| “ | Hawke this, Hawke that. Why does everything fall to me?
— Hawke
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” |
Hawke was the Human child of an apostate mage and a noble of Kirkwall, and like many Bioware protagonist was a powerful individual and a magnetic leader. Hawke grew up along a younger sister, trained to become a mage, Bethany Hawke, and a brother, a member of the army, Carver Hawke. The player can determine Hawke's gender and class- Warrior, Rouge or Mage. Similar to Commander Shepard, Hawke is fully voiced, and can be given any appearance or first name the player desires, though the images shown depict the Hawke seen in Bioware's advertisement- usually a male mage Hawke, with the default haircut and beard. The default name for a male Hawke is Garrett and females default to Marian.
This article assumes that Hawke is a male in accordance with the marketing material; there is no real canonical gender.
History[]
Dragon Age II[]
Hawke fighting Darkspawn during the escape from Lothering.
| “ | Let me guess. Your precious Chantry's fallen to pieces and put the entire world on the brink of war. And you need the one person who could help you put it back together.
— Varric Tethras about Hawke
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” |
Hawke and his siblings, Bethany and Carver, where dwelling in the town of Lothering, not far from Ostagar, during the time of the fith Blight (seen in Dragon Age: Origins). After the death of King Cailan and the fall of Ostagar, the Darkspawn horde advanced on the town, just after the Warden arrived, recruiting the Qunari Sten and the Orlesian bard Leliana. The town fell quickly, and Hawke barely made it out alive, losing one of his siblings during the fight. (Rouge and Warrior players will lose Carver and Mage characters will lose Bethany.) Along the way, he met the Templar Wesley, and his wife Aveline. With his home destroyed, Hawke and his remaining sibling set off for the Free Marshes, north, where they have family in the Nobles, who they believe will harbor them. The fighting attracted the attention of the powerful witch Flemeth, who protected the remaining Hawkes, and helped get them on their way, after promising to deliver an amulet to the Dalish Elf camp at Sundermount. She also revealed that the Darkspawn taint was within Wesley, forcing a mercy killing from either Aveline or Hawke.
Hawke discovered, upon arriving in Kirkwall, that the city was being overwhelmed by Fereldan refugees, and that Uncle Gamlen had bartered away all the Hawke family's social status and things, living in a small shack in the cities Lowtown, and not even having the money to get his family into the city. Gamlen did however, manage to line up two groups willing to hire Hawke- the Red Iron mercenary group, or a group of Smugglers. Whichever Hawke chooses will leave the two remaining siblings, and by extenstion Aveline, in a year of indentured servitude to the group. Nonetheless, Hawke does it, and after a year's passing, and the Blight's ending, Hawke decided to gain money to bring justice to the family name. Meeting the dwarf, Bartrand Tethras, who was preparing to take an expedition into the Deep Roads to take advantage of the reduced Darkspawn numbers to make a ton of gold, Hawke decides to join the adventure at any cost. This leads him straight to Varric Tethras, the so-called "Merchant Prince of Kirkwall" and proud storyteller. Hawke also meets the pirate Isablea, whose ship had crashed in a storm while trying to retrieve an unknown relic, Fenris, an elf warrior and ex-Tevintir slave with lyrium-imbued scars that cause him pain when touched, and Anders, the mage and once Grey Warden who has come to disappear after his misadventures in Amaranthine.
Hawke is contacted by a Chantry sister named Petrice, who asks him to escort a dangerous Qunari Saarebas to safety. After a risky underground night-time escape, resulting in a conflict with a few anti-qunari/anti-fereldan gangs, Hawke and the Saarebas reach the safety of the Vimmack Mountain Pass, however, a trail leads a pack of Qunari, and most importantly, one of the Saarebas' masters, an Arvaard. The Arvaard demands that Hawke hands over the Saarebas to it's rightful master according to the Qun. If Hawke agrees, the Saarebas is killed and then the Qunari decide to attack Hawke in case he was influenced by the Saarebas. If Hawke refuses to allow the Saarebas to be taken back, Hawke must fight and kill them all. Saarebas tells Hawke he is a good leader, but must follow the Qun, and lights himself on fire and dies. When Hawke returns to tell Petrice, she admits that she was responsible for the Qunari for tracking Hawke down- but there's nothing he can do to bring justice to her.
