The Scrapped Origin Characters Of Baldur’s Gate 3 -

Baldur’s Gate 3 has seven playable Origin characters. These are characters that players would otherwise meet in act 1, and include Shadowheart, Astarion, Wyll, Karlach, Lae’zel, Gale, and a customizable unique Origin called The Dark Urge. Choosing to play as any of these Origins instead of a custom avatar will result in content personalized to the character players chose.

However, these seven characters may not have always been the only figures slated to be Origin companions. Evidence from old files and versions of the game suggest otherwise, indicating that there are other characters who eventually got replaced during development. Who were these characters, and how might they have functioned as companions?

Minsc Was Originally An Origin Choice, Along With An Unfamiliar Character

Minsc Was Supposed To Be Recruitable In Act 1

A very niche fact about Baldur’s Gate 3 is that Minsc was likely originally going to be an origin companion. In the first versions of Early Access, players like Chubblot on Youtube found dialogue tags relating to the available origin characters. One of them available was Minsc, who had unique dialogue interactions found in Act 1. At the very least, Minsc was originally supposed to be recruited in Act 1. It’s possible that he could have had a much larger character arc that was scrapped, not one that only spanned across part of Act 3.

How Minsc Is Still Alive In Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 takes place over a century after its predecessor and Minsc, despite being human, is somehow in both thanks to some tomfoolery.

Minsc lost all of his memories after players left him off in the previous Baldur’s Gate games — it’s possible that his Act 1 influence was scrapped to narrow down the number of amnesiacs at the start of the game, with Shadowheart and The Dark Urge already heavily following that narrative. The video shows Minsc having an interaction with a tiefling in the grove, trying to encourage him. Here, those playing as Minsc would have had an option to mention Boo, which just about confirms that it’s the Minsc players know and love.

A possible reason for Minsc’s lack of presence in Act 1 is that he is unable to be romanced. This is unlike every other character introduced at this stage of the game, including the companions like Halsin and Minthara who only join the player’s party in Act 2. Meeting Minsc this early also means the questline between him and Jaheria would be completely different, as depending on the state of his mind, he could have been the one trying to seek out Jaheria, as opposed to it being the other way round in Act 3.

Who Was Helia In Baldur’s Gate 3?

The Werewolf Companion Who Never Saw The Final Game

Rogue Astarion from BG3 wearing their default armour

In some of the first stages of Baldur’s Gate 3‘s development in the public eye, the name “Helia” was known among fans as a confirmed origin character. Along with Minsc, Helia had unique dialogue tags, generating anticipation for an expected character addition. However, as later versions of the game came out, Helia was nowhere to be seen. Since Larian never officially confirmed her as a companion, it’s hard to say why she was never present in the game. However, dataminers found almost an hour’s worth of voice lines that might have been hers, as compiled in a video by Chubblot.

Many people think that Helia was the replacement for Halsin. However, this is likely not the case. Helia was a halfling werewolf, and her character was probably a spin on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. She was originally going to be found in the goblin camp in wolf form, instead of Halsin. He wasn’t meant as her replacement though, as some of her alleged voice lines referred to him. Looking closely at the main aspects of her character, Helia’s fate may have been for her traits to get split throughout the rest of the cast.

Similar Characters	Traits of Helia
Astarion	Both Astarion and Helia would have had secret supernatural identities. Whilst Astarion battles with his vampiric hunger, Helia would struggle with her transformations.
Halsin	Though Halsin played a much different role in the early story, he eventually replaced Helia’s place in the Goblin Camp.
Shadowheart	Helia strongly distrusted Selune, likely to do with her being the “moonmaiden” when the moon was the thing that would force her to transform into a werewolf.

Another sadder reason why Helia may not have been implemented is that the developers may have thought she would not appeal to the audience as a halfling. Helia as a companion may have encouraged people to play more as the underrated halfling race. No other companion is a member of a short race, and the lack of Helia in the final release may be due to the potential the rest of the cast have to be marketed. It looks like Baldur’s Gate 3 players aren’t fated to have a vampire and werewolf rivalry in their camp.

Barcus Wroot Is The Missing Artificer Of Baldur’s Gate 3

Barcus Suspiciously Acts Like A Recruitable Character

Though there is little evidence gathered from files or datamining that suggests Barcus Wroot was ever meant to be a companion, there’s still decent reason to theorize was his original purpose. Firstly, Barcus Wroot is one of the few non-companions who can stay in the player’s camp, but also has a questline which is very reminiscent of the recruitable characters. Like the origin companions, Barcus is found early on in Act 1 and has connections to semi-major characters in the city of Baldur’s Gate. He plays a large role in the Ironhand feud storyline.

Auntie Ethel, Gerringothe Thorm and Yurgir from Baldur's Gate 3

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After the player helps him, he unceremoniously runs away. Although this leads to its own storyline, it also suggests that something else could have originally been intended for that moment — Barcus joining the party as a companion. Like Helia, his inclusion as a companion would make him the only recruitable character to be a member of a shorter race. Baldur’s Gate 3 simply feels like it’s missing something by not having a single companion be a dwarf, gnome or halfling.

Barcus is built for the artificer class — he even refers to the Ironhand gnomes as artificers. This was likely not a class included in the game due to it not being a core Dungeons & Dragons class included in the Player’s Handbook, yet players were left disappointed nonetheless. Players of Baldur’s Gate 3 looking to step into the shoes of any of these characters as Origin companions only have mods to turn to, with the final updates of the game slowly coming out.

Source: Chubblot/YouTube (1, 2)