Dragon Age: Origins' Cut Content Explained

Important takeaways

• Dragon Age: Origins originally planned more character origins, such as a Human Commoner similar to Luke Skywalker's story.
• Many companion features, such as Jowan as a full-time companion and other companion features, were cut from the final Dragon Age: Origins release.
• Storybeats and quests were also removed, such as a quest that involved slandering the player character by an NPC hired by Loghain.

Video games go through a lot during the development stage, from additions to subtractions and divisions to multiplications. At the end of it all, there's generally plenty of content left on the cutting room floor, and that includes BioWare's classic RPG, Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age: Origins is considered one of the best RPGs ever made, but it didn't reach that point without first having tons of content cut from its final form.

With the release of the highly anticipated Dragon Age: The Veilguard just around the corner, it's worth looking at everything that was cut from Dragon Age the game that started it all, Dragon Age: Origins. Clippings from Dragon Age: Origins included numerous character origins, companions – both narrative and visual – and multiple beats and quests. Fortunately, it still came out the other side a critically acclaimed experience that is still recognized to this day as a foundation for BioWare and RPGs.

Everything that was cut from Dragon Age: Origins

Many more origin stories were originally planned for Dragon Age: Origins

While the final cut of Dragon Age: Origins offered players six different origin stories to choose from, there was originally a much larger number planned. The exact number remains a mystery, but two of the main origin stories that were cut have been revealed. First, there was originally a human common origin, which was seemingly very similar to Luke Skywalker's story in Star Wars fairy tale. The Human Commoner begins as a farmer in Redcliffe Village, and shortly after finding the mutilated corpse of a cow, their farm is invaded by Darkspawn. The Human Commoner then heroically rises up to lead a defense against the Darkspawn until Duncan appears and eventually recruits the player character.

This particular origin was cut off Dragon Age: Origins because The Human Commoner's story didn't really fit the overall tone of the game. Several technical barriers also prevented the farm invasion from being portrayed the way BioWare wanted it to be. Dwyn, the Surface Dwarf who refuses to help defend Redcliffe Village in the quest “A Village Under Siege”, was also originally designed to be a villain in the Human Commoner's origin story – a loan shark who loaned the Human Commoner's parents money.

Another origin that was cut from Dragon Age: Origins was a human barbarian origin, which would have taken place in the Frostback Mountains among the Avvar tribes. The story itself would have involved a sort of proof, where the player character had to prove his strength to the Avvar clans. However, their clan is eventually wiped out by another chieftain, but the human barbarian player character is saved by Duncan, who then recruits the player character.

Players would revisit the origin location later Dragon Age: Origins' story during the quest line “The Urn of Sacred Ashes”, where they would have had an opportunity to take revenge on the chieftain responsible for killing their clan. The human barbarian origin went through many rewrites but was ultimately cut due to a lack of art resources to complete a definitive Avvar appearance.

Several companions have been cut from Dragon Age: Origins' final release

With companions being such a significant part of BioWare games, they are likely to experience a large portion of the cuts that occur before a game's final release. This seems to be especially the case with Dragon Age: Originsas several companions were cut from the game before it launched. Perhaps most notably, Jowan was originally intended to be a full-time companion in the game, where the player would have used conscription rights to recruit him once Arl Eamon was healed.

Jowan's role as a full-fledged companion was ultimately cut during the game's development, with the final release making him only a temporary companion.

Dragon Age: Origins' companions were also initially intended to develop the Darkspawn flavor, after which they would have had to join the Consortium and become Gray Wardens after the Landsmeet. Sten, the lovable Qunari warrior companion of Beresaad, like all other Qunari in the game, would have the iconic horned look that Dragon Age 2 is carried out. Unfortunately, graphical issues prevented BioWare from being able to design Qunari with horns, so “hornless Qunari” lore was added Dragon Age 2 to provide context for Sten and the other Qunari i Dragon Age: Origins.

Slate, another of Dragon Age: Originspotential companions, could initially be picked up from Redcliffe Village before being placed in Honnleath instead and recruited via the game's Stone Prisoner DLC. More minor companions included Wynne recognizing the player's decision to become a Blood Mage and warning Knight Commander Greagoir and the other Templars during the “Broken Circle” mission. It was also initially possible to hand Morrigan over to Greagoir and the Templars due to her being an Apostate who was not part of the Circle of Magi.

Many Story Beats and Quests were removed from Dragon Age: Origins' Final Cut

Many beats and missions were also removed from Dragon Age: Origins before it goes to its final cut. First, Celene Valmont I was originally meant to visit Denerim, where players would have learned that Cailan intended to divorce Anora and marry the Empress of Orlais before Teyrn Loghain revealed the plot. There was also originally an NPC named Renold who was hired by Loghain to slander the player character Warden in a quest titled “Slander and Demand” in Denerim. However, players can recruit Loghain and convince him to order Renold to stand down.

Several smaller ones Dragon Age: Origins quests were also cut, including one involving several orphans stealing, and another questline similar to the events of the “Favors for Certain Interested Parties” quest that players can perform for the bartender at the Nawed Noble Tavern in Denerim.