Baldur's Gate 3 Has a SECRET Main Character... 

One cool detail is that the game actually gives a subtle explanation for why the Dark Urge isn’t involved in a Tav/Origin playthrough. In Orin’s room, you can find the corpse of a white Dragonborn labeled “Dead Bhaalspawn”, so it seems in this case, Orin just killed him instead of tadpoling him

The Durge interactions with Gortash are really good. There's something sweet in how he says "I *tolerate* Orin. I liked you." A true buddy that any good pycho murderer should have.

I personally do think its no secret that The Dark Urge, especially the Dragonborn is the canonical antagonist/protagonist of the game. Tav felt more like he's part of it because he has to rid himself of the infection, while Dark Urge wants and needs to know who he is, what he is, and how he ended up like that in the first place. (And not to mention the character creation intro he has). Heck, the fact that you can actually find the Dark Urge's dead body in Orin's chamber playing as Tav further proofs he is indeed important, while playing as Durge, Tav is nowhere to be seen, though i've read somewhere he was also a victim in the mountain of corpses Durge made throughout his madness prior to being infected.

Me: I am conflicted about hurting my comrades. Slayer Form: Sounds like you're scared. Me: I am no longer conflicted about hurting my comrades.

After playing dark urge I can never play Tav again. You actually feel like part of the world playing as Dark Urge, and whether you do an evil or good run or start evil become good or whatever, reject or accept Bhaal, it’s so well crafted.

I've done 8 complete playthroughs of BG3, and my favorite experience by far was the run where I played as Durge but resisted my evil, violent nature at every opportunity. Such great story telling.

After playing Durge, Tav feels so... hollow. Like I love my drow Tav, she's badass, but Tav doesn't feel as connected to the story, Durge is catalyst that caused this to happen, and is the hero redeeming himself to save the world

Gotta say, I think Redeemed Durge is the absolute best story in the game. Idk, I just found it so fulfilling

Aside from the fact that Larian themselves hinted at him being the real MC, the fact that Durge is the only origin character without a name and background all but screams "main character."

Fun fact: if you have speak with animals active, the durge won't automatically kill he squirrel

One of my favorite details is that The Absolute was actually ready to follow Durge's plan. The literal big brain thinks you're a giga brain.

I do wish Gale came back, after his limb was trimmed. Not as a companion, but as a boss fight. An angry, vengeful Gale would have been awesome to see.

I feel Durge is the real main character of BG3. Especially if we’re going by the themes of BG1 and 2. Also considering he also has a canonical appearance and class. But most importantly, he is integral too the story. Tav if I recall correctly was an investigator, trying to solve the murders caused by Durge. But no canonical appearance or class.

I like how if you embraced your heritage, it makes you feel like you are the boss fight for Orin

Meanwhile Lae’zel and Astarion: You wanna kill more people? Nice let me help

As I red once, Orin is the real hero of Baldur's Gate 3 If she didn't betray Durge then they wouldn't have memory loss (or even have died) and The Dead Three's plan would've been completed with ease Thank you Orin for saving the realms 😹

The Dark Urge to me seems like the writers asked themselves "Hey remember Knights of the Old Republic's big twist? I bet we can do some really wild shit with that concept since we don't have to be family friendly."

Embracing the Dark Urge is some of the most fun I've had in gaming. It's so well done, and getting to destroy Orin with the slayer form after all the grief she's given me in other playthroughs was just beautiful. Let hill and hollow be a door, to screams that last forevermore.

The quest log of the Dark Urge story line pretty much says it all. All entries are written in 3rd person and by Sceleritas Fel; he will praise Durge if they obey and criticize them for rejecting their urges. If you redeem Durge at the end of the quest, the last quest log entry will be written in 1st person and they will talk about how they feel like themselves for the first time in their life.

The thing about Dark Urge, is that Larian do one of the tropes that DMs in DND hate the most about character backstories right: amnesia. Seriously. Ask any DM, and they will mostly say it’s an excuse for something, either becoming a murder hobo, or laziness/disinterest on the player’s part. If done well like Durge, amnesia is usually best executed if there is both 1.) a reason for the amnesia (Orin’s mutilation of Durge), and 2.) is connected to established lore in some form (the Dead Three, BG 1 and 2, and generally established lore with the Forgotten Realms). Additionally, when done like this, the later reveals like the Bhaalspawn, the Crown Raid, and the conversation with Bhaal all lead up to more fantastic moments.

