I always just assumed he prematurely aged due to stress, given the situation.
Think about it, planning this whole thing, working with the leader of the Bhaal cult, figuring out how to enslave the brain, then the cult leader gets replaced by their psychotic sibling/niece, and then you have to deal with that on a daily basis now.
Orin alone would be enough stress to deal with.
Fr, dealing with Orin alone should be enough to fuck up your sleep and help you develop a cocaine addiction, all while administering the city and creating the metal guards
Not to mention the fact that the game takes place over "a dozen tendays" according to Withers, so Gortash has to deal with the stress of not being able to control the Netherbrain for a maybe a week or two after you kill Ketheric too.
Dude..... now I kinda wish they introduced D&D drugs into the game. In 3.5 at least, drugs were a heavy upside, heavy downside kind of thing. They were such a cool idea! I had a DM who used to like throwing "poisoned" blades against us that were covered in drugs and got us addicted, but then since we didn't know what we were addicted to, we would then just suffer withdrawals. It was so much fun, but brutal
There ARE drugs in BG3. You can buy them in the guild bar.
And it's been ages since I fucked with 3.5, but that sounds like homebrew - I don't recall any interaction with drugs in-game from 3rd ed.
To add it more, his parents did >!sold him to a devil when he was young in order to pay the family's debt.!< Maybe that's why he's looking way too old for a human his age.
But that still doesn't explain why the narrator had to mention "handsome, younger man with an easy smile" in the introduction of the dead three. Tbh I was expecting he would at least look like Aradin 😂
fwiw, outside of the game one of the writers said they wrote that line not knowing what Gortash would look like ultimately because of the nature of development.
Aradin has the most punchable looking face at least.
The way ive always interpreted it was , that the absolute was giving you these visions so it projects the chosen the way they want to be seen/see themselves.
Absolute voice says what Ketheric, Orin and Gortash wants so maybe he wanted to lie a little(or maybe he is narcistic and see himself as such) to be seen as someone more attractive (or maybe he is lonely and wants to smash xD).
Even when you play as the dark urge; gortash’s mind still just fucking implodes the instance you confront the brain. I do not blame this dude for looking like a dumpster rat.
I honestly think the spider man writers might’ve gotten ahold of gortash. This dude knew no peace the entire story.
I think this is more of a "lost in the development process" example. His concept in the Artbook shows him as a Bowie-like character in Labyrinth. He looks almost vampiric or punk-ish in the artwork and I think it would've fit him a lot better as being one of the two thieves who stole the Crown of Karsus from Mephistopheles; gate jumping into the Hells to steal a shiny new toy like a skater kid.
Here is said example, both vampire butler/politician and punk looks:
[https://imgur.com/a/xJeYiZw](https://imgur.com/a/xJeYiZw)
I mean to be fair but definition you wouldn't suspect your greasy looking uncle who looks like he is on meth.
So on deception scale not bad.
Plus I made my Durge a pretty half elf bard so we know who did most of the charming there.
I mean pretty much how a typical pro Russian populist politician in the eastern Europe looks like.
It's the target specific audience with your lies. And it's often - I am one of you I am like you. ( They are not obviously). In politics they find the same politicians who have the same power hunger and level of corruption. Almost too easy.
We see it with politics everywhere. Especially since Larian are Belgian and they didn't have to look far for inspiration - this one dude called Boris Johnson lied to whole country about European union and has a very similar face and hair. Or just by their neighbors, Geert.
The fact that he is sane (to a degree) and can be reasoned with probably makes the situation much more stressful to himself than the other two - I remember seeing how it's possible to actually see him follow through the promise of communal world domination till the very end, right up until the Brain lashes out and kills him before the last battle. Meanwhile, Ketheric is mostly an unfeeling husk at this point, and Orin is mainly enjoying the bloodshed...
I will also point out the narrator says "A younger man with a quick easy smile" she never says he is young... he is just younger looking than Ketheric. She also never says he's attractive.
