Minthara in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a character that few get to know better. But that is exactly what the lead writer behind the RPG loves.
In Baldur’s Gate 3, there are a variety of characters, and some supposed villains can be redeemed and even recruited as companions. The game’s lead writer revealed in an interview why Minthara holds a particularly special role for him.
Who is speaking? That is Adam Smith, the lead writer from Larian. He was responsible for a large part of the dialogues in Baldur’s Gate 3. Even though he did not write many dialogues himself and was mainly responsible for revising and adapting the texts of other authors, he spent a lot of time with Minthara and worked on her story. In an interview with PCGamer on YouTube, he spoke about a character he particularly liked: Minthara.
What did Smith say? In the interview, he revealed why Minthara is so special to him. This is mainly because very few players will ever get to know her in depth.
We knew from the start that Minthara is a character that most will kill. She is a villain. You meet her, you can recruit her – but most will kill her, and we knew that from the beginning. We knew that all the work to write so much dialogue for her would only be appreciated by very few people.
But it is precisely this fact that very few players will ever get to see that has made him satisfied. Because he further explains:
I have included a line that I don’t know how many people will ever see. (…)
There’s a moment where she comes quite close to you. And when she does that, she has a little crisis with her self-confidence. You can then tell her: “Look, you are stronger than anyone I have ever met.”
She then says: “If I hadn’t met you, I would still be a lunatic doing things in the name of a god that doesn’t even exist.”
And then you say: “But you met me.”
She replies: “Yes, but in 9 out of 10 cases, I would just be another corpse on your crusade.”
That is a small, sad moment, but at the same time, it’s a small hint to the players by stating: Yes, in all your other playthroughs, she will probably just die.
Smith particularly enjoys writing lines and dialogue that he knows only a tiny fraction of the player base will ever see. After all, Minthara is relatively obviously a villain and will simply be killed by most players. Many who do not engage with the game on external sites will never learn that Minthara is a character who can be recruited for the player’s party.
At the end, Smith then says with a clear laugh:
[Minthara] is a terrible person and should not be saved. But … the moments I love are the ones we write for a very small audience and when they reach it, they get something special. That’s the stuff I love.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of choices, and many of them are even hidden behind specific classes or races. This leads to many special moments that others will probably never see. Smith shares many interesting things in interviews anyway – he thought that Larian was on the decline and Baldur’s Gate 3 would be terrible.
