Karlach has been one of the most popular companions inBaldur’s Gate 3since it launched in the fall of 2023, and it’s not hard to see why. From her striking, muscular tiefling form to her unfortunate overheating problem, and from her heart-wrenching backstory to her awkward, idle dancing animations, she’s at the top of a lot of player’s favorite character lists, and her ability to tank and deal out melee damage doesn’t hurt her standing in the community either.
While a decent-sized section of the BG3 fan community has been disappointed with herlack of an option for a happy ending(although theepilogue added in post-launchat least leaves some hope for her), BG3 fans are now talking about another injustice piled upon everyone’s favorite big red barbarian, and it comes directly fromLarian Studios.
As pointed out on Reddit by user Woke-Waifu, the loading screen for Baldur’s Gate 3 shows several origin characters that you can play as or add to your party, butKarlach is absent from the team photo. Not everyone made it onto the loading screen, meaning this isn’t the biggest character snub in gaming But now that it’s been pointed out, it feels like a little more of an egregious offense that Wyll’s mischievous patron, Mizora, did make the cut.
To be fair, it doesn’t seem like Larian intentionally left Karlach out of the group portrait intentionally.
In fairness, Mizora isn’t exactly a minor character, but she’s not on the same level as the other characters on the loading screen, all of whom are playable companions, each with their own origin story. For those who have still only scratched the surface of the game, Mizora is a half-mortal, half-fiend to whom Wyll is bound, providing the source of his warlock magic. While she appears throughout all three acts and can have a variety of different interactions with the player character, including a romantic rendezvous, she’s far from a beloved character, largely due toher mistreatment of Wyll.
What’s more, the companion characters who did make it onto the loading screen — Astarion, Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Wyll, and Gale — are all the ones you’re able to encounter early on in Act 1. The only other character you can pick up this early is, in fact, Karlach, and due to her own involvement in The Blood War, her story is closely tied to Wyll’s as well.
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The Reason Behind The Snub
To be fair, it doesn’t seem like Larian intentionally left Karlach out of the group portrait intentionally. In fact, that image has been in the game longer than she has. As Reddit user Tavdan pointed out in the comments below the post, Larian has been using that same image since before Baldur’s Gate 3 left Early Access. “This art was made very early in game development, and Karlach was not a companion at the time. Mizora is there because of Wyll,” they explained. “No idea why they didn’t update it when Karlach joined.”
With all the beloved companions to choose from, not just Karlach, it does seem a little odd that the very familiar image would continue to leave them all out while including Wyll’s patron. Larian has been exceptionally receptive to player feedback, so perhaps if there’s enough fervor in the fan community, the developers will give the artwork a much-overdue update andgive Karlach her due.
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