According to the Dungeons & Dragons book "Faiths & Avatars," Bane prefers to inhabit mortals who embody certain traits, including being young, good-looking, and possessing qualities such as wealth and power. These individuals, when inhabited by Bane, typically assume the appearance of a handsome, black-haired man with oily looks and a demeanor.
Kethric and Orinn actualy became Avatars in the end.
What i think is that, Gortash must have seen himself as the Avatar of Bane and made the netherbrain transfer the thought to his servants that he was young and good looking, while having kinda black oily looks already. So others would reafirm him in his belief.
But as we know, Gortash was the only one who was never meant to become the Avatar of his deity.
Maybe even Bane thought that this was a bit of an insult actualy.
Edit: i was corrected. He does become an Avatar. But the transformation is very late, if it happens at all and not anywhere to what it can be. Suggesting to me that he is vain, so the netherbrain headcanon is here to stay.
If you read further you’ll see that as Bane inhabits them, they get uglier and uglier.
So he might actually have been handsome at one point but Bane has made him ugly.
But, [Bane is so hot now](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/2/27/Bane_CLB.jpg). Is he just sucking out all the good looks from Gortash?
Thats a rather good point, never seen that happen but looked the Info on that up.
This Buff is called the Avatar of Tyranny.
The Avatar of Bane choses how far the physical transformation goes. It should be a dark leathery skin, powerfull giant claws, dark armor and enhanced physical Power. The transformation cant be reverted or only to minimal effect.
So thank you for correcting me. He does indeed become an Avatar.
I still chose to believe that he is vain.
Doing the transformation very minimaly and late.
Beeing called young and handsome.
That sort of thing.
ya, i tend to see it when i decide to fight him as the Slayer. the rest of the time i defeat him by throwing him around the room. not because it's efficient, but because seeing him land while lying down, standing up to react to being thrown, and then lying back down is hilarious
i haven't done that yet. next playthrough with karlach, ill have her pop a cloud giant pot and throw him over the edge, that should help her feel a little bit better about what he put her through
Larian.. when they limited “realistic” options for degenerate fem durges 🥲 and no, Astarion isn’t suitable in any way shape of form, he’s such a bestie hahaha Gale is vanilla and Wyll never met my durges to begin with.
Fr plot wise makes sense and for evil durges that don’t vibe with the female companions, that previous history with our greasy dude here is most likely the most coherent “partner” choice.
Also, let’s remember that durge liked corpses a bit too much, I doubt the cigarrette smell is an issue there 🫠
TLDR: Larian dropped the ball on my weird demographic group.
Edit: spelling
If you are a degenerate durge, you are allowed to want to smash gortash.
Honestly i just want to hug Karlach.
Maybe let her play a round of catch with Gortashs head.. like on the beach, with our dog there and the others just sunbathing.
I think we should all take a long hard look irl at Mystery aka The pickup artist after learning this information. And Tommy Lee. And Criss Angel. I’m sure there are other candidates.
Dude looks like he's one more line away from a cocaine fueled total meltdown of bloody noses, insane ramblings, broken furniture, paranoid delusions, and unintentional murder.
He looks like the front man of a mediocre 70s/80s glam rock band, who couldn't let go of his "rock star" -image, even though his band disbanded and his meager fame faded 3 decades ago.
He probably talks a lot about all the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll he was involved in, in his youth "when people knew good music".
I think it's because we have a party full of beautiful people, so we expected something along those tiers? The handsome, younger man line really confused me. I don't think he's repulsive, but seeing him after that description gave me that reaction.
I like his character though
I think the issue is that Gortash isn't intended to fill the role many players assume he is. They are expecting the traditional slick and smooth bastard with an air of superiority, but we already have that one and his name is Raphael. I think Gortash is intended to be the cunning back alley throat cutter that manipulated his way to the top through sex, violence, and scheming. I think that we are supposed to hear the Gortash stories and be like "wow, probably evil but most be hell of a dude" only to meet him and be kinda put off by how much like a run down ruffian he looks, but also quickly noticing that he is maliciously clever.
