Dragon Age: Inquisition came out in November of last year, and it is fantastic: a compelling story,
excellent combat mechanics, and well-written characters, and more. Inquisition’s developer, Bioware, is known
for crafting immersive, story-driven action role-playing games (RPGs). Players, through their player characters
(PCs), get to be heroes: saving the galaxy (Mass Effect),
ending a terrible Blight (Dragon Age: Origins),
or saving the world from a horrible god-monster (Dragon Age: Inquisition).
Another aspect Bioware is known for including in their games
are romanceable non-player characters (NPCs).
While saving everyone, sometimes it’s nice to have someone special to
come home to. Bioware has historically
pushed the envelope in these romances, by including realistic portrayals of
same-sex partners (Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age:
Origins, Dragon Age 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic). In 2007, they also caught heat for a
human-alien sex scene in the lead game of the Mass Effect Trilogy. Inquisition is no different. There are eight romantic options, four
dedicated straight options, two dedicated gay options, and two pansexual
options. This is impressive enough. But Bioware added in a twist for one of the
pansexual options.
Iron Bull (voiced by Freddie Prinze, Jr.) is a Qunari
mercenary who was raised in a culture where people are assigned roles and jobs
at an early age, and where everyone knows their place. Instead of family units, children are raised
separate from their parents in groups, and there is no formalized
marriage. The Qunari treat sex as an
enjoyable pastime, a way to relieve stress. They view sex workers akin to
healers.
They are also kinky.
As Bull describes, “Yeah, it’s not a big deal like it is
here. It’s like… I don’t know, going to
see a healer? Sometimes it’s this long,
involved thing. It takes all day, leaves
you walking funny… Other times, you’re
in and out in five minutes…One time they used this thing called the saartoh nehrappan. It’s a leather-wrapped rod on a harness…”
So, either a male PC or a female PC, of any race (Human,
Elf, Dwarf, Qunari) may romance Iron Bull.
(Note: All videos should be considered NSFW.)
There is frank discussion of negotiation, of safewords, and
of normalization. The PC can respond to
Iron Bull in a variety of ways, but to continue the romance, the PC must be
open to kinky sex. And it sounds as
though Bull delivers on his promises of a good time.
The inclusion of a BDSM romance in a video game may not seem
like a big deal. But in a culture
saturated with stereotypical or inaccurate portrayals of kink (I’m looking at
you, 50 Shades), Inquisition’s
treatment of Iron Bull is refreshing.
The writers at Bioware are conscious and deliberate about including
diversity in the gaming experience; they want to represent people’s real lived
experiences.
There are certainly worse ways to develop an interest in kink
than through roleplaying a relationship that explicitly discusses boundaries,
safewords, and consent.