I remember a clip where the Durge gets a "Tear of joy in your eye" when witnessing the hyena give birth to a Gnoll.

Friend seeing my naked halfling Barbarian killing everything: "Ya bro playing Dark Urge bad route?" Me just being murderhobo in our game, which we never intended to play more than one-shot without knowing anything about DU: "Who?"

There's something enthralling about playing a Dark Urge that resists said urges. It's like Paarthurnax from Skyrim says. "What is better? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature with great effort?" The feeling of overcoming your Dark Urges, to prove you can be someone better, there's a feeling of satisfaction and triumph that no other RPG has ever given me. I am so glad I played Dark Urge first in my game.

redemption durge is def the canon protagonist. It just makes sense.

Idk if you guys knew this, it isn't mentioned in the video, but you can cast speak with dead on Helena's corpse!

38:00 I'm pretty sure Durge is not a descendant of Sarevok at all. Orin might call you brother at some point, but that's because she is convinced she's a full Bhaalspawn and you can tell her the truth if you read Sarevok's diary or talk to her mom. If anything, you're Orin's grand-uncle.

I'm excited because Larian said they are adding more evil endings to the game.

My first playthrough of the game had been with Durge, and I have zero regrets for it. Every moment you had to choose between resisting or embracing your blood had me on edge, weighing in the potential benefits and consequences of each. And the way you tie into the game's plot up to the reveal you are the very orchestrator of the Absolute crisis alongside the ties to Baldur's Gate history from previous installments is executed perfectly. I wholly agree with him being the true 'main' character of BG3. My only nitpick about Durge is... why the hell is he a storm sorcerer by default when that class has no real synergy with all the murder-themed items or slayer form...?

As someone who played BG2, I noticed the markings under the dark urge in the little "who am I speech" he gives in the character select, and when I saw the slayer I recognized it from BG2, leaving no doubt who we were

One of my favorite pieces of dialogue comes from Sceleritis after you become the chosen. When you ask him what the worth thing he ever did was, he responds about the time you gave a beggar some coin. It might be a joke line, but that made me question about who the Dark Urge is as a person. Was he truly the murderous maniac who kills without mercy, or were these urges always the parasite that took him over. When he has these urges, it is his body that tingles in excitement, relishing a past experience. These urges are euphoric, but he might’ve never been in control of his body. Again, looking too deep into it, but food for thought.

My biggest gripe with Tav is the game feels like it's tailored to give the player an ego trip. Durge has felt more like a wolf among sheep. They all can clearly see your teeth but you manage to convince them that you aren't immediately dangerous.

“He’s trying to kenpachi us!” Thx u made me audible snort at work

Well.. given a Bhaalspawn was the PC in BG1&2..

The Dark Urge can also regain a couple of their memories if you make them eat the Noblestalk mushroom found in the Underdark, or cast a Heal spell on yourself.

playing as dark urge healed the people pleaser in me. I killed EVERYONE

I would suggest playing Ranger or rogue (I suggest both: 5 ranger, 3 rogue, 3 Fighter, 1 War Priest) if you play The Dark Urge because that cloak you get for killing Alfira is so good for a stealthy assassin type, be it ranged or melee.

7:33 that’s not entirely true, I have an almost perfect score with shardowheart, Lae’zel and Astarion and a relationship with Lae’zel even though I literally killed every other character in the game (half way through act 3). So for your evil play through you just have to choose the right companions.

You're only describing how it feels to play a Durge AFTER having finished the game already. Playing it as your first playthrough is the way to go

"secret main character" shows the canon mc lol

As a man once said, "Blood For The Blood God."

Gonna go play a Dark Urge run, then I'll come back to this video. It's the only way I'll let myself watch it.

He's like Gorion's Ward and the Nameless one joined together.

The proper way to play The Dark Urge should be as the good guy. After all, in the intro, he literally says he needs to resist the urge. Which, while I've never played the other Baldur's Gate games, seems to more or less synergize with them.

