History Characters / PillarsOfEternityRecurringPartyMembers

-->'''Tekehu:''' ''(to the Watcher)'' I... [[SmallNameBigEgo know how I must seem]]. We did not have this word, "conceited," before Aedyrans landed on the aisles.\\

* CuckooSnarker: He may be a bit out of it -- and this may or may not be due to to the whiteleaf -- but Edér remains a quick wit in his own, slightly eccentric way, even while trying to pet anything fluffy, or coming up with crazy whims.

-->'''The Watcher: ''' What's a Dyrwoodan Hello?\\

* OffModel: Her character portrait appears to be a bit off, due to the position of her left eye. About a week after the game came out, [[http://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity/mods/24 someone released a mod that raised it up some]]. That said, since she's an ''Avian'' godlike, it's possible that her eyes are wide-set like a bird's, more specifically a bird of prey. ''Deadfire'' fixes this by using a new portrait that's facing forward.

* DistinctionWithoutADifference: In the first game, Pallegina says in party banter she's never met an Aedyran so hesitant to speak his mind. Aloth protests that he's not hesitant! He just... likes to consider his words carefully. He gives a similar response when she observes that she's never met as wizard as obsessive as him.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Due to his AbusiveParents and bad run-in with animancy in his youth, Aloth shows some signs of generalized anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

* EvilStoleMyFaith: First it was Waidwen, who surely couldn't be Eothas, right? But between the Saint's War, and the Purges, and Raedric's hangings, Edér is a pretty broken man when you find him, despite his calm and affable exterior.

* NiceHat: [[spoiler: If you persuaded him to [[LateArrivalSpoiler reform the Leaden Key in the first game]], in ''Deadfire'' he starts out with Thaos's draconic headdress in his inventory. It grants a bonus to Intellect, accuracy and damage against flanked targets, and an aura which boosts the party's Will defense against Mind afflictions.]]

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: ''Ed-DAIR Tey-LEDGE.'' The last name is the trickier one, since it's hardly ever mentioned.

* BadassBeard: A fine assortment of beard styles await the male Watcher. Some are just downright wild.

* BadassBeard: As shown in his portrait, he has a pretty nice one.

* RealityEnsues: At the end of the first game, Aloth dedicates his life to either [[spoiler:taking over or taking down the Leaden Key]]. ''Deadfire'' shows how that goes. [[spoiler:Aloth is frustrated to learn that a vast, secretive, disconnected organization that's been sending uniformed spies to play various [[XanatosGambit gambits]] and [[TheLongGame long games]] all over Eora for over thousand years can't be redirected or dismantled overnight. He feels so discouraged that he's made so little progress in five years.]]

* SympathyForTheDevil: He's come to see the many ways in which he and Waidwen are NotSoDifferent [[spoiler:with an especially hefty dose if you bring him into Waidwen's DyingDream in Rymrgand's realm during ''The Beast of Winter''.]]

* ADegreeInUseless: Played with. Aloth studied to be an Arcane Knight, which is only useful if you're employed by a noble patron. Since he couldn't find a patron to take him on, apart from the erl his abusive father serves, and none of his offensive magic would be any use at a healer's den or charm-peddler's shop, he left for Dyrwood [[spoiler:to spy for the Leaden Key]], then joined the Watcher. It's part of why he's so DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Narrowly avoided this fate growing up by striving to appear {{beneath notice}}, [[spoiler:due to Aedyran society shunning those with Awakened souls as little better than madmen and criminals]]. The terror of ending up like this is a huge part of what drives his existence.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Due to his AbusiveParents and bad run-in with animancy in his youth.
** Aloth checks pretty much all the boxes for [[https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/generalized-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20360803 Generalized Anxiety Disorder]] (Persistent worrying; overthinking plans and solutions to all possible worst-case outcomes; [[CowardlyLion perceiving situations and events as threatening even when they aren't]]; [[TheDitherer difficulty handling uncertainty; indecisiveness or fear of making the "wrong" decision]]; inability to set aside or let go of a worry, and [[NervousWreck inability to relax; feeling restless; feeling keyed up or on edge]].)
** He also shows signs of mild [[https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967 PTSD]], especially with regards to his abusive childhood and run-in with animancy in his Academy days. (Avoiding thinking or talking about a traumatic event; avoiding people, places, or activities that remind him of said traumatic event; reliving traumatic events like they were happening again (personal quest in the first game); severe emotional distress or physical reactions to reminders of the traumatic event (again, personal quest).

