Английская Википедия:Astarion

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Astarion Ancunín is a fictional character from Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate video game series, which is based on the tabletop fantasy role-playing system of Dungeons & Dragons. Making his first appearance in 2023's Baldur's Gate 3, Astarion is available as a major playable character, either as the primary protagonist, or as a recruitable party member and is a rogue, specializing in stealth, lockpicking and sneak attacks. In the game, Astarion is kidnapped alongside several other party members and infected with a Illithid parasite and must search for a way to cure himself. Early in the story, he is revealed to be a vampire spawn, and his personal quest focuses on evading and hunting down his former master Cazador.

Reception to Astarion has been universally positive. When he was initially encountered during Baldur's Gate 3's early access period, he quickly became a fan-favorite character and his prominence on the game's box art and his role in subsequent trailers and marketing was greatly increased. He also earned critical praise for his dry, sassy characterization, his intriguing backstory, and sex appeal. Astarion is voiced by English actor Neil Newbon, who has also received praise, winning several awards for his performance, including the 2023 Golden Joystick Award for Best Supporting Performer, and Best Performance at the 2023 Game Awards.

Creation and development

Файл:Neil Newbon, October 2023 (cropped).png

Neil Newbon, who provided the voice and motion capture for Astarion, received critical acclaim and several awards for his performance.

Astarion was created by and primarily written by Baldur's Gate 3 senior writer Stephen Rooney. He is voiced and motion captured by English actor Neil Newbon. Discussing his process for bringing the character to life, Newbon stated that he was heavily influenced by commedia dell’arte, a comedic style of Italian theatre, and their inclusion of an amoral jester known as Arlecchino. Astarion's mannerisms were adapted from several of Newbon's friends and by several creative individuals, namely makeup artist Leendert Van Nimwegen, actor Giles Foreman, and cabaret performer Reuben Kaye. Newbon stated that he developed some of the vampiric aspects of Astarion's character from a local stray cat, explaining that “the way the cat moves, or the way the cat looks at you. The way the cat will allow you to come closer and then rip your hand off when it’s bored ‘cause that’s enough. ‘That’s enough, now. No touching now, darling.’”

Newbon acknowledged the importance of the character, stating that “People have come up to me and said that they've felt inspired to deal with their own trauma. As a survivor myself, I understand when they talk to me about it - what they mean. That they feel seen by the game, they feel understood by the characters. That is a testament to this amazing, beautiful masterpiece that Larian, Swen, the writing team have all put together and created.”

Discussing what it was like to play Astarion, Newbon explained that he was given creative freedom with some heavy themes. He found it very fascinating to play a character who initially appears as a “decadent, manipulative, hedonistic vampire”, but is actually deeply traumatised and wears a façade to protect himself from the pain and will do anything to keep his newfound freedom. He also praised the character's pansexuality, and discussed how an intimacy coordinator was available for all of the performers to help them bring the game's sex scenes to life.

Portraying the struggles of Astarion as a survivor of trauma and abuse was a difficult balance for Newbon, who admitted that “there [was] a lot of stuff that came very close to home” and that he had to take care to separate the aspects of his own life that he was bringing to the character to the truth of the actual character in the script, and reflected upon the care he and the developers took with his storyline, explaining “it's not a gimmick. He's not [traumatised] because it's 'just another idea for a character story' … this was a very fleshed out, deep, layered observation of a character in trouble and jeopardy, having gone through trauma—and then what they do to get out of that, and what they can do with their newfound sense of freedom, and what that means to them.”

Gameplay

As a rogue, Astarion wears light armor and is proficient with several bladed weapons, including daggers, rapiers and longswords, as well as longbows and crossbows. Astarion is skilled in acrobatics, deception, perception, performance, persuasion, sleight of hand, and stealth, making him well-suited to several tasks, including picking locks and disarming traps, which are invaluable early on in the game if the player has not also created a rogue character. As a High Elf, he naturally has the ability to cast a Fire Bolt but does not have any other magical abilities. As a vampire spawn, Astarion has a unique Vampire Bite ability which drains an enemy of some of their health and transfers it to Astarion, though this ability is not unlocked until the player finds out that Astarion is a vampire during the story. Depending on the outcome of his personal quest, he may gain an upgraded version of this ability, known as Ascendant Bite, and the power to transform into a cloud of mist.

Appearances

Baldur's Gate 3

Astarion is a High Elf rogue who is also a vampire spawn first introduced in Baldur's Gate 3. Players can choose to play Astarion as an origin character or he can be recruited in the party as a companion.

Other media

Outside of video games, the character was included on cards for Magic: the GatheringШаблон:'s "Commander Legends: The Battle For Baldur's Gate" set, appearing on both a regular and a special "showcase" card.

Reception

When Baldur's Gate 3 was released, Astarion instantly became a fan-favorite character, with NBC News and CNN reporting that videos featuring him had received over half a billion views on TikTok, with fans citing his heartthrob features, sassy quips and enjoyable romance arc as some of their primary reasons for their enjoyment of the character. Additionally, other players stated that they identified with his story as a survivor of trauma and abuse, and considered him a comfort character for those with similar experiences. Discussing reaction to the character, Neil Newbon, Astarion's voice actor, noted “it is incredibly touching to have people come up to me and say, ‘Astarion’s story made me feel seen,’ and that I was not prepared for — that was something, which was amazing and wild and beautiful.”

Astarion is highly regarded among the other party members in Baldur's Gate 3, ranking highly on numerous best character lists. Jessica Fillby of Dexerto placed him in S-tier alongside Karlach and Shadowheart, stating: “it’s hard to resist Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, whether that’s the vampiric charm or the pure charisma he holds. Either way, Astarion is funny, extremely flirtatious, and the right amount of trouble to get any D&D player interested.” Writing for Den of Geek, Matthew Byrd ranked Astarion as the game's fourth best companion, explaining that “Astarion’s story is not only compelling, but it’s one of the few companion stories that are interesting right out of the gate rather than after you’ve invested considerable time into getting to know a character. Astarion’s story is never quite what you think it’s going to be, and I mean that in the best way possible.” Katelyn Mitchell Jewett of GamesRadar+ declared Astarion one of the game's best companions, citing his complex and compelling story, his usefulness as a party member, his romance plotline, and his unique take on the central conflict.” Writing for the same publication, Carrie Talbot praised the characterization of Astarion, and the writing and performance of Rooney and Newbon, for revolutionizing the morality system in roleplaying games.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2023	Golden Joystick Awards	Best Supporting Performer	Baldur's Gate 3	Шаблон:Won
	The Game Awards	Best Performance		Шаблон:Won
2024	New York Game Awards	Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game		Шаблон:Nom
	D.I.C.E. Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Character		Шаблон:Pending
	British Academy Games Awards	Performer in a Leading Role		Шаблон:Longlisted

External links

• Astarion at the Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki