.[2] A lapse in judgment or vigilance may result in the mage being unwittingly possessed by demonic spirits and utilized as vessels to come out of the Fade.[2] Lyrium is critical to magic use as it enables the channeling of magical energy from the Fade; it is blue in color, though another more dangerous variety known as red lyrium is introduced in Dragon Age II.[2] Some mages practice a form of forbidden magic known as “blood magic”, which is powered by the blood of living beings instead, and sometimes use their power to deliberately summon demons to do their bidding.[2]
Mages in southern Thedas are cloistered into training facilities called Circles of Magi by The Chantry, which teaches that "magic must serve man, not rule over him". The Chantry is a monotheistic religion who worship a personal god known as the Maker and venerates the prophet Andraste, a former slave who led an uprising against the Tevinter Imperium in a movement called an "Exalted March". The Chantry is led by the Divine, who is exclusively female and considered one of the world's most powerful people because of her extensive cultural, diplomatic, political, and spiritual influence over the peoples of Thedas. Mages who live outside the Chantry's control, which includes the Dalish clan chieftains known as Keepers, are considered to be extremely dangerous by many societies in Thedas. The Chantry has a military wing, the Templar Order, who are specially trained to seek out and subdue wayward “apostate“ mages by any means necessary. This is in contrast to a tolerant view of mages in Tevinter society due to influence from the Imperial Chantry denomination, which historically broke away from the mainline Andrastian Chantry and utilize Imperial Templars as law enforcement under the authority of the magisters instead.[2] While Tevinter mages practice their talent for magic without sanction in their homeland, on the other extreme the Qunari physically shackle their mages (termed Saarebas, meaning "dangerous thing,") due to their deep distrust of the practice of magic.[5]
The Darkspawn and their recurring Blights are considered to be the single biggest threat to the civilizations of Thedas. The dwarves in particular have a specialized group of warriors known as the Legion of the Dead to fight the Darkspawn, though their civilization is a shadow of what it once was due to an unceasing war of attrition against the constant threat.[2] The rest of Thedas rely on the Grey Wardens to disperse the Darkspawn hordes whenever they arrive on the surface during a Blight: the Wardens’ goal is to slay the Archdemons, the corrupted Old Gods of the Tevinter Imperium, heralding each Blight.[2] The first game in the series, Dragon Age: Origins, begins on the eve of the fifth Blight. Other major threats faced by the peoples of Thedas include cults and paramilitary groups corrupted by dark magic, such as the Venatori and the Red Templars; demons from the Fade, unleashed as part of a massive inter dimensional invasion during the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition; and dragons, long thought to have been extinct for many centuries, until their reemergence by the end of the Blessed Age caused the then-ruling Divine to name the next Age as the Dragon Age, the century in which the vast majority of the Dragon Age series takes place.[2]
| Year | Title | Developer | Platform(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1 | BioWare | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, OS X | |
| 2009 | Dragon Age Journeys2 | EA2D, BioWare | Web browser | |
| 2010 | 3 | BioWare | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, OS X | |
| 2011 | Dragon Age II4 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | ||
| Dragon Age Legends5 | EA2D, BioWare | Facebook Platform, Google+, Web browser | ||
| 2013 | Heroes of Dragon Age | EA Capital Games | iOS, Android | |
| 2014 | Dragon Age: The Last Court6 | Failbetter Games | Web browser | |
| BioWare | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | |||
| 2024 | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | |||
| Notes: 1 The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Origins were ported by Edge of Reality, while the Mac OS X version of the game was ported by TransGaming.[6] [7] 2 Requires Adobe Flash Player. 3 The Mac OS X version of Origins – Awakening was ported by TransGaming.[8] 4 The Mac OS X version of Dragon Age II was ported by TransGaming.[9] 5 Requires Adobe Flash player. A remixed version of Dragon Age Legends was released in May 2011. 6 Previously accessible via Dragon Age Keep on web browser. | ||||
See main article: Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. Dragon Age: Origins is the first game in the series, and was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in November 2009, and for Mac OS X in December 2009. Set in the kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil unrest, the game puts the player in the role of a warrior, mage, or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background. The player character is recruited into the Grey Wardens, an ancient order that stands against monsters known as the Darkspawn, and is tasked with defeating the Archdemon that commands them and ending their invasion. BioWare described Origins as a spiritual successor to their previous Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights franchises. Origins has received critical and public praise since its release, for its characters, story, voice acting, and traditional RPG combat and gameplay.
