Welcome

Welcome to the one paged shrine dedicated to one and only Cullen S. Rutherford from the Dragon Age Series. He is one of the few characters that actually apears in all of the games that came out till now.

I was planing on doing a bigger shrine fro him, but due to the time restrictions I have for now this little and short one paged shrine should be enough.

If you have not played the games and you do not want to be spoiled; please just stop reading here and go away, thank you for your understanding.

This shrine is part of the One page One Month marathon held by amassment

Saya x July 2017 x amassment x emotion

Cullen S. Rutherford

Basics

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Warrior
Specialization: Templar
Title: Templar (DA:O and DA2), Knight-Captain (DA2; as of 9:31 Dragon), Knight-Commander (end of DA2, as of 9:37 Dragon), Commander (DA:I, as of 9:41 Dragon)
Family: Branson (brother), Mia (sister), The Inquisitor (wife - depending if the player romances him in the Inquisition) Voice actor: Greg Ellis

Personality

Cullen is present in all the Dragon Age games till now. He has a big character growth through the series, as he starts as idealistic young templar, who, if you play female mage origins, has a crush on her and while he knows well his position he still shows his gentle side.

The first changes come after he is prisoner of a passion demon, and after the tragedy that hits the Ferelden circle he comes to believe that all mages are abominations and hates them just because they are mages, he has a mental breakdown after seeing his friends and fellow templars slaughtered in front of his eyes. He mistrust them and that is shown when he speaks to Hawke in Dragon Age 2.

"I was at the Circle Tower in Ferelden during the Blight. I saw firsthand how templars' trust and leniency can be rewarded. I still have nightmares of Uldred's depravities."
- Enemies Among Us , Act I

He keeps this mindset at the beginning of the second instalment of the series, he gets promoted to second in command and he starts having also trust issues about the fact that the Order cannot be wrong; especially at how Meredith treats the mages, he begins to question everything and in the end sides against his own Templar Commander.

Here arrives the second change in his views of the world, he comes to realise that in fact is not the mages that are the monsters, but that there is a big fault also in the Templar order, which makes his world crumble because the Order was what he always looked upon in awe. He comes to the conclusion that is not just mages that need to be controlled (or protected) but also that there needs to be put a limits to the Order as well.

While he leaves the Order in the end, he still is of the opinion that the mages have to be guarded, but that does not necessary mean he hates them, just that the powers that they possess can be danger to themselves and others, and the templars should be there to help not to brutally silence them.

When it comes to the relationships with others, he is easily embarrassed and it seems that most of the characters try to actually put him in this kind of situations because he becomes quite adorable.

Apearance

I always found him good looking guy, from the first moment I saw him in the game (and I started DA:O as a mage, so it was at the beginning).

At the beginning his hair looks quite ginger or maybe brown and well styled, while after in the other two instalments he is blond; while in DA2 it borders to platinum blond, it comes to a wavy well groomed wheat blond curls in the DA:I. But he always looks at you with his honey golden eyes.

Younger Cullen has always well groomed short stubble, while in the Inquisition he seems being more taken by his hair - proof is also some dialog at the war table:

Josephine: You've styled your hair that way for ages now Leliana, why don't we do something new with it?
Leliana: I'm used to the way it is.
Josephine: What about our commander?
Leliana: He does something with his hair already.
Josephine: It does look very nice today.
Cullen: I don't..
Leliana: You mean it just gets that way on its own?
Cullen: Not entirely.
Josephine: Laughs

His body is well built as years of training in the templars and then by all the combats he takes part in. He was always seen in the classic Templar armor, while in the inquisition this changes to a helmet that has a form of lion’s head, a fluffy thing around his neck, a cape and a nice and stylish amor.

Background

He comes from the village of Honnleath and he is the oldest boy in the family, he has an older sister, a younger brother and sister. From when he was eight years old he stated that he would become a templar and so he did everything he could to actually reach his goal. He visited the templars that were near his home and they actually humored him and thought him some basic techniques with the sword.

When he was thirteen years old he got noticed by a knight commander who decided to take him in to become a real Templar. This made him older than most recruits but he preserved and followed his dream quickly catching with all the other recruits in knowledge, he gave his final vows at age of 18 and he got assigned to the Ferelden circle under the guide of Knight Commander Greagoir.

With the blight his family was forced to flee but his parents in the end did not survive it.

In the Origins is said he had feelings for the female mage (if you start the mage origins story and chose a female) and that he hated the idea of having to kill her if she became an abomination. This changes after the return to the circle during the Broken circle; where he is found in a magical prison tempted by a desire demon. If the warden is female mage he will reveal his crush on her.

He is changed here and will try to convince the warden to kill all the mages because afraid that there is blood mages hiding between them, but nobody actually listens to him and Greagoir actually sends him away in hope for him to get better - he ends in Kirkwall’s Circle as Knight Captain and is second in command to Meredith.

With all what he passed in the Ferelden circle in the end he does not support how Meredith is actually leading the circle and in the end he sides against her, he decides to side with Hawke in the end whatever if the player decides to side with mages or templars, Cullen is always on Hawke’s side.