Before going on the Deep Roads expedition, Hawke ventured to Sundermount to complete the task set forth by Flemeth. When Hawke arrived at the Dalish camp at the base of the mountain, he was greeted by a group of hostile Elf guards, and Keeper Marethari, who told Hawke the quest wasn't quite done yet- Hawke now had to climb to the top of Sundermount to perform a ritual with the amulet, and afterwards Hawke had to take Marethari's First, the innocent and somewhat loopy mage Merril, with him when he leaves. During the climb it is revealed that Merril is a blood mage, and when she performs the ritual, Flemeth appears, thanking Hawke for guaranteeing her survival.
When Hawke returns from Sundermount, he gives Bartrand the gold and maps, becoming his business partner- however, Bartrand tells Hawke he won't take all of his companions, and that he must choose three of them. Varric must go, and his mother, Leandra, arrives to beg Hawke not to take his other sibling with him underground. If Hawke chooses to ignore Leandra, than the sibling is infected with Darkspawn taint, and if Anders is not also in the party, they will die. If Anders is in the party, he will administer the only cure- the Grey Warden Joining, but they must leave to join the order. After a week of exploration, Bartrand's expedition is trapped by a collapsed pillar. Hawke volunteers to search the side passages to save time and manpower, and after killing some Darkspawn, rescuing Sandle, and slaying a Dragon, secures a path leading to the Primevil Thaig. Once within the ancient Dwarven Thaig, Hawke's group finds a pure Lyrium Idol. The Idol mystifies Bartrand, who steals it and seals Hawke, Varric and the two other party members within- to Varric's disbelief.
Hawke facing down the Ancient Rock Wraith.
Finding another side passage, Hawke escapes out the back, where he meets a powerful Hunger Demon controlling an army of Rock Wraiths- known as the Profanes. After fighting through an army of the Profanes, the Demon tries to barter with Hawke, promising him a way out if he stops killing them all. Regardless of whether or not Hawke agrees, he proceeds to battle the guardian of the exit- the Ancient Rock Wraith. After a long and hard battle, the Wraith is killed, and looting it's horde of treasure obtains the key. If the Demon was not killed earlier, it refuses to allow Hawke to take anything else without a fight. After leaving, Hawke spends the next three years regaining the Amell/Hawke name- repurchasing his estate and building up his political influence. When he returns home, Hawke finds that (If they aren't taken into the Deep Roads) either Carver has joined the Templars, as he is tired of living in your shadow, or Bethany has been discovered by the Templars, and must join the Circle of Magi.
After the timeskip, tensions between the Qunari and the Kirkwall natives has been steadily rising. Many of the Elves, tired of the subjagating fist of the guard, have joined the Qun, and the Viscount's son, Sheamus' intrest in the Qunari culture has been causing a political storm. The Viscount admits to Hawke that the Qunari delegates that he had met with had been captured without ever leaving the keep, and asks Hawke to find them before harm can be done. Petrice, now known as Mother Petrice, admits that her former bodyguard is responsible for the kidnapping, and when Hawke hunts him down, he and the religious crowd he's whipped up murder the delegates and attack Hawke. After they are all killed, the Viscount is brought down, and becomes distraught at the scene. When Hawke delivers the news to the Arishok, he becomes enraged at the filth and hate that dwells in Kirkwall. Things go from bad to worse, however, when Shaemus converts to the Qun. When Hawke goes to investigate, he discovers that Mother Petrice kidnapped the boy, and killed him to frame the Qunari and start a war to wipe them out. While the Grand Cleric decides that Petrice will be tried before a court for her crime, a Qunari assassin shoots her twice, killing Petrice, before vanishing.
Hawke begins hunting for a serial killer who has been murdering women for years- and eventually tracks him to his lair, where he has kidnapped Hawke's mother, Leandra. Fighting through a small army of Shades, Demons and Abominations, Hawke discovers a library full of books on Blood Magic and Necromancy- all provided by an inside source "O". When Hawke continues, he finds the killer and his mother, who has been decapitated and has had her head sewn on another woman's body, with another woman's hands and feet, wearing a tattered wedding dress- the horrid attempt of the killer to bring back his dead wife. Enraged, Hawke kills more demons representing the possession of the various victims and murders the serial killer, but without his magic, Leandra has nothing keeping her alive and she dies.