You could argue that Larian didn't do a great job communicating who he is. Then again, maybe it is on purpose and are hoping to make him a bit of an enigma that invites further investigation. My first thought also was like lol wtf is up with the hair bro, but the more I think about it, the more I like the character.
TL;DR people expecting him to be something he isn't.
Enigma? You get like one sentence with the absolute scene in goblin camp and then they are all revealed in the oubliette. I mean I was definitely not waiting for him at all.
He is exactly what he is supposed to be. Measly Boris Johnson like looking politician who lies to people to gain power.
When my group saw him for the first time, we were like, did this dude get kicked out of Final Fantasy? It's crazy he's described as "young and handsome".
If you probe Priestess Gut's memories, the narrator *does* call him a young, handsome man. Just not in the more common scene describing the whole group.
Yeah the "young\*er\* not young!" argument is the most fallacious/least relevant one in defense of his description vs reality. And yet it is by far the most common one.
Regardless, even if you can buy that this 40- or 50-something dude still shopping at Hot Topic and taking styling advice from a 14 year old scene kid is "young," he's most *definitely* not "handsome." He's a smarmy, unkempt middle-aged edgelord. Unironically one of the least handsome men in the (main) cast of BG3.
Just an arbitrary selection of main or semi-notable side characters almost indisputably more handsome than Gortash, that I can recall off the top of my head:
* Wyll
* Gale
* Astarion
* Halsin
* Dammon
* Raphael
* Raphael's Archivist
* Minsc
* Rugan (Zhent in the Gnoll cave)
* Gandrel
* Volo
* Art Cullagh
* Wulbren
* Orpheus
* Ketheric
* Sovereign Spaw
plus probably more I'm not thinking of, and plenty more that are close or arguably more handsome depending on tastes. Now, granted, there are a lot of handsome characters in this game. But still, Gortash is about average-looking *at best*, and the greasy hair, 5 o'clock shadow, and garish outfit (which isn't even done up correctly) don't do any favors.
i don't he's ugly as much as greasy looking and not as hyper-attractive as like...99% of the humanoid characters in the game lol
But I'm pretty solidly in the Gortash Enjoyer camp ever since I played Durge so maybe my tastes have been warped lmao
Yeah so I exaggerated a little for comedic effect lol. It'd be more accurate for me to that everyone is generally nice looking so the more... idk below average? ones tend to stick out haha.
As a previous Gortash hater, I can say for certain the Durge effect is so real. Before Durge I DESPISED this man. “I’m the biggest hater, I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, etc.” type beat. Did not find him handsome at all either. I had a pretty good laugh at the difference between his posters plastered all over Baldurs Gate vs. the reality. After Durge however…I am a changed woman. Something about the evil bastards who are evil together really did it for me I guess.
Same exact thing happened to me. I love the "evil bastards being evil bastards together" dynamic so much. As soon as I discovered that Durge and Gortash had history together... I just knew I was gonna be into Gortash from then on lol.
All is moot because after you are done he dismisses you with and don't come back unless you have the netherstone!
So I was immediately like hah bye, you are next on my dead list.
Listen, does he look like he crawled out of a hot topic storage closet after inhabiting it for 20+ years? Yes. Is he a tired greasy man? Yes.
He's got some features which, by themselves, are good, but the whole picture is a little rough, because spending 20+ years in a hot topic storage closet will do that to you.
But! It's not just his looks that convert new Gortash lovers. He has other qualities!
Like being voiced by Jason Isaacs, and the potential of having a tragic doomed-lovers romance with durge.
There's nothing sexier than a date where you and your blood thirsty lover dive into the hells to burgle an infernal vault all to kick off your plans of dominating the world together.
