How Halsin (Baldur’s Gate 3) Reflects Real-World Issues
If you think about companion quests for other RPGs, like Pillars of Eternity or Dragon Age, they usually have to do with these larger-than-life, fantasy problems that don’t reflect real world problems terribly well (or in the case of the latter, when they try to reflect those problems, they end up creating more inconsistencies and can often downplay the severity of these problems). Think of Arueshalae in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous- her arc is incredibly well-done, but isn’t the easiest to relate to as a player, because of the scale of her moral dilemma and what it could mean on a literal cosmic level. We everyday humans don’t face issues like ascending from literal demonhood and redeeming ourselves for murder. But Larian Studios, through the character of Halsin, have the chance to do something incredible in its smaller scale. They have the chance to write an arc that is relatable, while still strong in terms of emotional buildup, and that grounds the larger-than-life story in a very human place.
Let’s talk about Halsin and body image.
The first thing to note about Halsin is that he does not exist in a vacuum. His in-game appearance is reflective of our current Western male body standards, even if in-game he doesn’t reflect the standard of his own culture. That is to say, as an elf in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, his sheer beefiness wouldn’t be looked on fondly by other elves. To us, as players, his body is something to admire for its adherence to Western male body standards and gym-bro culture. Immediately there is a disconnect between what he (and other in-universe characters) may think about his appearance and what we, as real-world humans, may think. That disconnect is the setup for an incredibly powerful story.
The second thing to note about Halsin is that he already exists on the outside of his in-game society. He’s a wood elf (which, given the typical wood elf stat array does make him an excellent choice for the druid class) but he does not exist within wood-elven society (as the grove itself is shown to be multiracial). It’s also quite telling that the form he chooses for his Wildshape ability is that of a bear. Typically in shapeshifter media the form one takes is symbolic for some aspect of the shapeshifting character (for example, Morrigan in Dragon Age taking on the form of a spider in the official Origins trailer, which could be reflective of her venomous wit or the fact that, like many spiders, she is initially seen as unlikable or even unlovable). Halsin, choosing a bear form, could simply be a matter of gameplay optimisation- or, what I hope is the case (considering how much emphasis Larian Studios has put on the narrative and character agency), could be a matter of story and gameplay integration. In short, Halsin might take on the form of a bear in order to hide his potential insecurity (as in, he takes the form associated with his default physical being in order to assert that he is not, in fact, insecure of his “bear-like” features), or it could be as straightforward as he finds comfort in a form similar to his born, elven one- while he may have been mocked for his appearance by society, he has turned it into a weapon, something useful, something strong.
Or, y’know, it could just not be that deep.
(I truly, truly hope it is that deep.)