I always prefer to play Dark Urge rather then the generic custom character because It gives your character an arc or questline of your own whereas in a normal playthrough it feels like you're just around for everyone else's story.

You also end up with the bad ending if you lose against Orin. Basically then you're stuck with the urge even if you denied or embraced it.

holy shit dude i really thought your channel would have 10’s if not 100’s if thousands of subscribers, for such i high quality video i really thought you would have a larger audience, keep it up dude you got this and 10k in like 5months?! good shit.

Karlach, showing up with a great axe and non-lethal attacks turned on: "I'm sorry about this, Alfira. You're going to thank me later."

The dark urge line: when deliverance is more than just giving death

i refused all my urges, as ill never give in to baal

durge is the canonical mc for me since the first time i played it, just fits the game's plot so perfectly and makes act 3 much more impactful

The first time I did a durge run, I embarrassed the durge and felt really sad as everyone felt so empty

Ya know, I really think that there should have been a mention towards that one piece of dialogue that allows the Dark Urge to be WORSE than Bhaal himself, relishing that they are now truly free, and that their atrocities and wretched acts will finally be theirs and their alone, instead of being deemed as some outside influence

Lol i got downvoted on reddit for saying the dark urge is more the main character than Tav is, for some reason.

Resisting the urge run is sooooo good

My tav/Durge playthrough started me as a paladin. Accidentally became a and learned that being and oathbreaker is VERY possible.

I really like Dark Urge. He and Gortash's plan set all of the absolute and the netherbrain loose. And it was Dark Urge to either control or destroy it, much like his blood of Bhaal that curses him. Through unique dialogue do you unlock the mystery of Dark Urge. Having Hell be a huge part of it, the Devil's Fee plays a major role in a Dark Urge playthrough. From the death of Dark Urge comes the Good Urge. Withers MVP.

Goddamn... Durge is just a masterpiece of a character, being an evil him can be rewarding in the early stages but in Act 2 and 3... You really need to resist the urge at some point... Durge is also a huge homage to the previous main protagonist which was a Bhaalspawn as well, Gorion' Ward!

I appreciate the beginning of the vid I just got the game and I'm not ready to be spoiled

I'll probably stick to just watching videos on a Dark Urge playthrough cause I'm too attached to the companions and characters to be a bloodthirsty killer. If I ever do a Dark Urge playthrough, I'll likely just defy Bhall and try to spare as many people as possible.

The best play through I had was for Dark Urge redemption. It was so rewarding

Worth mentioning but Alfira can be saved from her grizzly fate. After finishing her interaction, however you ended up completing it, you can use non-lethal attacks to knock her out and once the Durge camp scene triggers a back-up character will appear to die in her stead. You still gain the Deathstalker Mantle for the murder as you do with Alfira and you gain the ability to get the quest rewards from Alfira in Act 2, a win-win scenario. It is crazy how many back-up characters exist to make up for an unexpected NPC death whether caused by the player or an inexplicable glitch. Definitely recommend using a companion to knock her out though since attacking her will stack up negative relations and she won't talk to her attacker later down the line. I used Astarion for poetic reasons and because Rogue.

Dark Urge is quite literally the best way to play Baldur's Gate 3, and probably the best mode to play in any CRPG ever

Just started a dark urge halfling play through

I’ve been running a very speciric DURGE, where he starts trying to fight off the evil, while secretly enjoying his Violence, in the middle of the game before act3, My Durge understood his true nature and stopped hiding, being a complete menace for all to see, while sometimes his senses come back to him, for the most part, he enjoys every single bit of misery he inflicts upon others….

I’ve been running a very speciric DURGE, where he starts trying to fight off the evil, while secretly enjoying his Violence, in the middle of the game before act3, My Durge understood his true nature and stopped hiding, being a complete menace for all to see, while sometimes his senses come back to him, for the most part, he enjoys every single bit of misery he inflicts upon others….