Returning to the estate, Hawke is met by both Isabela and Aveline. Isabela tells him that she knows where the relic is and needs his help to find it, and Aveline tells him that the Qunari are harboring fugitives from the law. When Hawke goes to find the relic, they learn it's located in the Lowtown Foundry, where they are attacked by angry Qunari. Isabela reveals that the relic is an ancient book, and one of the most important and sacred Qun relics that she stole, and the Qunari will do anything to retake it. Hawke can support her to find the relic and keep her safe, and if her friendship is high enough, she will stay. If it is not she leaves Hawke after taking the relic. If Hawke tells her they're giving the relic back, she leaves him behind with the relic. Alternatley, Hawke can recover the relic with Isabela, only to turn her over to the Qunari. If this is done, the Arishok and his followers will leave Kirkwall behind. When Hawke returns with Aveline to the Qunari Compound, it is revealed that the two criminals are elves who killed a guard who raped their sister. Hearing about what happened with the relic distracts the Arishok, however, and the conversation leads to the Arishok mounting an attack on Kirkwall.
The final duel between Hawk and the Arishok.
Hawke pushes through to his Hightown estate, along the way encountering a group of Grey Wardens (Which will include your sibling, if they joined) who aid him briefly, but tell him they cannot get involved in political struggles and must leave. In Hightown, Hawke is nearly killed by a Saarebas, but is saved at the last second by the Templar Knight-Commander Meredith. Meredith tells Hawke to keep pushing to the Keep, where the leaders of Kirkwall have been trapped, and along the way, Hawke finds and rescues First Enchanter Orsino, but fails to rescue his fellow Circle Mages (With the exception of Bethany, assuming she's alive and with the Circle). Hawke prepares to enter the Keep when Templar reinforcements arrive (Possibly including Carver). Hawke takes command, and uses Orsino's magic to distract the Qunari guards to enter the keep. Once inside, the Arishok reveals that he has killed the Viscount, and one of three things can happen- Hawke and his allies must battle the Qunari army, Hawke has earned the Arishok's respect and can challenge him in single combat, or Hawke can turn in Isabela and the Relic. After defeating the Arishok, the people hail Hawke as the new Champion of Kirkwall.
Over another three years, no new Viscount is put in place, and Meredith has taken control- hammering down on the mages. Tensions begin running high, and Hawke is asked by both Meredith and Orsino for help hunting down supposed Apostate Blood-Mages, and to discover an undercover resistance that has kidnapped Hawke's sibling, forcing Hawke to come to the rescue. Things quickly escalate, and everything comes crashing down when Anders sends the Kirkwall Chantry up in a wall of fire and destruction, killing the Grand Cleric and multiple innocent people. Hawke is forced to choose a side as the Templars and Mages turn the streets of the city of chains into a battleground. No matter which side Hawke picked, the war spread across the lands of Thedas, and Hawke became both a folk hero...and a suspected criminal who started everything to begin with. While Hawke simply dissapears (possibly with a choosen love interest), the Chantry Seeker Cassandra tracks down Varric, and forces him to recount the above tale, slowly changing her belief that Hawke was a criminal into a borderline case of Hero Worship. Varric's story proved to be unhelpful to the Seekers, and Cassandra let him go, talking to her leader Leliana about the uncanny vanishing of both Hawke and the Hero of Ferelden...
Dragon Age II: Legacy[]
At an unknown point during the events of the previous journey, Hawke traveled to a Grey Warden prison tower in the Vimmark Mountains. During Cassandra's interrogation of Varric, she explains that the Seekers had heard of a chasm that took place in the Vimmark Mountains, and that the Champion had been involved- demanding that Varric clarify. Tethras decided to do so, explaining that it wasn't a quest central to the events the Seeker was explicitly interrogating him over, so he hadn't planned on explaining it, meaning it likely takes place sometime in-between either Acts 1 and 2 or Acts 2 and 3 of Dragon Age II.
The Carta, a Dwarf criminal cartel that has expanded across all of Thedas, has been hunting Hawke, hunting for what they call "The Blood of the Hawke". With sibling and party members in-tow, Hawke travels to the Vimmark Wastelands, outside the Mountains, where the Carta is based, intending to stop the attacks. Hawke and the party cut their way through a small army of Dwarves, possessed by some dark power called Corypheus. After felling dozens of Carta Dwarves and their Bronto mounts, Hawke and the team confront the Carta's leader, a berserker named Rhatigan, who has been driven to the same madness as his fellow kin. Killing Rhatigan, Hawke and the party enter the massive Grey Warden prison tower in the Mountains.
