History Characters / PillarsOfEternityRecurringPartyMembers

* ExperimentedInCollege: His interactions with 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]].

* CommanderContrarian: In the second game, it's a lot easier for his RelationshipValues to sink (he has three fairly common pet peeves, irresponsibility, pride, and traditionalism, that can be triggered even by snark, being politely diplomatic to traditionalists, or simply asking to be paid for what you do) than to rise (he likes responsibility, fine, but his other like is one of either "autonomy" or "stewardship" depending on how he handled the Leaden Key, and both very rare).

* SlapSlapKiss: A way to start his romance arc in ''Deadfire'' is actually by [[spoiler:getting his relationship with the Watcher as negative as possible first. When this happen, Aloth is prompted to confront the Watcher with his dislike for them, which the Watcher can throw back in his face by accusing him of only playing a contrarian to them because he ''wants'' someone to fight against, before planting a TakeThatKiss on him. Aloth discovers, much to his confusion, that he actually enjoys the experience of said kiss, and falls in love with the Watcher.]]

* HiddenDepths: Some easy-to-miss ambient dialogue when out-and-about suggests that Aloth is a closet romantic. In the first game, whenever you pass by the amphitheatre you'll often 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 remarks that he's never seen this production, and nervously requests that you watch to the end. In the second game, you can read a wizard's grimoire filled with doodles and rather sappy letters. If in a romance, Aloth nervously coughs and requests that you burn his grimoire 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 grabbing the]] Watcher's hand and beaming at you.

* {{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. Double ironically, [[TheLadette she's manlier than him]].]]

* FriendToAllChildren / ChildHater: And anywhere in between, depending on how you respond to kids you encounter and/or hear about. Careful being the latter around Grieving Mother, though.

* HeroicAlbino: If playing as a Pale Elf, a race of semi-albino arctic elves.
* HeroicWillpower: Resolve, which determines your drive, determination, and emotional intensity. It works in combat, as well as dialogue with NPC's. (See RefugeInAudacity below.)

** As befits a ChooseYourOwnAdventure CRPG, your character's stats can open the door towards certain outcomes, or lock you out entirely.

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

A paladin from the Vailian Republics, she's first encountered when the Watcher wanders into Ondra's Gift in Defiance Bay, and offers to join the party after the manager at the Vailian import/export warehouse is tended to first. She joins the Watcher in the hopes of serving the larger interests of the Vailian Republics, rather than the relatively short-sighted goals of the Council of Ducs. She returns as a companion in ''Deadfire''.

* HiddenDepths: Some easy-to-miss ambient dialogue when out-and-about suggests that Aloth is a closet romantic. In the first game, whenever you pass by the amphitheatre you'll often 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 remarks that he's never seen this production, and nervously requests that you watch to the end. In the second game, you can read a wizard's grimoire filled with doodles and unsent love letters to his wife. If in a romance, Aloth nervously coughs and requests that you burn his grimoire if he dies. Finally, in a DLC, you can encounter a man who waxes poetic about how the stars inspire him. Most companions and sidekicks snark at him for being melodramatic, but Aloth alone will agree that one must find inspiration where one can, before [[HoldingHands eagerly grabbing the]] Watcher's hand and beaming at you.

* AbusiveParents: Pallegina's father hated her both because she was born godlike, meaning she was sterile, and because her birth caused her mother injuries so severe that she was incapable of baring any more children, effectively ending his line. Perhaps the nicest thing that could be said about him is that he didn't throttle her at birth like many other parents of godlike children.

* BoomerangBigot: Sort of. It's complicated. She's strongly against racism and doesn't discriminate against godlike, but she also hates being treated as special and somehow chosen by the gods, like godlike in the Deadfire. Part of this is simply down to her longtime NayTheism, but it's more than that, since she wouldn't be godlike at all if she had the choice -- most avian godlike are considerably more avian in appearance, but Pallegina's development was stopped short in adolescence thanks to a surgical procedure by the animancer Giacolo, perhaps the closest thing she has to a friend and father figure. Basically, she's anti-racist, and thus anti-''anti''-godlike, but anti-pro-godlike as well.

