10 Baldur's Gate 3 Characters That Deserve Their Own Spin-Off Game (2024)

Baldur’s Gate 3 has many bizarre, beautiful, and downright repulsive characters, but some are so fascinating that they could command a starring role in their own spin-off title. While major companions with deep backstories, such as Astarion and Shadowheart clearly deserve some extra time in the limelight, there are plenty of other strange and memorable NPCs in Larian Studio’s RPG that could be fleshed out in a separate game. Considering the depth of BG3’s writing and the vastness of the D&D setting, Larian has established a rich foundation for a variety of future titles.

Including homicidal butlers, Disney-esque villains, and even brains with arms, Baldur’s Gate 3 has a diverse cast that could be used to push the setting beyond its RPG roots and into any number of other genres. Future games could also explore the myriad endings for BG3’s companion quests, which tease vast conflicts and setting-changing events spanning several dimensions. If nothing else, new spin-offs would give players the opportunity to revisit some of the wild and beloved characters that made the original game a genuine modern classic.

10 Sceleritas Fel Can Explore Different Planes

Loyal butler to the homicidal Dark Urge, Sceleritas Fel is a demented figure whose true nature remains unclear throughout the game’s main story. Appearing occasionally out of thin air to ‘advise’ players with the Dark Urge origin, Fel gleefully endorses any and all murdering, violence, or cruelty that they commit. The character’s genuine desire to help his master, combined with his violent leanings, coalesce into an unhinged Jeeves persona that might excel in an adventure game.

Though adventure games are largely neglected as a genre in 2024, the minor success of recent spiritual successors such as Pentiment shows that there is still room for the classic point-and-click style. Freed from his employment with the Dark Urge, a spin-off could follow Fel as he wanders the planes searching for a new purpose. Alternatively, Fel could be tricked into serving an unfortunately heroic master.

9 Us Can Be Good In A Horror Strategy Game

While a slimy, limbed brain may not be a very charismatic protagonist for an RPG, Us could excel in a comedy-horror tactical game where possession is a major mechanic. As an intellect devourer, the player could hop between a variety of bodies, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Considering the potential for subterfuge, the game could even be a stealth title.

Messiah, a deeply weird action game released all the way back in 2000, had a similar possession-style system but with a very different tone and aesthetic. Despite that game’s numerous misgivings, its central mechanic was a fascinating one that deserves to be re-explored. Perhaps Us – revolting and cute in equal measure – could be the one to exhume the feature, climb into its nasty wet skull, and send it careening towards a hapless new audience.

8 Nocturne Can Free Your Soul With Capitalism

Nocturne is a fairly minor character who nevertheless stands out for several reasons as a potential protagonist for her own game. An acolyte of Shar, she begins to doubt the sanity of her devotion to such a cruel goddess, yet, unlike a reformed Shadowheart, she remains unwilling to break completely from her faith. A narrative surrounding Nocturne could delicately explore not only the horror of indoctrination but also its cyclical nature and the difficulty of truly breaking free.

Secondly, Nocturne is a quartermaster, which could create a fun no-holds-barred quartermaster simulator. Players could forge or scavenge gear to requisition and establish increasingly perilous and lucrative trade routes throughout the realms. They could build up their reputation, hire underlings, and expand their operation to become the greatest arms trader in the Forgotten Realms.

7 Minthara Should Conquer The Underdark

The interminable villains of the DnD setting, the drow in Baldur’s Gate 3 are arguably more complex than their usual depictions, but remain just as supremacist and power-hungry. Initially, Minthara is a ruthless pawn of the Absolute, but depending on the player’s choices may survive to covet power herself and turn against her ancestral House. In one potential ending, she can be prompted to return to the Underdark and wage a war against her family with the help of some trusty robot gnomes.

A spin-off following Minthara’s war could be a fantastic premise for a horror-themed RTS set in the alien world of the Underdark. Seeing some of the D&D races warring at a scale beyond the isometric could give new life and weight to the setting. Combining the spectacle of an RTS with Larian’s narrative chops, a Minthara spin-off could prove an innovative success.

6 Lae’zel Can Redeem The Githyanki

Lae’zel is a githyanki, a xenophobic race whose smug sense of supremacy likely stems from knowing that only they can spell their own names. Baldur’s Gate 3, however, complicates the githyanki by suggesting that they are victims of nurture rather than nature. Lae’zel’s character may soften over the course of the game, coming to view her companions as equals — or sources of romance.

