Why We Fall for Fictional People – The Astarion Phenomenon

One could say that vampires have always garnered a lot of attention from the general public. From Edward Cullen in Twilight, to Lestat and Louis from Interview with the Vampire, vampires have always been considered to have that little extra pizazz when it comes to ensnaring attention. Astarion was no exception. The 200-year-old, with his perfectly tousled silver hair and roguish quips, surpassed all expectations when he became a part of the cultural zeitgeist after the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2023.

Neil Newbon, the voice of Astarion in the hit RPG Baldur’s Gate 3, did not expect the character to gain such rapid and, at times, rabid popularity. In an ensemble cast of 10 other characters, it is hard to hold your own, but Astarion accomplished the feat and more. While the other characters of the game no doubt also receive a lot of love from the fans of the game, there are none that have reached the fame and fanaticism afforded to Astarion. 

Why Astarion Works

A humongous part of the appeal of Astarion is in the way the players interact with him. His popularity isn’t only about personality or design, but about how the game allows players to build a relationship with him in the first place. Unlike other video games or even TV shows and movies, there’s not a set storyline for characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. All of the character storylines depend on the choices you make as a player, and that, gamers, is the Appeal. Astarion feels less like a background character and more like an active participant whose role influences the story itself. 

He might fall in love with you or decide to outright dump you and leave your party halfway through, all depending on how you decide to play the game.

When Players Start to Fall in Love

During my first playthrough, I was left wondering what I was doing wrong to not be able to gain Astarion’s trust and increase his approval ratings in the game. Finding out I was supposed to make… let’s say, unethical choices to gain his approval, really was a punch to the gut. Astarion is a deeply immoral character, in the truest sense of the word. He likes it when your character doesn’t help a hungry orphan on her quest to find out what happened to her mother. Now this is right about the time where you, as a player, are forced into a rather uncomfortable realisation. Most gamers have been wired to think that helping the downtrodden gets you rewards, yet here, empathy does not help you in the slightest. In fact, it might even hurt a little. 

Slowly though, his reactions begin to make sense as you start to understand that morality, for him, has never been safe. That shift changes the relationship entirely. Now the goal is not to just win approval, but to understand why approval works differently for him at all.  

The character stops feeling like a function of the game, and instead begins feeling like someone who is shaped by their own experiences. And thus, attachment is formed, which, combined with his stunningly gorgeous physical attributes and the fantastic work done by his VA Neil Newbon, doesn’t take long to turn into love. 

Fictional characters as emotional mirrors 

Online fandoms have always been a space for shared enthusiasm, but spaces built around characters like Astarion show something a bit deeper. Fiction becomes a way to talk about feelings that might be deemed too complicated or complex. Conversations around Astarion’s past traumas, boundaries, healing, and budding self-worth become a way for people to engage with these topics from a comfortable distance. 

This is where fandom stops existing as just an appreciation for characters and becomes a community. Attachment to Astarion becomes more than its sum of attraction and charisma. Instead, it becomes a mirror for people to view their emotional struggles reflected in him and find others who resonate with the character in a similar way. Fiction in this way becomes a way for people to foster connections and attachments beyond just the fictional context. 

Beyond the Game

In the end, the emotional response Astarion has inspired in people reflects the very nature of how we engage with stories. Attachment to fictional characters forms through understanding  and emotional recognition. Interaction, especially in the case of Astarion, deepens this connection but the impulse to attach is deeply human. 

People return to characters that feel layered and complex enough to think critically about, to argue over, and to care for. These are the characters that sit at the cross-section of emotion and imagination. These are the characters that stay with you long after the story is over and everyone else has gone home. 

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