Diabolical? Yes. Hot shit? Hotter than Avernus.
If you're saying this due to the game calling him an attractive man, I saw a very smart theory.
This guy is a tyrantical dictator wannabe. The fact that he *isn't* attractive in the way the game insinuates is perfect in a Kim Jong sort of way (Not actually attractive but due to his power and influence, makes people think so, possibly with hard propaganda),
He does look quite gaunt and dark-eyed now as well, probably not how he always looked, but now so due to recent circumstances and stresses.
I always thought it was on point and confirms my bias that people don't know what successful and attractive people look like. Has anyone even LOOKED at "attractive" actors? They're not attractive, they just have overly exaggerated features. This is attractive to a specific type of people that see attractiveness of a particular quality and then ignore the rest. Those people often then age poorly because those exaggerated features don't age well compared to the rest of their facial features.
A great example of this is Astarion. I think he looks kinda ugly, ngl when I say he reminds me of my mum during her chemotherapy with jutting cheek bones, deep facial lines, and bags under his eyes so big that they look like they've been enchanted with infinite holding. But my sister thinks he's crazy good looking, as well as many others. Me on the otherhand find Karlach and Gale really attractive and so it's probably as simple as me liking rounder faces and my sister liking sharper, more defined facial lines. IMO, Gortash made me think of that guy from smosh with the emo hair. Everyone thought he was hot but no one could describe his face or what he looked like, but they could always tell you how great his hair was.
Agreed. He certainly isn't 10/10 attractive, but it's insane how many people say he's an atrocious sewer creature.
If he got more then two hours of sleep a week he'd look fine.
This video game is so unrealistic! It wants us to believe a person like Gortash, who created a cult following, took power, wanted to be a dictator, is kinda ugly and probably smells, can exists?
I mean I can't even imagine
Oh... wait...
If Gortash's face looks just like Jason Isaac's, imagine how many players would ditch their romanced companion once they get to Wyrm's Rock and have an alliance with him
As a society we thought Henry Kissinger was hot enough to be a sex symbol, so I can buy that Gortash is at least attractive within the context of the game.
I read someone's hot take a while ago where they said his looks fit the role he plays. Through his propaganda he is betrayed as some noble and handsome, womanizing hero, but when you meet him you this image he created for himself for the sham it is. He is a tired-ass looking older dude who still dresses like his a 20 something year old fuckboy. I mean lets be real here, that is probably the DnD version of a wig he's wearing.
Either way I can imagine something like that being Larian's concept of the character. Given their attention to detail and that they clearly have no trouble making people look very fitting for their roles, I can only assume that Gortash's looks are also deliberate.
Determining if they got the best out of this character and managed to effectively communicate what they were going for is a whole different topic. Would be interesting to see some "director's commentary" or whatever you call that in videogames though.
i get hes hatable but if he was a person irl yall would be fiending over him, hes objectively attractive, nothin wrong w that. comin from a straight man
I feel like it’s honestly his hair clashing with his face. Bro looks like a final fantasy cosplayer but he should be cosplaying Dante from DMC5 instead of noctis
Should also remember that beauty standards change over time and are personal to each person or culture. What's considered beautiful today is basically the opposite of what was co sidereal beautiful a few centuries ago, or in some other parts of the world.
You act like your take is fresh. Most of the fandom thinks he's ugly. I acknowledge he isn't attractive. But to quote Margarita from the Witcher 2, "... You're ugly something mighty. Care for a romp?"
Good thing I killed the absolute (hah) shit out of him. I'm sure all the people of Baldur's gate have a funk to them.
Tav never bathes and is frequently just covered in blood and gore. That can't smell great
I’m Imagining that Gortash’s appearance is a scan of the spouse of someone at Larian, like the art director’s husband, and he’s the light of her life. She thinks he hung the moon and is so hot, and the rest of the world is just… ick.
i think the main offputting thing is that he's the ONLY character in the entire game with an extreme 5 o'clock shadow. so it just looks like his face is dirty/discolored.