* BadLiar: Surprisingly yes, which is ironic considering [[spoiler:how long he goes in the first game hiding his SplitPersonality and past with the Leaden Key.]]

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Downplayed. As a wizard, he starts off with (and can learn) a number of ghastly spells that burn, zap, siphon, freeze, poison, impale, and corrode enemies into a grizzly death, but outside combat he's very polite, formal, and averse to conflict.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Aloth doesn't outright say it, but a Watcher who's nice to him is pretty much the first person to ever treat him with kindness and acceptance, [[spoiler:Iselmyr and all]]. If carried over into the next game, their romance progresses along these lines too.
* BeneathNotice: Spent most of his life trying to avoid [[spoiler:getting beaten senseless by his abusive father or discovered as having an Awakened SplitPersonality]] by striving to appear as bland, quiet, and unremarkable as possible. Even after befriending the Watcher, he continues to try to keep his face as studiously blank and politely attentive as possible.

** {{Spoiled Brat}}s and/or people with too much {{Pride}} (like how he sees Tekehu), though this ties back to his {{Freudian Excuse}}s.

* ControlFreak: Due to the abuse he received as a child and [[spoiler:Iselmyr]] sporatically taking over in every marginally stressful moment of his life, Aloth grew up trying to compensate by feeling some semblence of control in every aspect of his life and surroundings. With the Watcher's help, he can slowly ease out of it.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: As a born and bred Aedyran, Aloth has some pretty Paternalistic views of the lower masses, believing that it's the [[ComesGreatResponsibility responsibility]] of the wealthy and educated to make choices for the poor for their benefit. While Aloth disapproves of cruelty and selfish exploitation of downtrodden, he also doesn't feel that the uneducated masses are intelligent enough to govern their own affairs. [[spoiler:Part of why he can end up trying to reform the Leaden Key rather than dismantle it, to protect kith from themselves.]] This is largely Aedyran propoganda to justify their strict class stratefication (with the nobles firmly on top and the gentry and peasantrly unquestioningly serving them) and to [[TheEmpire colonize most of the known world]] (to [[WhiteMansBurden "civilize" those they've conquered]]), yet as a member of the gentry Aloth believes it pretty strongly.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Studied to become an Arcane Knight from an early age because it's what his abusive father wanted. When he failed to find a patron, he had no idea what to do with his life, so he moved to Dyrwood hoping to start a new life, but was turned away same as the Watcher. [[spoiler:He actually came out to spy for the Leaden Key, but was abandoned by his contact.]] By the time the Watcher meets him in Dyrwood, Aloth's been completely separated from everything he's ever known and joins you because he's desperate for any kind of direction. By the end of the game, the Watcher can help him find a new purpose: [[spoiler:take over or take down the Leaden Key.]]
* DistinctionWithoutADifference: In the first game, Pallegina points out in party banter that she's never met an Aedyran so hesitant to speak his mind. Aloth protests that he's not hesitant! He just... likes to consider his words carefully. He gives a similar response when she observes that she's never met as wizard as obsessive as him.