Depending on her ending, Lae’zel may turn against her tyrannical Lich Queen and instead champion the imprisoned Orpheus as the true heir, going on to seek an alliance with the far more reasonable githerzai. A Lae’zel spin-off could see her unite the crèches in an earnest attempt to heal her poisoned nation. Such an RPG would involve difficult choices with wide-reaching consequences, fleshing out a fascinating, if disturbing, corner of the D&D setting.

5 A Balthazar Game Could Focus On Brotherly Love

Balthazar is the cheery and thoroughly evil necromancer that players must face as a boss in Act 2. He’s particularly striking for his gruesome character design resembling something from a Hellraiser movie, but if players give him a chance to monologue, they will find that this bloody bachelor boasts both looks and personality. Alongside his resurrected twin brother, Balthazar would be the perfect antihero for a game centered around necromancy.

While Baldur’s Gate and countless other RPGs allow players to roleplay as a necromancer, there are few titles that focus solely on the disturbing practice. Balthazar’s bubbly personality and the potential comic dynamic between him and his minion-brother would make the necromancer an excellent protagonist for an action RPG. Players could source bodies and forbidden texts, evade the suspicions of the townsfolk, and thwart paladin do-gooders – all while steadily growing their dark powers.

4 Karlach Could Wrestle With Her Demons

Karlach has perhaps one of the more exciting, if sad, backstories of any character in Baldur’s Gate 3. Sold to the Archdevil Zariel, she is forced to fight in the hellish Blood War for a decade before her liberation at the beginning of the game. A prequel would be a great opportunity to explore (and then tear up) one of the Outer Planes.

A fearsome barbarian and one of Zariel’s greatest champions during the Blood War, Karlach could act as the protagonist for a hack-and-slash title in a similar vein to Space Marine or God of War — though ideally with the latter’s narrative focus. While an ultra-violent action game may seem to distract from the tragedy that lies at the infernal heart of Karlach’s origin story, recent God of War games have proven that even cartoonish violence can serve a serious narrative in video games.

3 Shadowheart Has A Different Kind Of Plot

Shadowheart likely has the bleakest backstory of any major companion in Baldur’s Gate 3. Stolen from her parents and brainwashed by a death cult, Shadowheart begins the game as a hollow shell of a person. Given a chance, however, she will slowly regain her repressed personality, which turns out to be surprisingly wholesome. Set after the events of the main game, a potential spin-off could follow her as she heals and discovers her own sense of self.

Her love of nature and plants could be brought to the forefront as the cleric settles down and establishes her own fantasy garden. A narrative-driven spin on Stardew Valley, Shadowheart Shrubbery (working title) would give players a chance to design their own garden and carefully nurture many kinds of magical plants, all while mercilessly sassing small-town herbalists for the best deals on seeds.

2 Astarion Raises The Stakes

Smug, sharp-tongued (and sharp-fanged), Astarion has both an extensive vampiric past and a promising future that would make him a brilliant candidate for a Baldur’s Gate spin-off. Set during the high elf’s centuries-long enslavement at the hands of Cazador, a prequel would be a dark game, perhaps out-and-out horror. Navigating the complex relationship between Astarion and his vampire master, the spin-off could be a frank and powerful exploration of abusive power dynamics.

Alternatively, a spin-off could be set far into the future following Astarion’s rebirth as a powerful vampire ascendant. Like Strahd von Zarovich, the Forgotten Realms' most infamous vampire lord, Astarion could become a Dracula-like figure, appearing in-game either as a terrifying adversary or the player-controlled DM in a Dungeon Keeper-type RTS, in which players would swell their undead hordes, dress up in extravagant outfits, and swat away any heroes invading their dark domain with a pithy quote.

1 A Raphael Title Could Feature An Infernal Rhyming Scheme

It’s hard to imagine what a game revolving around Raphael — demonic trickster and confessed theatre kid — would look like exactly, but the man steals so many scenes in Baldur’s Gate 3 that it’s only fair he be handed his own production. The demon has such a mesmerizing in-game presence that he would elevate any game that Larian decides to put him in. The potential for spin-offs is endless.

Iambic Pentagrameter, an educational game where Raphael teaches players the basics of poetry. Or perhaps a Yakuza-style minigame where he must be battled in a perilous karaoke showdown. In all seriousness, a riddle-based puzzle game in which the player attempts to outwit the villain in his own game sounds incredible. Whatever the genre, whatever the game, one thing is clear – Raphael from Baldur's Gate 3 needs to return.

Baldur's Gate 3

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , Stadia , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Genre(s)

RPG

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence