Dragon Age: Origins/Awesome

• The female city elf gets one of these in her origin. The other elves in the alienage make comments about the character's infamous martial training from her mother. When cornered by two guards intending to rape the character, now unarmed and in a jail cell, and possibly just wearing her wedding dress...her cousin comes in with a sword. It looks like he's going to try and pull a Big Damn Heroes moment and get slaughtered. Then he leans down and slides the sword to you. The guards' comment? "Oh, sod." Utterly badass, and the game's barely started.
  • A few other scenes during this origin make all the ass-whupping so much more badass. Walking in on a guard who murdered your betrothed who sneers at you and says he's going to show you "how men fight" and then beheading him a few seconds later is utterly satisfying. Then when you confront Vaughn, one of his cronies will mock you, only to have Vaughn shut him up by pointing out that "They're covered in enough blood to fill a tub!" Afterward, when the city guards come to the Alienage to arrest you, the leader will declare that "The Arl's son lies dead in a river of blood that runs through the entire palace!" Lines like that really drive home both the magnitude of your actions and just how utterly badass you were in the first twenty minutes of the game.
• A city elf can rally his or her friends and family to defend the Alienage during the The War Sequence. Supposedly any character can do this, but it's especially satisfying for a city elf warden.
• Notice how the origins that begin the character at the lowest of the low also let them rock? The City Elf gets to hear the ruler of his/her city bargain for his life, and may enjoy the opportunity to cut his nuts off. The casteless starts as a vocational scumbag with a crapsack lifestyle, an abusive mother, a whore sister and an equally scummy buddy, but comes out a champion, massively pissing off the collective ruling class who, because of Duncan, can't do a thing about it! The ancestors smile on me, you think? My ancestors are laughing their asses off!
  • Contrast the Human Noble origin, which begins with every advantage a character could have, and loses it all in the most Tear Jerker way. But it makes later confrontations with Howe and Loghain pay off with much more satisfaction than any other origin, and far more Crowning.
    • Something about standing up to Arl Howe and telling him to look you in the eye and see the person you have become, and that what he's done has only made you stronger is so satisfying and powerful. This troper originally didn't like the Human Noble origin, remaining an Alienage girl at heart, till that scene. Arl Howe's bitter awe and shock at your defiance is definitely one of the most awesome moments in the game.

Human Noble: You lie Howe! To yourself most of all. I am a Grey Warden!

• • • This is aided by Tim Curry's excellent voice acting where you can really hear the anger in his voice as he can't deny what he sees in the Human Noble.

Arl Howe: "There it is, right there. That damned look in the eye that marked every Cousland success that held me back. It seems you have made something of yourself after all. Your father would be proud. I, on the other hand, want you dead more than ever..."

• Though it's not canon, the Sacred Ashes clip has plenty of these. First, Sten pushes a crowd of darkspawn of a cliff in a very Badass way. Next, Leliana takes down a Zerg Rush of darkspawn, delivers a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner and shoots an arrow at the darkspawn leader, hitting it in the chest. Following is The Warden and Morrigan acting as Back-to-Back Badasses. After which, Morrigan transforms into a giant spider (while flipping in the air)and takes down another Zerg Rush. Then there's the dragon fight, starting with The Warden acting as a distraction; Leliana shoots the dragon from atop a pillar, flips off of it when the dragon destroys it, and shoots at the dragon while running, Sten jumps on its side and dragging his sword through its arm, Morrigan (after the dragon notices her) hits the dragon with lightning until its eyes pop, and the Warden finishes it by stabbing the dragon in the head.
  • Which makes it so disappointing almost none of these things are possible. Glowy eyes indeed...
    • Though the music makes up for it.
      • And for those curious - here it is. Yes, trailers lie... but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.
    • Not ALL of it, but a considerable number of those spells are in the game. Arrow of slaying, shapeshift (spider), taunt, lightning, walking bomb, indomitable, and overwhelm all make an appearance and are all usable in the game.
• The announcement trailer has the main character looking as manly as steak in polished silver armor, walking towards a huge door underground while casually butchering Darkspawn, and as the doors open the Warden's sword bursts into flames when he sees literally thousands of Darkspawn howling at him. He puts on his helmet and proceeds to kick ass. Did we mention that Marilyn Manson is playing while he kills things?
  • It has a little extra oomph after you learn that Grey Wardens usually only visit the Deep Roads when they are nearing the end of their tainted life - and rather than withering away, they choose to take as many Darkspawn as they can down with them."
  • The armour worn reappears in Dragon Age II as the "Armour of the Fallen", implying that was indeed that Warden's Calling. If so, that was an awesome way to go out.
• Shianni braining Bann Vaughn with a bottle in the City Elf Origin.
• Easily overlooked is petty criminal Daveth's little speech to Jory right before the Joining ritual. Sheer unexpected awesomeness from an unlikely character:

"I’d sacrifice a lot more if I knew it would end the Blight. You saw those darkspawn, ser knight. Wouldn’t you die to protect your pretty wife from them? The babe she carries? Maybe you’ll die. Maybe we’ll all die. If no-one stops the Blight, we’ll all die for sure."

• • And then he is the first one to die from the Joining.
• Duncan killing an Ogre by climbing up its chest with knives, while mortally wounded.
  • As well as a melee character's slaying of an Ogre, which involves an Achilles-like jump into the air before stabbing the ogre in the chest and bearing it to the ground before stabbing it again in the face, with a twist of the blade to finish. Did I mention that this is all done in slo-mo?
    • Which is even more awesome when said character is wielding a mace.
  • The deathblow animation for killing the High Dragon or Flemeth is also completely awesome: feint, leap astride neck, stab, get thrown into air as dragon rears in pain, do flip, land on neck again, hack away until dead.
  • The animation for a two-weapon elven rogue slaying the Broodmother was pretty awesome as well. You climb up on her flabby body to her shoulders, leaving her completely helpless. Then you slash her head a couple of times before slitting her throat with both blades. To top it off, you flip down to the ground.
  • Also worth noting that the death blow animations are determined by the weapon skill set your using (two hander, one hander and shield, or dual wielding), not by the specific weapon you're holding. This means that these can show you stabbing a mace or axe through an ogre or dragon's skull. It's friggin' sweet.
• Defending the village of Redcliffe and ensuring that EVERY defender lives. Most of the villagers were convinced they were going to die that night; it's pretty difficult, but there's nothing quite like hearing Bann Teagan say "Dawn arrives, friends, and all of us remain!"
• Destroying the Anvil of the Void. Epic Hammer Smash.
• Your choice of Dwarf King's literal Awesome Moment of Crowning.
  • And it's even more awesome if you betray whoever you were supporting at the last second. Despite the fact that they're both successful dwarven politicians, the new King just gets so flabbergasted.
  • It becomes a true CMOA if you play a Dwarf Noble, and then support Bhelen. Make it clear you don't like him but believe he's the best choice to get the troops you need for your campaign. Bhelen, who is initially distrustful, finally starts to favor you, convinced that you've put the past behind you and are acting in the best interests of the Wardens, Orzammar, and the surface. Then, at the very end, before the Assembly, tell them that the Paragon chose you to make the decision on who should be King - and choose Harrowmount. Bhelen's reaction is priceless. Turning your manipulative, backstabbing brother with aspirations of Magnificent Bastardry into a mere Smug Snake, and turning the tables on him with your own ruthless backstab using Orzammar's politics is just plain awesome. The subsequent brawl in the Assembly Hall where you can kill Bhelen yourself is just the icing on the cake.
• The Battle of Ostagar, where King Cailan and his men are positioned to crush the Darkspawn once and for all. It doesn't work, but the battle cinematic is truly awesome to see, especially on higher graphics and with the Crowning Music of Awesome blaring from your speakers at top volume.
• Riordan leaping from the roof of the Fort Drakon tower to ride the archdemon, stab it a few times, and then tear a huge gash in its wing with his sword...it didn't work, but you can't fault him for trying. And it did do enough damage to the dragon's flying ability that it can't simply take wing and fly away once you're fighting it atop Fort Drakon.
• Flemeth's nonchalant and casual transformation into a dragon to do battle with the player.

Flemeth: "Come. She will earn what she takes. I have it no other way."

• • If a melee character attacks Flemeth and kills her, the resulting "death blow" animation is truly epic to behold.
    • Every boss has an epic deathblow animation. Somehow Alistair and Zevran managed to get the final strike at the same time, and both ran the animation together. Synchronized FATALITY!
    • During one run-through the Battle of Denerim, both the Female Noble and a romanced Alistair repeatedly got the final strike on multiple Ogres, from various starting directions and ran the animation to take it down together. Made more awesome because during the Landsmeet they'd become King and Queen of Ferelden, proving that with Ferelden's premiere Battle Couple, the country is defintely in safe hands!
• Loghain's hammy speech to the Landsmeet.

My lords and ladies, our land has been threatened before. It's been invaded and lost, and won times beyond counting. We Fereldens have proven that we will never truly be conquered so long as we are united. We must not let ourselves be divided now. Stand with me, and we shall defeat even the Blight itself.

• • Made infinitely more Awesome if immediately following this speech there's a slew of "South Reach stands with the Warden!" "Waking Sea supports the Warden!" "Dragon's Peak supports the Warden!"
• The opening cinematic to the endgame. The huge army that you've spent the entire game gathering finally assembles. You arrive at Denerim after a forced march and see the archdemon flying overhead. Before you go into battle, Alistair of all people gives the army a Rousing Speech, saying that YOU are the greatest Grey Warden in history. The end of the speech tops it off, as Alistair ends it by yelling "For Ferelden! For the Grey Wardeeeeeeeeeens!", after which the entire army charges towards Denerim screaming, easily breaking into the city after dealing with the group of darkspawn that was outside. With the DragonAge heroic leitmotif playing, no less.
  • (as a male Human Noble):

"Before us stands the might of the darkspawn horde. Gaze upon them now, but fear them not! The man beside me is a native of Ferelden, now risen to the ranks of the Grey Wardens. He is proof that glory is within reach of us all. He has survived despite the odds, and without him, none of us would be here today. Today, we save Denerim! Today, we avenge the death of my brother, King Cailan! But most of all, today we show the Grey Wardens we remember and honor their sacrifice. FOR FERELDEN! FOR THE GREY WARDENS!!"