Following the rebellion, he stays in Kirkwall to help rebuilding where Cassandra gets him and convinces him to join the Inquisition granting him the rank of Commander. He becomes the military and tactical advisor to the Inquisitor.

Relationships

Playing Character

Origins - This one will be short as there is no actually relationship, as I already said in the previous paragraphs if the player starts as a female mage in origins it is shown that Cullen has feelings for the character in few instants - he says he would have hated to kill her if becoming abomination but also if he is pressed about it he gets embarrassed and runs away, and after during the Broken Circle part when met in the magical prison he admits his crush by denying that the warden is there because the desire demon is tempting him with her presence.

Inquisition - There is the possibility of romancing Cullen in the Inquisition game and if the player choose a female human or elf it’s everything almost done as it is almost easy gaining the approval. The best thing is actually talking always with him when you have the possibility which leads you to open more dialogue.

The romance can be initiated shortly after the fall of Heaven when they get to Skyhold. The main point is that if you want to romance him you have to speak with him always and do not make him take Lyrium again. After that you can have your happily ever after with him.

I will not describe the whole romance because if you are on this page interested into him, please be my guest and go live the romance.

My Hero

I think I have a thing for stupidly loyal and idiotically romantic guys, that do not know what to say when a woman they like is near. Goes the same as fo Alistair, I loved him from the moment I saw him, even before Alistair, because my first run in Origins was with a female Mage and this templar even if I just saw it for a moment and could talk with him just few times, I kept going back just to make him blush.

I love the character growth that he is given from the first game till the third, because we saw him struggling at all the time, if you start in origins with a female mage you will know that he had a thing for her and that is also confirmed when you get to the part of the broken circle, he admits it, I even understand his hate for mages after that, he saw them kill his friends and he was tortured, BUT while he dislikes them he does start questioning Meredith at a point, which means that he matures even more. He is firmly does believe that the job of templars is not just protecting the world from the mages but also the mages from the world, while at his younger days after the broken circle he just thought one way, that they need to protect the world from the mages.

I have a thing for this idiot and him trying to be casual about things but in the end he just is goofy and it makes me want to hug him and tell him everything will be ok and that I love him the way he is; and I do not care that there is people who dislike him because he is too goody, well I don’t like other characters that people say are fantastic, so everyone has their opinion, and Cullen is my baby and he will stay my baby, and I need to stop to romance him every freaking replay I do.

Dragon Age

(Origins)

Your job as the main character is there to save the world from the fifth blight as one of the few wardens that stayed alive after the begining. You have 6 different origin stories to start with which lead to different starts and also diferent viewpoints depending on the story it's chosen.

Set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the game puts the player in the role of a warrior, mage, or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background. The player character is recruited into the Grey Wardens, an ancient order that stands against demonic forces known as "Darkspawn", and is tasked with defeating the Archdemon that commands them and ending their invasion, known as the "Blight". The game is played from a third-person perspective that can be shifted to top-down perspective. Throughout the game, players encounter various companions, who play major roles in the game's plot and gameplay and accompany the player throughout the game.

BioWare described Dragon Age: Origins as a "dark heroic fantasy" set in a unique world, and a spiritual successor to their previous Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights franchises. Its setting was inspired by The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice & Fire, and was described by BioWare as a mix between high fantasy and low fantasy. Development of the game began in 2002, and lasted over six years. BioWare employed more than 144 voice-actors, and hired Inon Zur to compose the game's music. - Wikipedia

(2)

Dragon Age II is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and OS X. It is the second major game in the Dragon Age series, and was released worldwide in March 2011.[2]

Set in the same world introduced in Dragon Age: Origins, the player assumes the role of Hawke, a human mage, warrior, or rogue who arrives in the city of Kirkwall as a lowly refugee, becomes its legendary champion over a turbulent decade of political and social conflict.

The game received generally favorable reviews, with most criticisms directed on differences between Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Origins, such as the removal of the origin stories and race choices, the noticeably smaller world, and the combat system. - Wikipedia

(Inquisition)

The inquisition is the third installment of the Dragon Age series, where you have to protect the world from a maniac that wants to destroy it, remake it and then rule it.

Again you are back in Theads, which is the same setting as in previous two games, while in the Origins you were in Ferelden and in Dragon Age 2 you have seen Kirkwall, in the Inquisition, you travel between Ferelden and Orlais.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts.It is a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, making it the third major game in the Dragon Age franchise.

Dragon Age: Inquisition received critical acclaim. It was nominated for multiple year-end accolades, including Game of the Year and Best Role-playing awards from several gaming publications. - Wikipedia

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Credits

True Templar(c) Saya
Dragon Age (Inquisition): Cullen S. Rutherford (c) BioWare and Eletronic Arts
Trxtures for header by O.CalyptuSs
fonts from DaFont
Image from Dragonage Wikia
Information and some images for shrine content found at Dragon Age Wikia, Wikipedia, playing tru game, Offical Dragon Age Page
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