Isabela

Isabela starts out as a scheming pirate who is so cool, you want to be like her when you grow up. The rogue is cunning, promiscuous, and a bit brash, and she’s also one of the series’ best-written companions. Isabela is always found at the Hanged Man bar, tossing back drinks and ready to read anyone around her to filth, but she is nurturing, wise, and loyal to a fault…if you help her get there.

The pirate can leave the party if she and Hawke aren’t close enough by the end of Act 2, but if you’ve either shown that you’re just as much a free spirit as she is or have berated her for the errors of her disloyal ways, she shows back up in a big damn hero moment, ready to save the day. Then you have to fight for her life (or give her up, if you’re a bastard) and it’s all very romantic. While Isabela is technically an optional companion in Dragon Age 2, her actions play a big part in setting up the political turmoil happening in Kirkwall. When she’s not there, her absence is felt, and when she is there, she makes sure everyone knows she’s the star of the show.

Isabela’s role in The Veilguard is probably the least dramatic of all the previous party member cameos. She leads the Lords of Fortune regardless of whatever happened to her in Dragon Age II. The destination is good, but her dialogue is one of the more glaring examples of BioWare not practicing what it preaches regarding not treating specific choices as canon, given Isabela is assumed recruited and on decent terms with the Kirkwall crew. But she’s still a fun inclusion, and seems to have grown up a lot since we last saw her.