Crit goes here.

CHARACTER FACTS

» Name: Bethany Hawke

» Canon: Dragon Age II

» Reference: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Bethany_Hawke

» Canon Point:  Act 3, after the destruction of the Chantry and the battle with Meredith.

» Gender:  physically and mentally female

» Age: 25 years old

CHARACTER INTERPRETATION

» Appearance:  Bethany has dark black hair that is slightly curly and falls to her shoulders, amber eyes, slim build and a little generous in the bosum (but not as much as Varric would have you believe).  She’s pretty in an earnest, Fereldan, girl-next door kind of way, although she isn’t one to enhance her looks through fashion or make-up, mostly because she doesn’t have the coin for it.  Being a mage, Bethany doesn’t have much upper body strength or a muscular physique.  After all, she’s never needed to swing anything heavier than her staff in order to defend herself.  Being locked in the Gallows for quite a few years has made her skin pale and perhaps not as healthy as someone who has seen the sun and fresh air more than once every few weeks.  She dresses in modest Circle robes that are trimmed with fur and seem to be made for cold weather or perhaps drafty towers.  Her staff is made of metal and is strapped securely to her back.

 

» Suitability: N/A

» Orientation:  :  Some of Bethany's conversations with Isabela hint at her being a little more ambivalent in her sexuality but she's been flirted with by both female characters (Isabela, Tallis) and male characters (Sebastian, Varric) and responds to both in the same fumbling and flustered way.  Canon states that Bethany is a virgin prior to being taken by the templars and therefore hadn’t explored relationships enough to settle into a definite orientation.  Though it is possible that her virginal status could have changed during her years in the Gallows, it is never mentioned in canon whether or not she became romantically involved with anyone while in the Circle.  Therefore I would have to state that Bethany’s orientation is unknown.

» Personality: (Before getting into Bethany’s personality, I should mention that the version of Bethany I intend to play is one resulting from the following canon game choices:  Rogue Hawke, Carver killed during the escape from Lothering, Hawke siblings worked for Athenril upon entering Kirkwall, Bethany did not go on the Deep Roads expedition and was taken to the Circle at the end of Act 1, Hawke killed Anders but supported the mages in Act 3.)

 Bethany is the fraternal twin of Carver, but seems closer to her older sibling Hawke than to her twin, though Carver's death seems to have made her more appreciative of the relationship she had with him.  She speaks fondly of memories she has of Carver playing pranks on her and getting him back for them.  She was also the closest in the family to her father, who was also a mage and trained Bethany to control her magic and guard herself against demonic possession.  When she speaks of her father, it is with respect and a certain amount of hero-worship that doesn’t really falter until the events of Legacy when she discovers that he compromised his principles and used blood magic in order to protect her mother and unborn sibling.  Even then, she still considers him to be the best mage and man she’s ever known.

Bethany spent most of her life being an apostate mage which has largely influenced her personality.  She was raised in fear of being discovered by templars and taken away from her family, and isn't comfortable with the magic she wields, resenting the power instead of embracing it.  At times she confesses to other characters that she wishes she'd been a normal girl without any magic talents, living a normal life.  In Act 1 of the game, she refers to her magic as “cursed” and essentially blames it and herself for the fact that her family has had to run and hide all their lives.  She worries about being a burden on her mother and states that she’s thought sometimes about going to the Circle, even though the idea of being found out frightens her.  Her siblings have always shielded her from the templars and she mentions to Anders once that she doesn't believe she could be brave enough to run from the Circle if she ever got caught, that it was always other people taking risks in order to keep her safe and never her taking agency for her freedoms.

However, despite her squeamishness at the sight of templars, Bethany has an optimistic and perhaps naïve view of the Chantry and the Circle, stating repeatedly that there are good people in both and that maybe both could be reasoned with and coaxed into making concessions regarding mage rights.  As a faithful Andrastian, Bethany is more likely to side with views that correspond to those expressed in the Chant of Light, although she does think that there is sometimes a disconnect between what the Maker commands and what the Chantry dictates.  She believes that most conflicts can be solved through talking instead of fighting and is a bit of a pacifist (which is a little at odds with the sheer amount of offensive spells she has in her arsenal though presumably it was her father who taught her to defend herself using magic).  Many of her conversations with other party members revolve around her stance that there should be a peaceful way for mages and non-mages to co-exist. 

Surprisingly enough, once Bethany is in the Circle she seems to almost be content there.  She prefers being able to study magic openly in the safety of the Gallows, though the lack of personal freedom sometimes unsettles her as does the harshness of some of the templars.  In her point of view, she's always been restricted somehow, whether by her fear of discovery by the templars or by the Chantry itself and therefore being in the Circle is not as difficult for her as she feared it would be.  Outside the Circle she was an apostate, outcast and hunted, but inside the Circle she feels like she can be herself, with other mages who understand her.  Bethany was Harrowed almost immediately upon her arrival in the Circle, which is not standard for newly captured mages, however she passed with flying colors and became a Senior Enchanter.  She enjoys teaching the apprentices and develops a fondness for some of the younger ones.  It almost seems like she is recreating a family for herself within the Circle, with First Enchanter Orsino acting as a parental figure and the apprentices being like younger siblings to her.  However, by Act 3 it is clear that even Bethany’s optimism towards the Circle has begun to wane due to the growing tensions between mages and Templars in Kirkwall.  After the Chantry is destroyed and Meredith calls for annulment, Bethany tells Hawke that she cannot believe that the Circle is what the Maker intended for mages and is grateful to her sibling for choosing to fight against the Templars in the final battle. 

Along with her optimism, Bethany has a certain innocence to her personality.  She believes that people are naturally good is horrified by cruelty in any form.  She's also "innocent" in the sense that reference to sexual exploits makes her stutter and blush and generally act shocked.  Though at times she seems appalled by Isabela's frank and blunt view of sex, she also seems to have a healthy dose of curiosity about sex too, and although she seems exasperated by the naughty smut novels Isabela sends her at first, she does comment later on that she looked forward to receiving them (and Isabela's commentary on them in her letters).  Bethany is generally a soft-hearted person who is highly sympathetic to others that she feels she can relate to or hold common ground with her.  She feels a kinship with those who are different or isolated, going so far as to feel sorry for Justice being a Fade spirit trapped outside the Fade and actually calling Anders “brave” for trying to help him by letting him share his body.  Out of all the Companions in the game, Bethany is probably the only one who actually approved of Anders merging with Justice, though the result turned out to be a disaster.

 » Re-App Changes: Because she did not have access to her magic while in Atia, Bethany learned to appreciate it a little more.  As much as she hated being different, magic was a part of her, and it offered her opportunities to be useful to others or defend herself, and she realized that she might not have been better off as a normal girl after all.  Her in-canon development has her rethinking her stance on magic anyway, so this might not seem an obvious difference.  What will be an obvious difference is Bethany’s attitude towards sex.  When she first arrived in Atia, Bethany was a virgin and very distraught over the idea of being forced into sex in order to live.  She ended up in an arrangement with Knight-Captain Cullen during her stay in which he agreed to loosen her collar, as he felt responsible for her safety.  This arrangement lead to some conflicted feelings about morality in a place like Atia, as a relationship between a Templar and a Circle mage would be seen as highly taboo back home.  It also lead to Bethany having a more practical attitude about sex.  Although she still has rather romantic notions about love, she would not balk at having a casual relationship in order to survive, and it would likely not be as traumatic for her to do so like it was the first time she came to the island.