*Intro paragraph contains MINOR spoilers for Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age Inquisition. If you have not played the game, feel free to skip the first paragraph*

Before I say anything, the common misconception and the reason for a lot of negative feedback is that the fans were expecting, and wanting, the Alistair face mold from when he was first introduced to Thedas in BioWare’s Dragon Age Origins.

This particular figure in the series is based off of his appearance in the third installment of the series: Dragon Age Inquisition. His appearance in Inquisition varied greatly depending on the player’s game import. He was either the Grey Warden contact paired with another character, Hawke, to save the Wardens. Another option was that he appears as the King of Fereldan if that was the player’s choice in the first installment. The last option for this character is that Alistair does not make a single appearance at all – this is the case if the player sacrificed him at the end of Origins to end the Blight. The varying degrees of involvement in the latest title had fans a little thrown off.

Alistair Theirin is one of my favourite characters in any video game across the ages. I often joke that he is one of my many husbands in my harem of fictional men, so imagine how painful for me it is to say this: I was really, really disappointed in this figure. Extremely so. Don’t get me wrong, there were some excellent qualities to the craftsmanship, but overall – the let down was fierce.

ThreeZero’s latest piece for BioWare brings a fan favourite to life with this 1:6 scale figure at approximately 12.5 inches tall. Let’s talk about the things that I did like so I don’t cry.

One thing I did enjoy about it was that this piece was incredibly dynamic. The figure was extremely mobile making it easy to position him in a wide range of poses. The accessories for this figure includes exchangeable hands, a fully game-accurate shield, and his detailed longsword.

The mixed mediums for the materials used added a touch of authenticity that I appreciated. The faux fur for the boots and tunic, the varying cloth used for the clothes, and the plastic of the figure itself all added that special something that lets you appreciate the facets of a figure. The detailing of the shield and sword were fantastically done with expertly applied paint as the character was embedded with fine-tuned shading applied with differing brush strokes. Even the cloth of the boots are scuffed with wear and tear, which was a small detail that could have easily been passed over.

As a nameless male NPC, the figure would have been absolutely outstanding but given the nature of the character, what he himself looks like, and the dynamics of movement – that is where my praise ends.

Whether it be Inquisition or Origins, the face looks almost nothing like Alistair. The bone structure is wrong, the lips are too thin, the eyes too lidded, the hair colour is off, the eyebrows too trimmed – the list goes on and on. I can appreciate what they were trying to do but it was almost as though ThreeZero was going off of BioWare describing the character versus actually bothering to see what he looks like.

Another aspect that fell flat was with all that dynamism and his battle ready accessories, it was an amateur move to give this figure virtually no expression in the face. “I’m going to block you with my shield and arm my sword but also look completely dead in the face while doing so” … yeah, no. Not only does that not make any sense figure-wise, it also goes against everything that this character is.

Alistair is known for his sarcastic one-liners, inappropriately timed jokes, and blushing innocence. I’m sorry, but the character that had his tongue get stuck to a pole because he decided to lick it in the dead of winter would not have an expression completely void of any humanity.

The figure is available on online wholesales such as Amazon or you can buy it directly from the BioWare Store. This figure’s price point is set at $150.

BOTTOM LINE – it was worth adding to my collection out of sheer loyalty to the series, to the character, and to BioWare. However, if you were looking for a true-to-character figure, this is not the one you are looking for.