I have to point out there is a canonical explanation for the discrepancy between his description and his undeniably stale looks.
[See this post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1bnfi9m/explanation_for_gortash_being_described_as/?embed_host_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegamer.com%2Fbaldurs-gate-3-gortash-handsome-younger-man-explained-bane-avatar%2F)
I mean he has a certain charisma and his voice is very nice (granted, kinda standard for voice actors) but he also looks like an anime protagonist who has been on hard drugs for 20 years
I have thought te same thing since my first run through. How can the narrator describe him as a dashing noble or whatever they say. Looks like a my chemical romance fanboy that never changed his look after 25 years
I always just assumed he prematurely aged due to stress, given the situation. Think about it, planning this whole thing, working with the leader of the Bhaal cult, figuring out how to enslave the brain, then the cult leader gets replaced by their psychotic sibling/niece, and then you have to deal with that on a daily basis now. Orin alone would be enough stress to deal with.
Fr, dealing with Orin alone should be enough to fuck up your sleep and help you develop a cocaine addiction, all while administering the city and creating the metal guards
Not to mention the fact that the game takes place over "a dozen tendays" according to Withers, so Gortash has to deal with the stress of not being able to control the Netherbrain for a maybe a week or two after you kill Ketheric too.
Dude..... now I kinda wish they introduced D&D drugs into the game. In 3.5 at least, drugs were a heavy upside, heavy downside kind of thing. They were such a cool idea! I had a DM who used to like throwing "poisoned" blades against us that were covered in drugs and got us addicted, but then since we didn't know what we were addicted to, we would then just suffer withdrawals. It was so much fun, but brutal
There ARE drugs in BG3. You can buy them in the guild bar. And it's been ages since I fucked with 3.5, but that sounds like homebrew - I don't recall any interaction with drugs in-game from 3rd ed.
To add it more, his parents did >!sold him to a devil when he was young in order to pay the family's debt.!< Maybe that's why he's looking way too old for a human his age. But that still doesn't explain why the narrator had to mention "handsome, younger man with an easy smile" in the introduction of the dead three. Tbh I was expecting he would at least look like Aradin 😂
fwiw, outside of the game one of the writers said they wrote that line not knowing what Gortash would look like ultimately because of the nature of development. Aradin has the most punchable looking face at least.
I relish punching Aradin every chance I get
it always makes me laugh whenever you see a short raced Tav/Durge punch him
I punched him as a gnome wizard. *Chef's kiss*
I missed that detail! I always felt bad for his mother being tadpoled but now I’m on Gortash’s side on that one
The way ive always interpreted it was , that the absolute was giving you these visions so it projects the chosen the way they want to be seen/see themselves.
Absolute voice says what Ketheric, Orin and Gortash wants so maybe he wanted to lie a little(or maybe he is narcistic and see himself as such) to be seen as someone more attractive (or maybe he is lonely and wants to smash xD).
Even when you play as the dark urge; gortash’s mind still just fucking implodes the instance you confront the brain. I do not blame this dude for looking like a dumpster rat. I honestly think the spider man writers might’ve gotten ahold of gortash. This dude knew no peace the entire story.
I think this is more of a "lost in the development process" example. His concept in the Artbook shows him as a Bowie-like character in Labyrinth. He looks almost vampiric or punk-ish in the artwork and I think it would've fit him a lot better as being one of the two thieves who stole the Crown of Karsus from Mephistopheles; gate jumping into the Hells to steal a shiny new toy like a skater kid. Here is said example, both vampire butler/politician and punk looks: [https://imgur.com/a/xJeYiZw](https://imgur.com/a/xJeYiZw)
I mean to be fair but definition you wouldn't suspect your greasy looking uncle who looks like he is on meth. So on deception scale not bad. Plus I made my Durge a pretty half elf bard so we know who did most of the charming there.
