Astarion Ancunín is a fictional character from Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate video game series, which is based on the tabletop fantasy role-playing system of Dungeons & Dragons and set in the Forgotten Realms. Making his first appearance in 2023's Baldur's Gate 3, Astarion can serve as the game's primary protagonist or as a recruitable party member. He is a rogue, specializing in stealth, lockpicking, and sneak attacks. In the game, Astarion is kidnapped alongside several other party members and infected with an Illithid parasite and must search for a way to cure himself. Early in the story, he is revealed to be a vampire spawn, and his personal quest focuses on evading and hunting down his former master, Cazador Szarr.
When Astarion was initially encountered during Baldur's Gate 3s early access period, he quickly became a fan-favorite. His prominence on the game's box art and his major role in subsequent trailers and marketing made this evident. He also earned critical praise for his dry, sassy characterization, intriguing backstory, and sex appeal. Astarion is voiced and performed by the English actor Neil Newbon, who has also received praise, winning several awards for his performance, including the 2023 Golden Joystick Award for Best Supporting Performer, and Best Performance at the 2023 Game Awards.
Creation and development
Astarion was created by and primarily written by Baldur's Gate 3 senior writer Stephen Rooney, and is voiced and motion captured by English actor Neil Newbon. Discussing his process for bringing the character to life, Newbon stated that he was heavily influenced by commedia dell’arte, a comedic style of Italian theatre, and their inclusion of an amoral jester known as Arlecchino. Astarion's mannerisms were adapted from several of Newbon's friends and by several creative individuals, namely makeup artist Leendert Van Nimwegen, actor Giles Foreman, and cabaret performer Reuben Kaye. Newbon stated that he developed some of the vampiric aspects of Astarion's character from a local stray cat, explaining that "the way the cat moves, or the way the cat looks at you. The way the cat will allow you to come closer and then rip your hand off when it's bored 'cause that's enough. 'That's enough, now. No touching now, darling.'"
Newbon acknowledged the importance of the character and the exploration of abuse through his questline, stating that "People have come up to me and said that they've felt inspired to deal with their own trauma. As a survivor myself, I understand when they talk to me about it - what they mean. That they feel seen by the game, they feel understood by the characters. That is a testament to this amazing, beautiful masterpiece that Larian, Swen, the writing team have all put together and created." He also mentioned, in reference to being a method actor, that he forced himself to only use memories that were at least seven years old, as is a guideline for that school of acting.
Discussing what it was like to play Astarion, Newbon explained that he was given creative freedom with some heavy themes. He found it very fascinating to play a character who initially appears as a "decadent, manipulative, hedonistic vampire", but is actually deeply traumatised and wears a façade to protect himself from the pain and will do anything to keep his newfound freedom. He also praised the character's pansexuality, and discussed how an intimacy coordinator was available for all of the performers to help them bring the game's sex scenes to life.
Portraying the struggles of Astarion as a survivor of trauma and abuse was a difficult balance for Newbon, who admitted that "there [was] a lot of stuff that came very close to home" and that he had to take care to separate the aspects of his own life that he was bringing to the character to the truth of the actual character in the script, and reflected upon the care he and the developers took with his storyline, explaining "it's not a gimmick. He's not [traumatised] because it's 'just another idea for a character story' … this was a very fleshed out, deep, layered observation of a character in trouble and jeopardy, having gone through trauma—and then what they do to get out of that, and what they can do with their newfound sense of freedom, and what that means to them."
In developing Astarion's personality, Newbon said, "He was probably quite decadent in the past, perhaps abusing his power a little bit. I see him as being very intelligent — very erudite — and highly manipulative when he wants to be. Very vulnerable and traumatized, but also incredibly witty and funny. He's got etiquette, he's articulate, and he's very sophisticated. He's a lover of the arts without, I believe, having the talent to produce art himself. He's also rather good-looking, and he's not afraid to use that as a way to shield himself or to get what he wants. He's immoral, not amoral. I would say he's quite aware of morality. He just chooses not to [be moral], darling, you know?" When asked about how Astarion sees himself, Newbon continued, "I know how I see him. In the script, he does see himself in certain ways, but he's always very, very guarded about it. He's always careful not to give too much away because if he does that, then he starts losing power and can theoretically be manipulated. So, it's a very interesting situation for him to regard himself openly like that."
