Summary
Few studios enjoy a reputation quite as positive asBioWare’s. Ever since it was founded in 1995, the company has been famous for crafting top-tier RPGs beloved for their epic stories, brilliant characters, and emphasis on player choice. The studio has given gamers big franchises, likeMass EffectandDragon Age, which have produced some of gaming’s most iconic characters.
Of course, with society being the way it is, the focus has tended to be on Bioware’s male characters. This is unfortunate because the studio has given the world of gaming some truly great female characters, too. Many gamers are likely already familiar withthe best female heroes in BioWare games, but thestrongest female characters in BioWare gamesmay not be as obvious.
This list takes into account each character’s skills, abilities, traits, feats, and impact on their respective game’s stories. The list also only includes characters from BioWare-made games and omits those like Shepard, who can be male or female depending on the player’s preferences.
Anyone who has played any of the first threeDragon Agegames should be familiar with Leliana.She appeared inDragon Age: Originsas a recruitable characterand reappeared briefly inDragon Age 2before playing a major role inDragon Age: Inquisition. When first encountered, she’s an Orlesian bard, highly skilled in stealth and gifted with both bows and duel blades.
Leliana might beone ofDragon Age’s best bards, but that isn’t where her true strength lies. She’s an excellent fighter and companion inDragon Age: Origins,but it’s her role inInquisitionthat earns her a spot among thestrongest female characters in BioWare games. In the third game, she acts as the player’s spy master, meaning that she wields a vast network of spies, making her incredibly powerful. Depending on the player’s decisions, Leliana can ascend to the point of becoming the Divine, making her one of the most influential characters in the game. Physically, she may not be that strong, but in the world ofDragon Age, Leliana controls a subtler kind of power.
6Cassandra Pentaghast
Master Tactician, Fearsome Warrior, Seeker Of Truth
Those going into a melee fight inDragon Age: Inquisitionshould probably bring Cassandra with them. A Seeker of Truth and former Right Hand of the Divine, Cassandra is one of the game’s most skilled fighters. Her sword and shield come in handy when things get up close and personal, while her Wrath of Heaven and Spell Purge Seeker abilities mean that she can also hold her own against powerful magical threats.
In the game’s story, it’s Casandra who kicks off the reformation of the Inquisition. She is one of the player’s most important advisors and a master tactician.What makes Cassandra so strong, however, is her faith and sense of justice. When Cassandra believes in something, there’s almost no stopping her. Like Leliana, she has the potential to become the Divine, also making her an incredibly influential figure inDragon Agelore. She is also considered to be one ofInquisiton’s best romance options.
Thanks to her standoffish, rather stuck-up nature (at least initially), not everyone is a fan of Miranda. Yet even her biggest detractors would struggle to argue with the fact that she’s one ofBioWare’s strongest characters. Genetically engineered by her father to be better than human, Miranda boasts both boosted physical and mental attributes. She is a master of biotics and tactics, making her a powerful ally both on and off the battlefield.
Gameplay-wise, Miranda makes for a good squadmate thanks to her ability to Overload enemy shields and deal damage with her Warp attack. Storywise, she’s responsible for reviving Shepard at the beginning of the game, and her strategic thinking comes in useful throughout the game’s plot. The only thing holding her back is her backstory. Miranda might be strong on the outside, but by getting close to her, the player will discover that Miranda struggles with the fact that she was engineered to be perfect.Mass Effectis one ofBioWare’s best games, and Miranda is one of its most compelling characters. She might be “peak” human, but she lacks the sheer power of some other powerful women in BioWare games.
4Jack
An Unstoppable Biotic Powerhouse
Miranda and Jack are ranked closely here, but there’s a key difference between them.While Miranda was engineered to be “peak” human, Jack was experimented on to make her more than human. Plenty of characters inMass Effectlore have biotic powers, but when it comes to raw biotic power, few can compete with surly Jack. Also known as “Subject Zero,” Jack was experimented on as a child by Cerberus, turning her into the most powerful human biotic in the series.
The process also messed Jack up pretty badly mentally, turning her into one ofBioWare’s best female anti-heroes. In combat, Jack’s Shockwave and Pull abilities can take out groups of enemies quickly, and her ultimate ability, Warp Ammo, is particularly useful against armored foes. Outside her role as Shepard’s crewmate and potential love interest, Jack’s role in the widerMass Effectstory is more limited compared to other characters. If she survivesMass Effect 2,she can reappear inMass Effect 3as a teacher of biotic students as part of a fairly brief quest, but that’s about it—she never becomes as influential as otherstrong female Bioware characters.
3Morrigan
A Witch Of The Wilds Possessing Vast Arcane Knowledge
People like to say that knowledge is power. If that’s true, then Morrigan has to be one of the most powerful characters in all ofDragon Age. Morrigan is the daughter of the infamous witch Flemeth and inherited her mother’s magical aptitude. As a Witch of the Wilds, Morrigan wields awesome arcane power and is skilled atpracticing both forbidden magic and shapeshifting. In combat, she’s a versatile magic user who can take out enemies directly with her spells or rip them apart in close quarters after transforming into one of her terrifying animal forms.
Morrigan is also an expert in Arcane Elven Lore. InDragon Age: Origins, her offer to carry out the Dark Ritual can change the player’s ending completely, while inInquisition, her knowledge of the eluvian mirrors gives her unparalleled access to the Fade realm.She may not wield much political power, but her vast knowledge and impressive magic feats make Morrigan one of Bioware’s stronger female characters.
Just being a Jedi would be enough to earn Bastila a high ranking. One of the most important characters inKnights of the Old Republiclore, Bastila played a key role in the events of the first game and was arguably closer to Revan than anyone else. Even for a Jedi, she is a potent lightsaber duelist and talented in the ways of the force.
She only gets more powerful after turning to the dark side. She quickly picks up new abilities like Force Lightning and can be a pain to deal with when the player is forced to fight her. The cherry on top is her Battle Meditation ability. A rare force power wielded by few, this ability allows her to boost the abilities of her allies while demoralizing enemies. This isn’t some simple buff; it can affect entire armies and turn the tide of massive battles, like when she uses it towards the end of the game. While Revan ultimately manages to turn her back to the Light Side, Bastila remains one of themost powerful female Bioware charactersand a legend ofStar Warslore.
Dr. Liara T’Soni was first introduced in the originalMass Effectas an Asari scientist who specializes in Prothean archeology. That might not sound too impressive, but her knowledge proves crucial in uncovering the truth about the Reapers and their habit of destroying the entire galaxy on a frequent basis. She isn’t an average archeology nerd either. Like Jack, Liara is a powerful biotic user who can control gravitational forces in combat to either trap her enemies or hit them with bone-crushing singularities.
Of all the companions in theMass Effectgames, Liara is easily one of the most important. She’s so pivotal to the series, in fact, that she’s set to return inMass Effect 4. But it isn’t her Prothean knowledge or cool Biotic powers that make Liara so important; it’s the power she wields as the Shadow Broker. This role essentially makes Liara a spy master on a galactic scale. Other BioWare characters may have power in their own respective countries, but Liara can turnthe tides of galactic wars and manipulate global governments. Without her aid, Shepard likely would never have won inMass Effect 3, and that’s real strength.
