BioWare has revealed the latest party member for upcoming role-playing game Dragon Age: Inquisition. A moustached mage named Dorian, he is the first “legitimately gay” character BioWare lead series writer David Gaider has ever written and he’s already drumming up some controversy.

“It added an interesting dimension to his backstory, considering he comes from a place where ‘perfection’ is the face that every mage puts on and anything that smacks of deviancy is shameful and meant to be hidden,” Gaider said in a post on the Dragon Age website. “Dorian’s refusal to play along with that façade is seen as stubborn and pointless by his family, which has contributed to his status as a pariah.”

“I suppose this aspect of Dorian will make him controversial in some corners, but I was glad to include it,” he added. “It made writing Dorian a very personal experience for me, and I’m hopeful that will make him seem like a fully realized character to fans in the end.”

“I suppose this aspect of Dorian will make him controversial in some corners, but I was glad to include it” — David Gaider

In this post on the Dragon Age Inquisition website, Gaider initially referred to Dorian as “fully gay,” which led some level of criticism over this label. He has since apologized, explaining that he meant to say “legitimately” gay, in that Dorian will only romance men. “I was trying to be clear–many people consider the bi characters we’ve done to be ‘gay,'” Gaider said.

Another fan suggested that “fully gay” and “legitimately gay” have the same connotations, but Gaider doesn’t see it that way. “Many would say, ‘No, it’s not.’ But fair enough–I did not intend to comment on bisexuality, and will leave it at that,” Gaider said.

Here’s how Gaiden sums up who Dorian is and what he’s all about:

“Dorian is smart–perhaps too smart for his own good, really. He was raised in a society where both intelligence and wit are prized, where advancing yourself socially means outmaneuvering your peers, and he does so quite well… or, at least, he would if he didn’t see through it all. That’s left him rather jaded and sarcastic, naturally.”

As for his abilities, Gaider writes that Dorian has “powerful elemental spells” at his disposal, along with spells involving the control of spirit and the dead.

Dragon Age Inquisition launches October 7 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
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