I left this comment on your Astarion video too, but might as well put it here. I’m doing a modded playthrough where I’ve combined Karlach and the Dark Urge storylines, the forced long rest taking me to the mountain pass contained 3 events: 1: Mizora showed up 2: Alfira shows up and I subsequently kill her and go back to bed 3: Astarion tries to bite me (and fails since I’m Karlach) This means Astarion wakes up after I murder Alfira, sees her body and me covered in blood, and then decides to try to bite me…to make it even better, none of my companions even commented on Alfira’s body.

I've never been able to get that torture scene in the druids grove, dark urge or not. Weird.

Resisting the urge feels like Sirus in Infinity Blade former Lord Vile/Lord Aussar as also one of the most evil beings in it’s own lore.

who knew a murder hobo(or in this case the literal chosen to a god of murder) could be so interesting

Very rare fact I can’t seem to find any footage of: If you keep Gale’s hand all the way to Act 3, you can talk to him at the murder tribunal! This is insanely rare though, as, being the Dark Urge, you don’t need to actually DO the tribunal to become an unholy assassin.

If you knockout alfira on the first night you get a dragon bard that comes to camp to die instead of her. And if you end up sacrificing the night song you still get the stalker form without losing allies.

I just finished my evil Durge playthrough the day before yesterday.. with the newer endings as well (would love to see a short bit of a PS follow up vid to this). Really want to do a redemption Durge playthrough sometime in the future

I know their just business partners but I cannot get the head cannon out of my head that durge and gortash were mates I’ll agree to them being “roommates”

The talk my durge had with Jaheira about the slayer form really gave her allot to think about, up until that point she's been doing whatever she could to attain the power of her father while avoiding stupid mindless killing. I think it's because of that, the ending of my current playthrough is a coin toss. It could go either way really, but it might sway towards refusal of the power in the end because she doesn't want to lose the only mother figure she's ever known. Every time she talked to Jaheira she couldn't bring herself to tell her that she's the one responsible for the horrific shit that's happening. She wants Jaheira to still be there in the end.

"Helena (his daughter) gave birth to Orin (his daughter) and then Sarevok told Helena (his daughter) to kill Orin (his daughter) but then Orin instead killed Helena (her mother) which Sarevok is totally cool with" is such a loaded quote that also perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the dark urge

As it was not mentioned in the video, if you play as any origin character other than Durge, you can find his corpse in Orin's bedchamber

in BG1 and BG2 ur main hero was bhaals spawn by base so ofc in BG3 dark urge is main character

I saw a comment once (or maybe a youtuber said it in a video i don't remember anymore) saying that Durge feels tacked on and unnecessary since you already have Tav as the protagonist and that just bothered me. Essentially Tav is not even a character, they do not have any personality (which is fine because it's literally an RPG) but playing as Durge is just s much more fullfilling from a player perspective I find, no matter if you play them as a murer hobo, pure good guy or anything inbetween. I've completed the game over 15 times and most of those times I just opted to play as Durge instead of Tav because I just found it a lot more interesting. Tav is just Durge with less content from where I stand

Honestly playing as a Dark Urge will gift you with two of the best cutscenes in the game: Withers reviving you at Bhaal Temple and the bad ending, where Amelia (the narrator) give one of the best Videogame VA on recent times

Dark urge also has a redemption quest line, which is even cooler than listening to Baal

The thing with the dark urge is its carrying on the story from the first two games. It's why it's the only other origin that's customizable. You're meant to play the game as a bhaalspawn. It's Baldurs Gate, after all.

There is another fun interaction if you consume the Noblestalk as the Dark Urge. You get a little flashback sequence that is pretty cool. Hope this helps anyone who wants to do a Durge run!

I finished chapter 1 with 2 companions, Gale, Wyll, and Karlach leave after you attack the grove and Shadow, well La'zel, you made your bed

A hella fun class for an Evil Durge run that felt pretty good thematically for me is Fiend Pact of the Blade Warlock. You get so many great evil only items for that build and the best in slot weapon is the Shars Spear of Evening (which you get if Shadowheart kills the nightsong) and dual-wielding it with a dagger. When you get to act 3 and get baptized into the Bhaal cult you can buy the Bhaalist armor which will double all your damage since the spear and dagger both do piercing damage. So by the end, you're covering you and your enemies in darkness and then stabbing them to death in the dark. It's really cool.

