Why do you like Zevran when he’s a murderer?(I mean technically isn’t every companion but I digress) I love the dude I’m just simply curious on why you do! For me I love his character growth.

I’m only asking this because today I got asked that, and the other person made it seem like Zevran was the most evil character ever because he was an assassin and had no character growth and never atoned for all the people he killed.

well, like you said, all of our companions are murderers. we, the player character, are a murderer. and we don't ever have to atone for shit, so i honestly find "murder" to be an insufficient metric for judging characters.

i mean, we can discuss how some murders are maybe more severe, or more representative of one's morals, than others, but at the end of the day, we and our companions are all murderers who don't suffer any consequences for the deaths we cause. and whether or not an individual companion has to "answer" for a specific murder (sten, anders, blackwall, etc) is up to the PC.

also, zevran is a slave.

he was bought by the crows as a child, and raised to be an assassin, and if he didn't adhere to their training and their rules, they would kill him. his scene in the fade is of him being tortured. it's established that if he separates from the crows, they will hunt him down. zevran didn't have a choice about being an assassin.

if wynne confronts him about it, he will brush her off. but if the warden gains his trust, he will speak plainly about his past. i believe he's made as much peace as is possible with his profession (killing for pay is a relatively normalized thing in this universe after all), but he's not doing it becuz it's his passion. he doesn't know anything else, he doesn't have the freedom to choose anything else.

zevran is like a lot of companions in this series in that he uses humor and flirtation to cover up any vulnerable feelings. if you don't gain zevran's trust, he has no reason to be honest with you, and so a lecherous snarky murderer is all you will see.

but if you befriend or romance him, you will see that he is a sensitive, compassionate man, haunted by choices that he's made and struggling with the effects of his trauma. he argues with you to spare the mages and the dalish (and in the case of broken circle, to a degree that no other companions does). he is touched when you give him gifts. he promises that your assassin training will be fun, and he is so considerate of your boundaries as a lover. if you die during the final battle after romancing him, it is confirmed that he never loves again.

and if he lives? he dedicates himself to dismantling the crows. that's literally his whole appearance in da2. he might be doing it more for personal revenge and/or justice on behalf of other enslaved children than out of penance, but i don't know what more could be expected of him in terms of "atonement."

anyway. that's why i love zevran. and if anyone else gives you shit for liking him, anon, you can link them to this post.