** During Act 1 Aloth often acts like he wants to tell you something but always fidgets instead, until [[spoiler:one outburst too many from Iselmyr]] forces him to fess up that [[spoiler:he also has an Awakened soul and would like help looking into it.]]
** This turns out to be a huge part of his characterization, as Aloth's backstory and personal quest reveals he was always indecisive and didn't know what he wanted out of life, so went along with what others wanted of him. [[spoiler:He became an Arcane Knight like his father wanted, hid Iselmyr like his mother wanted, and then followed the Leaden Key when he couldn't find a patron at school]]. A huge part of his CharacterDevelopment is learning to grow out of this.

* {{Elfeminate}}: Just look at him! He also has the mannerisms to match, which [[DirtyOldMan Durance]] frequently mocks in party banter. [[spoiler:Ironically, he happens to have a second personality who ''is'' a woman... who just so happens to be TheLadette.]]

* FantasticRacism: Is on the receiving end of this in the first game for being Aedyran (and an elf). Aloth himself doesn't think very highly of Dyrwoodans' GoodIsDumb, HairTriggerTemper tendencies.

* FreudianExcuse: Aloth's uptight and tight-lipped personality makes a lot of sense when it's revealed that [[spoiler:he grew up hiding the abuse he received from his father, and then later his Awakened SplitPersonality Iselmyr. And that's not even getting into his involvement with the Leaden Key--a cult centered around secrets.]]

* HiddenDepths: Some easy-to-miss ambient dialogue suggests that Aloth is a closet romantic. In the first game, whenever you pass by the amphitheatre you'll witness a troupe of actors ([[StylisticSuck badly]]) acting out various scenes, yet it's only during a scene where a woman gives a {{Narm}}y AnguishedDeclarationOfLove that Aloth nervously requests that you watch to the end. In the second game, you can read a wizard's grimoire filled with sappy love letters. If in a romance, Aloth nervously requests that you burn all his books if he dies. Finally, in a DLC, you can encounter a woman who waxes poetic about how the stars inspire her. Most companions and sidekicks snark at her for being melodramatic, but Aloth alone will agree that one must find inspiration where one can, before [[HoldingHands eagerly grabs the]] Watcher's hand while beaming at you.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Cold and acerbic though he may be, Aloth has a good heart and genuinely wants to help other kith. [[spoiler:He joined the Leaden Key because they convinced him they were protecting kith from the dangers of animancy, and becomes dedicated to reforming or dismantling them to protect the world ''from'' the Leaden Key.]] In the second game, being cruel or callous to others is a good way to sink his RelationshipValues.

* LovedINotHonorMore: One of the reasons he's hesitant to enter a romantic relationship with the Watcher in ''Deadfire'' because he's still dedicated to the path he took at the end of the first game, and doesn't want to make a commitment he can't honor. [[spoiler:If the Watcher doesn't convince him to give up his new goal of leading or dismantling the Leaden Key, he'll leave at the end of ''Deadfire'', having grown to care for the Watcher but not being willing to abandon his perceived duty.]]

* NeatFreak: Implied in the first game, confirmed in the second; complete with idle animation of dusting off his pristine robes. If [[spoiler:Iselmyr is not suppressed]], she elaborates that he's always been obsessed with cleanliness and tidiness; never used to enter a threshold without scrubbing his boots, always kept his robes spotless, is secretly terrified of seagull shit, and once woke his entire dormitory in the Academy [[SeriousBusiness screaming in his sleep about an disorderly library]]. Aloth also hates when [[spoiler:Iselmyr]] dog-ears his grimoire, and there's a minor RunningGag of companions dirtying his grimoire behind his back.
* NervousWreck: Downplayed. While he strives to appear as outwardly calm and rational as possible, in the first game his constant fidgeting and pained/worried expressions betrays that inside he's always nervous and on edge. He's also the most easily startled in party banter, most hesitant to speak his mind to the Watcher, and tends to shrink pack the hardest whenever the Watcher snaps at him. (Sadly TruthInTelevision for many adults who were abused as children.)