* GiantPoofySleeves: Of the Elizabethan slashed-silks variety. In the second game her pantaloons are even larger to match.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: "Jerk" might be overselling it, but she is a stoic, hot-blooded, ruthlessly pragmatic servant of the ducs who will not suffer fools or unwanted flirting, and can make grown men piss themselves just by glaring at them. But she has a very kind heart underneath; she's deeply compassionate to outcasts like herself (including orlans like Hiravias), wants what's best for her beloved Republics, and (if the Watcher encourages it) will defy orders for the ducs for the good of the Dyrwoodan and Vailian Republic people.

* SheIsTheKing: She'a a brother, not a sister, of the Canc Suolias. Because only women who can bear children are considered women in the Republics, and all godlike are sterile.

* WhatTheHellHero: If you [[spoiler:convince her to disobey her orders in the first game and then she gets exiled, when you meet her in Deadfire, she clearly resents you for talking her into it, though she tries to hide it. If you are sympathetic/apologetic about what happened, she will let bygones be bygones. However, if you are flippant or uncaring about what happened, she will ''unload'' on you with a huge profanity laced tirade where she calls you the worst thing to happen to her.]]

* KnightInSourArmor: A Benevolent, Honest, or Passionate Watcher is free to acknowledge how awful people can be to each other, but that doesn't stop them doing the right thing anyway. [[spoiler: This is especially the case in Sun-In-Shadow, where the Watcher can point out kith's flaws to Iovara and then tell Thaos that the cost of keeping his secret is too high.]] If the Watcher has enough ranks in the Benevolent and Honest dispositions, certain NPCs will commend them for seeming to rise above their CrapsackWorld surroundings.

** Regardless of the Watcher's disposition, each game they encounter Aloth he's in something of a rut due to his own decisions and inflexibility, and traveling with the Watcher helps ease him a little further out of his shell, see the sights, and grow as a person.
* UselessBystanderParent: Aloth's mother, who knew how abusive his father was (since he often beat her too when she was around) but increasingly left Aloth to deal with his father's wrath alone, and then [[spoiler:encouraged Aloth to hide his Awakened LiteralSplitPersonality Iselmyr, but was rarely preset to help him]]. The Watcher can accuse her as such in the first game, but Aloth insists her actions taught him independence. In the second game, but Aloth can come to blame her or forgive her depending on the path he took at the end of the first game.

* InsultFriendlyFire: Unintentionally and unacknowledged in-game, but he tries to [[YouAreACreditToYourRace "compliment"]] Hiravias by reciting the following bit of rhyming "wisdom" from around Gilded Vale: "'Face of skin, let them in. Face of hair, best beware.' But you're more like a skin-faced orlan." Now, imagine your Watcher is a wild orlan...

* HiddenDepths: Some easy-to-miss ambient dialogue when out-and-about suggests that Aloth is a closet romantic. In the first game, whenever you pass by the amphitheatre you'll often 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 AnquishedDeclarationOfLove that Aloth remarks that he's never seen this production, and nerviously requests that you watch to the end. In the second game, you can read a wizard's grimoire filled with doodles and unsent love letters to his wife. If in a romance, Aloth nervously coughs and requests that you burn his grimoire if he dies. Finally, in a DLC, you can encounter a man who waxes poetic about how the stars inspire him. Most companions and sidekicks snark at him for being melodramatic, but Aloth alone will agree that one must find inspiration where one can, before [[HoldingHands eagerly grabbing the]] Watcher's and beaming at you.

** Aloth hates drunken louts with [[HairTriggerTemper Hair-Trigger Tempers]] and is a CowardlyLion when it comes to violence because [[spoiler:his own father was a drunken batterer who beat the shit out of him and his mom when he was a little kid.]]

* OppositesAttract: Depending on the Watcher's reputation, Aloth can point out that you two are so different. While Aloth always hesitates and rarely knows what to do, you're brash, bold, and quick to action. [[spoiler:He also notes the irony that you're like Iselmyr, yet he's still falling for you.]]

** PlayedForLaughs in ''Deadfire'', where the Watcher encounters him undercover with some animancers learns his go-to cover story is that [[spoiler:both his parents died in a fire. Then his "rich old aunt/uncle" (depending on the Watcher's gender) also died. In a fire.]]