Inside the Tower, Hawke and the party are confronted by numerous Darkspawn running rampant, and meet a member of the Wardens who has lived too long and fallen into the process of becoming a Ghoul- Larius. Larius is able to explain to Hawke that Corypheus is an ancient Darkspawn of great power, and that his presence is enough to drive those around him mad, including the Carta and himself. Larius knew Hawke's father, Malcolm Hawke, and explains that every so often, the seals keeping Corypheus imprisoned in the tower weaken enough that they must be re-sealed by a powerful mage who was not of Warden origin. The order chose Malcolm to take up the task, and forced him to use Blood Magic to seal Corypheus, but a side-effect of the ritual left the seals breakable through the blood of the Mage's descendants- namely Hawke, Bethany and Carver.
Deeper into the tower, Hawke encounters Janeka, a senior Grey Warden and mage, who seeks to free Corypheus from the bindings, because she believes her own skill in Blood Magic is sufficient enough to bind the ancient Darkspawn to her will, and with him, she believes the Wardens can end the threat of the Blights. Larius strongly disagrees, urging Hawke to instead free Corypheus so that they can kill the Darkspawn, as he was too powerful to be allowed to live and risk setting free. If Hawke chooses to side with Larius, Janeka and her hired Carta thugs must be fought and killed, If Hawke sides with Janeka, she will use her magic to tear the fading Warden-Commander apart. After this, Hawke breaks the seals and free Corypheus, either intending to kill the Darkspawn, or discovering that he was manipulating Janeka as easily as anyone else, and that he is far too powerful for her blood magic, forcing Hawke to fight him anyway.
When he is released, it is discovered that Corypheus was not really a Darkspawn- at least not fully. He was once a Tevinter Magister and follower of the god Dumat. Upon his awakening, Corypheus' rambles reveal that he had been one of the Magisters that corrupted the Golden City of the Maker, spoken of in the Chant of Light, before returning as one of the first Darkspawn. Somewhat delirious after centuries of imprisonment, Corypheus begs Dumat for aid, not realizing that Dumat was one of the Old Gods to fall to the corruption of the Darkspawn Taint, becoming the first Archdemon, who was slain during the first Blight. Furious that Dumat is ignoring his cries, and for what he believes is a lack of respect for his position of Magister from Hawke, Corypheus attacks. After an extended battle with the powerful Darkspawn Mage, Hawke is able to overcome, striking the Darkspawn down and apparently killing him, but a final conversation with the Grey Warden Hawke sided with implies that rather than die, in his final moments Corypheus invaded the mind of the Warden and possessed them, allowing him to walk free across Thedas undeterred.
Dragon Age II: Mark of the Assassin[]
Another event taking place at an unknown point in-between acts in the original story, Cassandra demands to know the truth behind a scenario where Hawke was in Orlais for a brief period of time, which is rumored to have nearly reignited a war between the nation and Ferelden, and whether or not the Champion's role in Orlais has any connections to the present events of the Orlesian Civil War. After a few thinly veiled threats, Varric relents and decides to tell the tale, though it has no bearing on his main narrative.
Receiving an invitation to a massive party in Orlais by Duke Prosper de Montfort, Hawke is ambushed by a gang of Antivan Crow assassins. Before the party can dispatch the Crows, an elf assassin unrelated to them appears and quickly and effortlessly butchers the enemies, introducing herself to Hawke as Tallis. Tallis reveals that Duke Prosper is in possession of an object of great interest to her- a large jewel called the Heart of the Many. Tallis explains that Prosper's possession of the Heart is unjust and that she had traveled to Kirkwall to recruit Hawke to help her break into Prosper's home at the Chateau Haine and recover it, a plot Hawke eventually agrees to.
Traveling to the Chateau Haine, Hawke and the party engage in the festivities of the party, which opens with a competitive Wyvern hunt on the expansive property around the Chateau. After gathering enough materials to bait a massive Wyvern out of hiding, including a Dragonling Corpse, a sample of blood, a Halla corpse, Wyvern Dung and getting Tallis to replicate a Wyvern mating call, Hawke is finally able to confront an Alpha Wyvern, the largest and most dangerous version of the creature. After killing it, Hawke is attacked by another Noble, Baron Arlange, who wanted to take the Wyvern kill for himself, though he is easily dispatched by Hawke and Tallis. Having now killed the first Wyvern of the season, a party thrown in Hawke's honor is held inside the Chateau courtyard, where Hawke and Tallis begin to mingle with the guests in an attempt to find a way to reach the Heart of the Many. Tallis finds an unguarded door to into the Chateau Haine, but explains that door is unpickable and they need to find the key. After investigating multiple guests, including Leliana, Hawke and Tallis find that the key is in the possession of Lord Cyrus. The elf assassin attempted to seduce Cyrus, but when she learned that she wasn't his type and that he was attracted to Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall was given the choice of seducing Cyrus personally and taking the key, or taking Cyrus into a room alone and knocking the unsuspecting lord out and taking the key by force.