* OlderThanTheyLook: He's at least 65, since he mentions that [[spoiler:Iselmyr Awakened when he was 15, and he's been living with her for 50 years.]] {{Justified}} in that he's an elf, and elves in Eora have a lifespan of a few centuries.
* OnlyChildSyndrome: Aloth's difficult childhood was made worse by the fact that he didn't have any siblings for his abusive father to focus any attention on, and said father demanded perfection from his only child.

* ThePerfectionist: Very fussy and self-possessed, Aloth always strives to do things the "proper" way, in how he conducts himself and how he performs magic. [[spoiler:It's revealed that his abusive father used to beat the shit out of him for every little mistake till he was 15, and he spent most of his life thereafter trying to be a model student so as not to draw attention to himself or his Awakened SplitPersonality.]]

* PerpetualFrowner: Rekke says he always has a "sour lemon face", although given [[WackyGuy what Rekke is like]], it's not surprising that they wouldn't get along. Still, his typical expression in most conversations with the Watcher seems more studiously blank and politely attentive, and his smiles are described as fleeting, twitching briefly into place and then gone again. Which makes sense given his lonely upbringing and youth.

* SinkOrSwimMentor: The Watcher can suggest that [[spoiler:Iselmyr forcing a fight whenever Aloth is in trouble could be her way of trying to make him more assertive and confront his problems]]. He doesn't seem too convinced, but promises to think on it.

* UselessBystanderParent: Aloth's mother, who often left him to deal with his father's abuse alone, and then [[spoiler:left him to hide his Awakened LiteralSplitPersonality Iselmyr alone]]. The Watcher can accuse her as much in the first game. In the second, Aloth can come to blame her or forgive her for this depending on the path he took at the end of the first game.

* {{Adorkable}}: Edér may be a big, strong guy, but he has quite a few quirks. He has moments of having his head in the clouds, some of the things he says ''make no damn sense'', and he has this unhealthy obsession with petting animals. [[spoiler:He also likes Iselmyr, and is none too subtle about showing it, to the point where he doesn't even seem to think that her sharing a body with Aloth is an issue.]]

* YourCheatingHeart: A few background options let you say you cheated with a married person, or cheated on your husband/wife.

* OurElvesAreBetter: {{Averted}} - while Aloth plays the haughty "better than you" elf, [[spoiler: his father was an abusive drunk]].

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: No Aedyran, Ixamitl, or Vailian voice sets for the Watcher, even if every other character from your homeland has an accent. Also GameplayAndStorySegregation and TranslationConvention, since many characters will pick up on the Watcher's background based on their accent, and many characters who are no more Dyrwoodan (or Deadfire-an) than you are have no particular accent either.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: No Aedyran or Vailian voice sets for the Watcher, even if every other character from your homeland has an accent. Also GameplayAndStorySegregation and TranslationConvention, since many characters will pick up on the Watcher's background based on their accent, and many characters who are no more Dyrwoodan (or Deadfire-an) than you are have no particular accent either.

** The release itself foreshadowed plenty of sleepless nights amongst the fans of the genre.
** Also, in the start of the game the Watcher sees a vision of Thaos, stating that you have a question which he has to know the answer to...

%%* BadassGay: She is a paladin who is highly trained in combat and AmbiguouslyGay.

* BadassGay: Can be played this way, since any background that lets you mention having a husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend in the past doesn't limit the gender of your partner(s), and you can have [[OptionalSexualEncounter optional same-sex encounters]] at [[DoubleEntendre The Salty Mast]]. [[spoiler: If female, your past life can also be this, since one of the options when determining what their relationship with Iovara was is that they were lovers.]] This also extends to companions in the second game that you can have relations with.

* BiTheWay: Aloth is a potential love interest in ''Deadfire'' for both male and female Watchers. [[spoiler:Iselmyr also expresses attraction to both men and women.]]

* ExperimentedInCollege: His interactions with the courtisan Ymir, an old acquaintance from his college days, suggests such, though [[spoiler:a comment from Iselmyr hints that it was ''her'' doing the experimenting, while Aloth was reluctantly along for the ride]].