When asked how Astarion evolved over the course of shooting the game, Neil said, "I used a lot of tools to really explore the character under his circumstances. The needs and wants [were] very clear. To be free is super objective, but that's his ultimate aim, to be free, whatever the cost. That also helped me with the background that [the writers] gave me; he was a magistrate, he's a High Elf, he's of noble class. He's a Baldurian, and he's decadent, he's hedonistic, and he had this amazing life before being turned into a vampire. All of that feeds into the background work and it helps me create habits [for the character]."
Stephen Rooney, writer of Astarion, was asked about where the idea for the character came from and responded, "It very quickly became clear what was at the core of [Astarion's] story. We have a vampire who is a vampire spawn, which we had to do because [he couldn't be] an actual vampire; [they're] very powerful creatures in Dungeons and Dragons. So, we had to make him a vampire spawn, which means he would have to have a master, which means that he would have to be removed from his master. So, you end up in this situation where this character is, in theory, very powerful, and is chasing that power and that freedom, but is also incredibly weak and incredibly vulnerable. Playing off of that dichotomy between a hunger for power and a very real vulnerability." Rooney continued with, "We hit on what was cool and interesting and what was at the emotional core of that character very early on. We knew very early on where [Astarion's] starting point was, and it was fairly clear what his end point was going to be."
When asked about the main characteristics that had to be represented [in Astarion], Rooney said the following: "When you meet Astarion in the game, the first thing he does is pull a knife on you. He has a certain appreciation for violence, I guess. I think it's important to have that, but he's a vampire, he's all about those darker sides of humanity. But at the same time, he's really fun! It was important to me that that is also represented. Those are the two sides [to him], he's gonna stab you, but will he have a smile on his face as he does it? I don't know, that's kind of him in a nutshell."
Gameplay As a rogue, Astarion wears light armor and is proficient with several bladed weapons, including daggers, rapiers and longswords, as well as longbows and crossbows. Astarion is skilled in acrobatics, deception, perception, performance, persuasion, sleight of hand, and stealth, making him well-suited to several tasks, including picking locks and disarming traps, which are invaluable early on in the game if the player has not also created a rogue character. As a High Elf, he naturally has the ability to cast a Fire Bolt but does not have any other magical abilities, unless the player selects specific character options. As a vampire spawn, Astarion has a unique Vampire Bite ability which drains an enemy of some of their health and transfers it to Astarion, though this ability is not unlocked until the player finds out that Astarion is a vampire during the story. Depending on the outcome of his personal quest, he may gain an upgraded version of this ability, known as Ascendant Bite, and the power to transform into a cloud of mist.
Appearances Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion is a High Elf rogue who is also a vampire spawn first introduced in Baldur's Gate 3. Players can choose to play Astarion as an origin character or he can be recruited in the party as a companion. If he is not selected as the player character, Astarion can be found in the wilderness near the crashed Nautiloid ship and requests that the player help him kill a nearby monster. When it is revealed to be a simple boar, Astarion draws his dagger and threatens to attack the player, believing them to be in league with the Mind Flayers who kidnapped him and placed him aboard the Nautiloid, though he relents after the Mind Flayer parasite infecting them both clears things up. Astarion can then join the party in the search for a cure for the parasites, or be left on his own. While adventuring, Astarion will often offer commentary on various events, and upon the player's actions, generally approving from displays of power and cruelty, snarkiness or mockery, and receives inspiration points when the player successfully deceives someone. Additionally, he approves of the player making choices that support independence or autonomy, and when they help certain characters in need. Astarion will disapprove of displays of weakness and certain acts of kindness that offer no reward. He also resents players who attempt to control or restrict him in some way.