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is the expansion for the role-playing video game . Origins – Awakening adds a new campaign that takes place during the aftermath of Dragon Age: Origins. It was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 16, 2010, in North America, March 18 in Europe, and March 19 in the United Kingdom,[10] and for the Mac OS X on August 31, 2010. It was later bundled with Origins and various DLC packs as Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition, released on October 26, 2010.
See main article: Dragon Age II. Dragon Age II is the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in North America and Europe on March 8, 2011 and March 11, 2011, respectively. BioWare's Edmonton office began development of Dragon Age II during the production of Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. The game puts players in the role of Hawke, a human mage, rogue, or warrior who arrives in Kirkwall, a city state in the Free Marches as a lowly refugee. Hawke becomes the Champion of Kirkwall over a turbulent decade of political and social conflict. Hawke is supported by several companions, most of whom play major roles in the game's plot and gameplay, and will either recognize Hawke as a friend or a rival depending on players' decisions and dialogue.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the sequel to Dragon Age II, released worldwide in November 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game puts the players in the role of the Inquisitor, a warrior, mage, or rogue coming from an elven, human, dwarven or Qunari background, who survived a cataclysmic event which led to the creation of a mysterious tear in the sky called the "Breach", which is unleashing dangerous demons upon the world. The Inquisitor is viewed by some as the 'chosen one', as they have a 'Mark' on their hand capable of closing the Breach, and eventually becomes the leader of the titular Inquisition in an attempt to stop Corypheus, an ancient Darkspawn, who opened the Breach in the course of his attempt to conquer Thedas and achieve godhood. Dragon Age: Inquisition received critical acclaim since its release, with critics praising its story, voice acting, soundtrack, detailed environments, and engaging combat. It was awarded over 150 year-end accolades and nominated for more, including Game of the Year and Best Role-playing awards from several gaming publications.
See main article: Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
The fourth Dragon Age game began development in 2015 under the codename "Joplin", however, development for "Joplin" was cancelled in October 2017. The project was rebooted in 2018 under the codename "Morrison".[11] [12] In June 2022, the game's title was announced as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf[13] [14] and in June 2024, the game was retitled Dragon Age: The Veilguard.[15]
Dragon Age Journeys was a 2009 Flash-based browser game developed by EA2D. A tie-in to Dragon Age: Origins, players could unlock achievements in the game, which would unlock content in Origins. Its content was intended to be spread over three chapters. The first chapter of the game, The Deep Roads, was released as a free download in October 2009.[16] The second and third chapters were never released as the project was ultimately cancelled.
See main article: Dragon Age Legends. Dragon Age Legends was a 2011 Flash game developed by EA2D for the Facebook Platform and Google+. Legends incorporated elements of strategy and tactical role-playing games in its gameplay. It served as a tie-in to Dragon Age II by unlocking additional content for players, and is also set in the Free Marches. A "remixed" version of Legends titled Dragon Age: Legends: Remix 01 which featured hack and slash gameplay was released in May 2011 and hosted by IGN. The servers for Legends was deactivated on June 18, 2012, although a modified offline version was released shortly afterwards as a free download.[17]
See main article: Heroes of Dragon Age. In 2013, EA released Heroes of Dragon Age, a free-to-play game for mobile devices. The game is battle-based, featuring digital 3D figurines of characters from the Dragon Age universe. Rather than introducing new lore, the game is based on "what if?" scenarios drawn from plotlines in the existing games.[18] The sunset for Heroes of Dragon age was announced in November 2022 with the servers slated to go down on January 23, 2024.
Dragon Age: The Last Court was a free-to-play browser game released in November 2014, with its gameplay focused on drawing cards and managing resources. Set between the events of Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition, players would assume the role of the Marquis of Serault, a marquisate located on the western edge of Orlais. Previously accessible from the online platform Dragon Age Keep,[19] The Last Court was taken offline by November 17, 2020, although fans led a project to preserve its contents prior to the due date.[20]
The Dragon Age franchise includes various types of media adaptations and merchandise outside of the video games. Its setting has been used by a variety of other media, including novels, comics, graphic novels, and licensed products such as a tabletop role-playing game, action figures, and statues.
There are currently six novels set in the Dragon Age universe:
See main article: Dragon Age (role-playing game).