Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s best villain can be found in a side story

Dragon Age: The Veil Guard is a game about assembling a team to fight ancient elven gods, but the more time I spend in Thedas, the more I realize I’d rather chase another villain. Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain belong to the ancient elven pantheon known as the Evanuris, and they are up to no good: destroying villages, murdering innocents, and trying to restore their ancient empire. But I think that’s a total snooze compared to the real evil star of the game: Johanna Hezenkoss, evil spirit in the making and absolute queen.

I should probably explain why I’m not worried about the Evanuris, despite the fact that they represent a very real and urgent apocalypse. There are definitely things I like about their character design, as well as cool story-related moments. Ghilan’nain looks great; Whether she is an unnervingly lithe figure, blinded by illness and grasping with too many limbs, or a gigantic face in the clouds, I love her design. And I also loved those creepy moments when Elgar’nan whispered to the main character Rook, promising impossible gifts.

Unfortunately, these moments are drowned out by the duo’s dialogue, which is quite basic. The two roar about drowning the world in destruction, endless power, the futility of anyone who tries to fight them, and their immortality. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a world-ending villain, and I was bored after the second encounter or so. Elgar’nan in particular is a disappointment. Ghilan’nain can lean on its brilliant visual design and army of monsters; Elgar’nan is just a big guy in an impractical hat.

Compare them to Johanna Hezenkoss, a woman who looks remarkably ordinary in comparison. She wears the simple clothes of the Mourn Watch, glasses and a practical haircut. If it weren’t for the hideous lantern at her side, you might mistake her for a lowly lab assistant. Emmrich, one of the game’s best companions, asks you to hunt Hezenkoss on his behalf. She gains the upper hand – literally, by revealing that the party’s Hand of Glory is actually her own severed appendage – and banishes the party to the Fade.

That’s a pretty strong start for a villain, but it gets better as you continue Emmrich’s storyline. Eventually you find out that Hezenkoss is having a big fancy night at her evil necromancer mansion. This is clearly suspicious, so the team investigates, only to discover that Hezenkoss has invited petty rivals, pesky nobles, and her other enemies so she can sacrifice them all and inhabit the body of a giant golden skeletal monster. It’s like The Menubut for necromancy.

For example, I appreciate the goal of sacrificing some people you don’t like so you can ascend to the immortal form of a giant skeleton. She reminds me of that Spider-Man meme where the hero tells a pterodactyl scientist that he can cure cancer with his technology, and the pterodactyl man – who happens to ride a triceratops – responds that he doesn’t want to cure cancer. he wants to turn people into dinosaurs.

Hezenkoss and Elgar’nan both want power, of course, but one of them is much more theatrical about it. I love a good mad scientist, and Hezenkoss handles the role with aplomb. I won’t spoil the conclusion of her confrontation with Emmrich, but it is one of them The Veil Guard‘s strongest moments. Part of me longs for an alternate history true The Veil Guard had a much smaller scope and less pressing interests. In this hypothetical alternate timeline, I think Johanna Hezenkoss deserves a promotion to main villain. I’ve already forgotten Elgar’nan and his plans, but Hezenkoss will live on in my heart – a villain with ambition, goals, and the freedom to chew the scenery a little during her moment of triumph.