** His tie-in short story ''[[file:///C:/Users/heath/AppData/Local/Temp/until-he-started-screaming.pdf "Until He Heard Himself Scream"]]'' elaborates why he hates animancy so much. [[spoiler:When he was still at the Academy, he joined a group of students who illegally obtained and tested a soul-reading machine, which rendered one of his classmates a drooling vegetable. He was then picked up by the Leaden Key, who manipulated his guilt into serving their own purposes and encouraged his dislike of animancy.]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: In ''Deadfire'', Aloth hates when the Watcher lies to other people, as he feels you should always be honest (even if it's BrutalHonesty), yet he's not only spent most of his life lying about himself and his past to virtually everyone he meets, but he gets very put out if you don't cover for his lie to a group of animancers he infiltrated when you first encounter him in the game. The Watcher can call him out on this.
** Likewise, Aloth dislikes superstition and disapproves a ''lot'' if the Watcher is diplomatically polite to local Deadfire cultures and superstitions (even if you don't agree with them and just stay polite to keep from antagonizing the locals), yet Aloth expects you to be polite and open-minded toward his own culture.

* 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 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.

* 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 discouraged that he's made so little progress in five years.]]

* SarcasticDevotee: Aloth tends to snark and second-guess the Watcher more than any other companion, but he's also one of the most steadfastly loyal. [[spoiler:Helps that he was TheMole, then they became his OnlyFriend.]]

* SourOutsideSadInside: He's very serious and uptight (Rekke even describes him as having a "sour lemon face", and his character portraits support this), but deep down he's very scared and alone, dealing with the aftermath of his childhood abuse, [[spoiler:his SplitPersonality Iselmyr, and his past with the Leaden Key]].

* SpoiledBrat: These are something of a BerserkButton for Aloth, who grew up serving the nobility and going to school with "pampered creatures who didn't believe in peril because they never experienced it," when he himself suffered from AbusiveParents [[spoiler:and an Awakened personality]]. He also sees Tekehu this way.

* {{Hypocrite}}: In ''Deadfire'', Aloth hates when the Watcher lies to other [=NPC's=], as he feels you should always be honest (even if it's BrutalHonesty), yet he's not only spent most of his life lying about himself and his past to virtually everyone he meets, but he gets very put out if you don't cover for his lie to a group of animancers he infiltrated when you first encounter him in the game. The Watcher can call him out on this.

* {{Pride}}: Aloth hates pride so much, and tries to be as humble and self-aware as possible. (With mixed results since he's still an elitist snob.) This ties back to his abusive childhood. [[spoiler:His father's wounded pride over his wife's ''haemneg'' to a greater noble providing more for the family than his own Arcane Knighthood to a lesser erl drove him to drink and beat his wife and son. He also forced Aloth to train as an Arcane Knight young to assuage his own pride, and beat Aloth black and blue over every little mistake because he felt every little imperfection was a poor reflection on himself.]]

* IneffectualLoner: Of all companions, he's by far the most quiet and introverted. It's also gotten him nowhere in life. In both games, it isn't until he asks the Watcher for assistance and guidance that he starts to make any kind of progress in his endeavors.

* 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-guard. 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.)

* OutOfTheFryingPan: He left Aedyr because he couldn't find a patron apart from the erl his abusive father served, and he wanted to get as far away from his father as possible. The Watcher then meets him getting harassed and attacked by Dyrwoodans for being Aedyran. [[spoiler:It can get worse if the Watcher chases Aloth away on learning his past with the Leaden Key, wherein Aloth is driven to despair and suicide.]]
* 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 dad 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 hide his Awakened SplitPersonality.]]

* SugarAndIcePersonality: Normally very cool, tetchy, and aloof, he can show a much warmer side to a Watcher who gains his trust and friendship [[spoiler:and doesn't outright reject him when he reveals his past with the Leaden Key]], and even love in the second game.

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

->''"It's hard to be comfortable in your own skin when you're sharing it with someone else."''

->''"Tough to walk very far without a soul. The Hollowborn, usually you'd have to stack 'em in a wheelbarrow and push 'em around."''

->''"The safety of the Republics is being decided here. If I do what needs to be done, there'll be time enough to beg forgiveness when the dust settles."''

The Watcher and recurring party members and sidekicks from ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' and ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire''. For the main index, see [[Characters/PillarsOfEternity here]].

The Watcher and joinable party members and sidekicks from ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'' and ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire''. For the main index, see [[Characters/PillarsOfEternity here]].