Imo the best way to play Durge is a resist Durge who fails. It turns the story into a tragedy where Durge is forced to kill against his will and tries to end it all by allowing Orin to kill him, only to be revived by Bhaal to continue his will. In a last act of defiance you destroy the netherbrain and kill yourself to spite your father.

Seriously, after playing through Durge it the “normal” play through feels like it’s missing something. Like I’m just playing through the motions and just so happened to be caught up in an already ongoing story. Man, the times I got chills just from his normal banter had me hooked. the VA went all out and beyond to sell the urge man. From him saying “Into the bloody fray!” To my favorite line “They are dying for me. ALL OF THEM!!!!” To me he was THE MAIN CHARACTER!🔥😎🥶

I LOVE the dark urge character. I beat the game 4 times and 3 of those times i played dark urge. The first time was a good playthrough, second one was a chaotic neutral, and my last playthrough was very evil. I killed everyone in my evil playthrough except for Lae'zel and Astarion 😅 dark urge is a lot of fun imo

Hell, the fact of Durge being the only OC which cannot join the party made it clear to me that I should play that guy.

A first playthrough, full dark urge embrace is a very fun experience, I’m so used to games evil options to actively make the game less fun, blocking off content and barely making the rewards worth it, so when I heard BG3 had a really good evil path, I jumped to do it first and I don’t regret it, I was cackling like a maniac irl with each evil act, and was made stronger by it, truly this was my favourite evil path in any game

Well Larian did at one point mention that the dark urge was the only planned character or the main character but that they then expanded to include the origin characters and the custom characters as well. Gonna do my first evil playthrough when patch 7 comes out

I hope they keep it vague about whether Durge or Tav is canon because I have grown quite attached to my Tavs and it’d suck if none of them was the possible hero who destroyed the Netherbrain, especially because I always like giving them vague backstories and stuff for my head canon.

> Calls one of the seventh playable character a SECRET. Continues to tell about things you will encounter while playing as durge. Must be a half-goblin with intellegence = 1. With clickbaiter feet.

The dark durge is the only origin character that can be customised he/she also has the most interactions with the main villains some even knew the dark urge before they lost their memory and then there’s Withers like yeah he interacts with everyone else but he interacts with the Dark urge more he even goes out of his way to bring us back from the dead basically reborn after Bhaal kills us

It seems that Larian even made a character for those who likes to be a murderhobo...

8:30 When that necro line came up, I cackled. I was like "What the fuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Since the Alfira incident was spoilered for me by some youtube short I tried not to get friendly with her so she wouldnt come to camp. This didn't work but I was able to hide the body without any confrontation with my companions. They never noticed.

with the introduction of Durge, i no longer feel compelled to be a goody-two-shoes in games! thanks, Larian! :D

The one thing I hate about "redemption arc" Durge playthroughs is that you can talk to everybody in your camp about your violent fantasies you admit you can't control, and everybody's on a scale of "well we all have dark thoughts" (Karlach, Wyll) to "good, you won't survive this world without killing people" (Shart, Lae'zel) but then after [a certain campsite night scene] if you don't deny what you did, everybody's like "wow, you're a freak, how could you do this? I don't trust you anymore." And maybe that's just my personal experience speaking, but that's _exactly_ what every interaction with a psychiatrist I've had over the past 13 years felt like. I go there, tell them my story and the problems I'm having, get a "well, we'll just keep an eye on that. In the mean time, remember to write a diary and do your exercises we've spoken about" and then when I end up in an ER (not just for """attempts""", but nervous breakdowns and severe panic attacks), it's always "what? why didn't you try to talk to somebody about this first?" Again, that's just my life seeping into what I wanted to be a bit of fun escapism with a highly regarded video game, and it's… unfortunate that this is how it's handled.

I am all the way into the grymforge and the butler still hasn't shown up, pretty much every single long rest has had some kind of story element happen because I try and milk my party's resources dry before long resting, and end up having a story significant scene every single rest, and you only get one per rest, so he keeps getting put at the back of the long rest scenes queue

One thing I find hilarious is that literally after I helped Minthara's gobbie squad massacre the Grove (which cost me both Wyll and Karlach in the process), Astarion immediately was DTF despite my affiliation with him being medium at the time.