Entering the Chateau, Hawke and Tallis must sneak past the guards and silently make their way from area to area to reach the Vault doors. After solving multiple puzzles and incapacitating the guards, Hawke and Tallis are ambushed by a legion of the Duke's Chevaliers. Prosper reveals that he knows that not only is Tallis an assassin, but a Qunari as well, and has his guards throw them both in the dungeons. While they pass time in the Dungeon, waiting for the other party members to break them out, Tallis explains to Hawke that the nature of the Qunari is a common misconception throughout Thedas- Qunari is only a religion, and that any Human, Elf or Dwarf could be considered a Qunari. She goes on further to explain her true mission in the Chateau- she was a member of the Ben-Hassrath, meaning literally 'Heart of the Many', an order that serves to protect the Qunari way by intervening and making threats disappear before they can become a threat. A member of the Tal-Vashoth, Salit, has traveled to Oralis to sell important secrets to the Duke. Talis had sought out Hawke and traveled to stop Salit of her own volition, knowing how much the secrets he possessed could hurt the Qunari. Understanding, Hawke decides to continue to help Tallis, though the two get bored waiting for their fellow party members and simply pick the lock and escape themselves, meeting the other two members of the team on the way out, who had gotten themselves lost in the Chateau.
Fighting their way out of the Chateau, Hawke's team made their way to the nearby Mountain Pass, where they were confronted by both Prosper's Chevaliers and Salit's Tal-Vashoth. After defeating the majority of the forces, Tallis interrogates one of them, demanding Salit's location. He tells her that Salit is meeting Prosper at the base of the Mountain just before she kills him, and the party moves quickly to catch him before the deal can go down. Despite their best efforts, the team is too late to stop Salit handing over a large scroll to Prosper. The Duke is excited to finally possess a powerful Qunari weapon, but when he opens it, he discovers it is simply a list of names. The Duke becomes enraged, as he had expected the formula for Black Powder or some other Qunari weapons blueprint, and in his distraction, Tallis is able to recover the scroll. Furious, Prosper shoots Salit with a special formula that summons his pet Wyvern, Leopold, who devours the Tal-Vashoth. After an extensive battle, Hawke is able to trick Leopold into leaping off the mountain side, killing the beast and its master. Tallis explains to Hawke that the scroll is a list of all the Qunari agents undercover in every country in Thedas, including high ranking politicians and notable figures. She thanks the Champion for helping her, even after she lied about her mission, considering Hawke a friend, and before leaving she leaves Hawke with a fancy jewel she has jokingly named The Heart of the Many, a way to repay the Champion for the help. Years later, Hawke would attempt to convince the leadership in Kirkwall of the threat of Qunari subterfuge, but they refused to accept that it was a possibility. The Champion also claimed to have seen a red-headed elf in Kirkwall's markets a few times after their meeting, and while Hawke could never get close enough to her before she disappeared into the crowd, everything about her, even from a long distance, made Hawke certain it was Tallis.
Non-Canon History[]
Dragon Age Legends[]
| “ | Thanks for buying Dragon Age II!
— Hawke's battle cry
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” |
Hawke appears in Dragon Age: Legends as a guest star party member unlocked by obtaining the Dragon Age Legends Bioware Signature Pack- a pack which is unlocked instantly for free after logging into the game for the first time after purchasing a new copy of Dragon Age II and having it linked to the same Bioware Social account as the Legends Facebook profile. While Hawke is wearing the mage variant of the Champion armor and wielding the mage weapon The Staff of Parthalan, Hawke is considered a warrior as far as the class-system works. As he is a bonus character, he is not related to the Dragon Age Legends story.
Trivia[]
Appearances[]
- Dragon Age II (2011)
- Dragon Age II: The Exiled Prince (2011)
- Dragon Age II: Legacy (2012)
- Dragon Age II: Mark of the Assassin (2012)
- Dragon Age Legends (2011)
- Heroes of Dragon Age (2014)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (2015)