• • • For me, it's just the sight of the darkspawn running away that fills me with pride. After an entire game of the darkspawn standing their ground, fighting to the very last darkspawn standing, the fact that they break and run like cowards is an inspiring sight.
    • Denerim opens with the city in flames and the darkspawn outside casually executing Denerim's soldiers. The camera focuses on one soldier, on his knees, a nasty looking darkspawn sword to his throat. He looks up and is stunned to see the army that you've gathered charging towards them. The darkspawn slits his throat a moment later, but I like to think that even though the soldier knew it was too late for him, his last sight gave him a flicker of hope for Denerim.
    • Being able to call your army into battle to fight beside you. After a whole game of being surrounded by dozens of enemies with only four characters at your disposal, it's great to finally be able to even the odds, such as calling on squads of Elven archers to help defend the Alienage, or a dozen axe-swinging Dwarves to keep mooks off you while battling the Archdemon.
• The Final Battle against the Archdemon is pretty awesome too. Your party, reinforcements, and a few ballistae versus the Archdemon and his reinforcements. It's even better when you see the various NPCs you helped in the game, such as Arl Eamon, First Enchanter Irving/Knight Commmander Gregoire, Zathrian/Swiftrunner, and/or Kardol joining the fray. This only applies to the PC version, however; players unfortunate enough to be stuck with the console version are left alone to be swarmed by the darkspawn summoned by the Archdemon.
  • And keep an eye out for Sandal!
• In the ending, whoever kills the archdemon gets one.
• One for the entire Grey Warden order in the game's intro movie: we see the darkspawn rampaging along, massacring the dwarven armies, with Duncan providing the commentary, and then we see the Wardens charging at a massive horde of darkspawn - a half-dozen Wardens, and they tear into the darkspawn, swords swinging, magical fire burning, arrows striking. Then we see the darkspawn attacking a village, and two Gray Wardens are shown holding off virtually the entire darkspawn army by themselves - all while some truly heroic and badass music is playing in the background. If that doesn't get you pumped up at the idea of joining this particular order of heroic, near-suicidal, evil-slaying badasses, nothing can.
• Offscreen CMOA: Anders talks about his cat back at the Circle Tower, a tabby named Mr. Wiggums. Mr. Wiggums, who, upon being possessed by a rage demon, killed three Templars by himself. Yeah, that cat deserves that toast.
  • And rage demons are the weakest, according to a loading screen. Yes, kitty, you can haz that cheezburger.
• If you manage to get the normally frail and soft-spoken Irving to enter the Fade to rescue Connor, the way he confronts the Desire Demon behind it all is similar to another bearded, robed wizard declaring "YOU! SHALL NOT! PAAAAAASS!". It shows why he was the First Enchanter.
• Near-synchronized Fatality: Oghren and Zevran each killed an Ogre at the far end of the Dead Trenches, within a second of each other. Each of them rode their kill in slow-mo slaughter, and the Ogres fell one across the other, landing in an 'X'.
• Oghren gets one in Awakening with his Joining. While everyone who takes it and survives passes out, Oghren chugs the goblet and lets out a hearty burp, treating it as merely another one of his Gargle Blasters.
• A Mage possesses the ability to pull off one of these on their own if they have Master Coercion- after performing the blood magic ritual at Redcliffe to enter the Fade, and confronting the Desire Demon, if you have that skill, it's possible to not only browbeat the demon into leaving Connor's soul alone forever, but also get the Demon to cough up one of the 'favors', whether that's the Blood Magic specialization or an extra spell, free of charge. How's that for being persuasive?
  • Especially in light of Irving's warning that one should never make deals with demons because they never end well. This one does end well, because dammit, you're the Warden and you say so!
  • Even better than that. Until that point, the Demon has been safe in the knowledge that even if anyone kills Connor in the real world, the Demon itself will still survive because they're in the Fade. They are literally untouchable! I mean, whats the Warden going to do? Come into the Fade and kick its ass? Hang on, is that-? Oh Crap.
• If your PC kills the Archdemon and dies in the process, Sten travels back to Par Vollen. He is asked if there was anyone honorable outside of Par Vollen. Sten replies that in all his travels, he only ever met one. If having The Stoic from a race of stoics praise you to his people isn't awesome, I don't know what is.
• Killing the high dragon with only your Dog left in your party. It's about 7 minutes of biting its ankles to death.
• Ser Otto the blind templar. Going into the Alienage to solve a problem with no real help, fighting demons in a haunted orphanage, all pretty damn badass. But his ultimate crowning moment has to be when in mockery a rage demon throws a book at him, Otto simply swats it away in a manner that makes you question how powerful templars can really be and made me respect them a lot more.
• There's two subtle ones that happened in the Deep Roads, long before the Warden got there and only revealed in the Codex.
  • The first is the 'Crosscut Drifters' a group of renegade dwarven miners who tell the assembly to piss off and go hunting for lyrium veins in high-risk areas. They break through a wall and find a cavern where a huge mass of Darkspawn about to surprise attack Orzamarr. What do they do? Blow the entire cavern up, burying the darkspawn...and they did this knowing that it would bury them in there as well.
  • Then there's the story behind the tale of 'Topsider's Honor.' An elf came down from the surface to fight Darkspawn with the Legion of the Dead. Just a regular elf too, not a warden. He was such a badass that not only did the Legion treat him as one of their own, but they gave him a full burial with honors.
• Jowan in the mage origin. A timid, lowspoken and somewhat pathetic guy, but the second his girlfriend is threatened with imprisonment he bellows with more force and rage than we ever see before or after: "NO!! I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HER!", and then proceeds to stab through his own hand, raise his arms, and knock out the First Enchanter, Knight-Commander and an entire roomful of Templars with the sheer, brutal force of his own blood. Woe the day they gave up on the possibility of recruiting him to your party.
  • You yourself, a comparatively much stronger mage, will have to go through about three fourths of the game before getting even remotely strong enough to solo so many enemies of that caliber, and Jowan has yet to go through his Harrowing... That's how angry and desperate he is.
• It's a small moment, and I'm not quite sure if it counts, but I found it to be pretty awesome. When playing a female City Elf who killed Vaughn, I was asked by Wynne how I was recruited into the Grey Wardens. Not mincing words, my character explained to her that she had killed the Arl of Denerim's son for hurting her family and friends, and that if she had the chance, she would kill him all over again. Knowing Wynne, I expected to get a lecture. So I was shocked at her reply:

Wynne: You say that with such cold conviction it frightens me. But I can find no fault in your actions. I would have done the same thing.

• • And then I remembered how much ass Wynne kicked when protecting her apprentices from the demons at the Circle, and realized that yes, she would have gone after Vaughn, and she would have torn the little monster apart. Holy crap. I think it's safe to say Wynne = Badass Grandma.
    • Well she IS made of win after all...
    • I now have an image in my head of Wynne beating Vaughn to death with her staff. And it is GLORIOUS.
• Leliana gets one in her DLC, where her final confrontation with Raleigh ends with him mocking her that no matter what she does, he'll always "remember that little scared girl in my cell". Leliana calmly tells him "I remember her too. This is for her." And then throws him off of a cliff.
  • She gets a fairly awesome This Is Not My Life to Take moment if another option is chosen. Leliana tells Raleigh "I'm not going to kill you. I'm not that selfish." and turns and walks away from him. Raleigh looks like he can't believe his luck...until Leliana motions to Silas, who spent months being tortured in Raleigh's dungeon for a fairly minor offense. To cap it all off, once Silas throws him off the cliff, he grins at Leliana and says: "Thanks for that."
• This gem from the Dwarf Commoner Origin, when the real Everd wanders into the Proving Arena and blows your cover.

Announcer: Remove your helmet, Warrior, and let all who watched you see your face!
Warden: I will not! My victories have earned me your respect!
Announcer: Your skills are impressive, but you are one man. Show yourself, lest I call the guards and have them do it for you.
Warden: Very well. Look, and see who I am.

• Removes helmet and reveals themselves to be Casteless*

• • Made even more awesome if you're playing as a female Dwarf, as every other female Casteless in the game is depicted as a Noble-Hunter. Its a testament to the Female Dwarf Commoner's skill with a blade that even Beraht recognises that she's more valuable to him as a Sellsword than if he were force her to be a Concubine like her sister, Rica.
• Hell, Duncan's summation of why he chose to recruit the Dwarf-Commoner in the first place;

Proving Master: This wo/man is not a Warrior! They are Casteless! Rejected by the Ancestors! His/her very footsteps pollute the stone! S/he has no place here!
Duncan: Except as your Champion...

• Bann Teagan gets one near the beginning of the game right after the battle at Ostagar. When Loghain gets back to Denerim and is trying to set himself up as regent, Teagan is the only one out of the entire Bannorn to stand up to him and point out that his retreat at Ostagar was pretty goddamn convenient. Though the entire Landsmeet must have been thinking the exact same thing, Teagan is the only one with the balls to call Loghain out directly. When Loghain basically tells him to shut up and fall in line, Teagan hits him with the following.

Teagan: The Bannorn will not bow to you simply because you demand it!

• • Keep in mind, Eamon is sick at this point, meaning Teagan is standing up to the most powerful man in the country, completely by himself, simply because it is the right thing to do. There's a reason some fans have dubbed him the Bannhammer.
  • Note that all of the other nobles at the Landsmeet are wearing their expensive finery. Teagan, though? He's clad in heavy chainmail. He's expecting a fight when he calls Loghain out.
  • Another Teagan moment hit me the same way in the same cutscene. Not only does he call Loghain out, he all but says to Anora that he believes her father left the king - Anora's husband - to die. This troper feels that Teagan is, in fact, a Badass Normal.

Anora: Bann Teagan, my father is doing what is best.
Teagan: Did he also do what was best for your husband, your Majesty?

• This troper allowed Loghain to live and during the battle with the Archdemon, he landed the killing blow. He roared, "'FOR MARIC!" and jumped onto the Archdemon's head, slashing it to death. It was a really nice finishing touch in the battle for Ferelden's survival.
• Having a Mage Warden channel Gandalf and unleash the spell combination "Storm of the Century" while defending the Alienage, effectively wiping out every single darkspawn attempting to Zerg Rush across the Bridge. Considering how neglected, mistreated and powerless the Alienage Elves often seen to be, having the Warden Hold the Line in their defence and go tactically nuclear with one of the most powerful spells in their arsenal is incredibly satisfying. Even more so if playing as an Elven mage unaware of where they were born, as they were likely Alienage-born themself.
  • Also getting rid of Caldrius and his goons as an Elven Arcane Warrior. The Tevinter blood mage came to Ferelden to take advantage of its dire situation and take as many Elven slaves as possible, only to end up meeting the first Elf in centuries to master the Elvhenan's forgotten branch of magic, one that was specifically tailored for war and the bane of the Ancient Tevinters.
• In Awakening, if playing as Female Noble who became Queen, the Warden has been effectively retired for the past six months while they've attended court and aided in the rebuilding of Ferelden. Yet moments after arrive at Vigil's Keep they begin mowing down countless Darkspawn left, right and centre, performing flying takedowns of Ogres and can manage to save every NPC present as well. Like to see the Empress of Orlais do that!