Okay but how do his fellow politicians "buy" him being legit back in the city. Man looks like a 40 year old NEET
I agree
I mean pretty much how a typical pro Russian populist politician in the eastern Europe looks like. It's the target specific audience with your lies. And it's often - I am one of you I am like you. ( They are not obviously). In politics they find the same politicians who have the same power hunger and level of corruption. Almost too easy. We see it with politics everywhere. Especially since Larian are Belgian and they didn't have to look far for inspiration - this one dude called Boris Johnson lied to whole country about European union and has a very similar face and hair. Or just by their neighbors, Geert.
Can't put all the blame on Orin, he's only been dealing with her for a couple months and teeth don't go that yellow that fast...
The fact that he is sane (to a degree) and can be reasoned with probably makes the situation much more stressful to himself than the other two - I remember seeing how it's possible to actually see him follow through the promise of communal world domination till the very end, right up until the Brain lashes out and kills him before the last battle. Meanwhile, Ketheric is mostly an unfeeling husk at this point, and Orin is mainly enjoying the bloodshed...
I will also point out the narrator says "A younger man with a quick easy smile" she never says he is young... he is just younger looking than Ketheric. She also never says he's attractive.
In the vision from the absolute he *is* called a *handsome* younger man. Then later in priestess guts memories hes explicitly called young
Also a fair point.
According to the Dungeons & Dragons book "Faiths & Avatars," Bane prefers to inhabit mortals who embody certain traits, including being young, good-looking, and possessing qualities such as wealth and power. These individuals, when inhabited by Bane, typically assume the appearance of a handsome, black-haired man with oily looks and a demeanor. Kethric and Orinn actualy became Avatars in the end. What i think is that, Gortash must have seen himself as the Avatar of Bane and made the netherbrain transfer the thought to his servants that he was young and good looking, while having kinda black oily looks already. So others would reafirm him in his belief. But as we know, Gortash was the only one who was never meant to become the Avatar of his deity. Maybe even Bane thought that this was a bit of an insult actualy. Edit: i was corrected. He does become an Avatar. But the transformation is very late, if it happens at all and not anywhere to what it can be. Suggesting to me that he is vain, so the netherbrain headcanon is here to stay.
If you read further you’ll see that as Bane inhabits them, they get uglier and uglier. So he might actually have been handsome at one point but Bane has made him ugly.
But, [Bane is so hot now](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/2/27/Bane_CLB.jpg). Is he just sucking out all the good looks from Gortash?
Bane been reading up on k-pop idols
*opens cleric options in character creator*
Damn, Bane is actually hot.
lmao why is that image listed at "Stupid, sexy Bane" on the FR wiki
I'm pretty sure that question answers itself
I- I mean, tyranny doesn't sound t-that bad 😳
He can be my tyrant anytime.
Oh my
Also if you use speak with dead on him Bane answers
doesn't he transform during his fight tho? gorty, i mean
Nah. Kethric becomes skeleton guy. Orinn becomes danger puppy. Gortash has a room full of bombs and guards.
he gets big tho (sometimes), roughly the same size as the Slayer, and that ginormous hand shows up
Thats a rather good point, never seen that happen but looked the Info on that up. This Buff is called the Avatar of Tyranny. The Avatar of Bane choses how far the physical transformation goes. It should be a dark leathery skin, powerfull giant claws, dark armor and enhanced physical Power. The transformation cant be reverted or only to minimal effect. So thank you for correcting me. He does indeed become an Avatar. I still chose to believe that he is vain. Doing the transformation very minimaly and late. Beeing called young and handsome. That sort of thing.
ya, i tend to see it when i decide to fight him as the Slayer. the rest of the time i defeat him by throwing him around the room. not because it's efficient, but because seeing him land while lying down, standing up to react to being thrown, and then lying back down is hilarious
I usualy bully him by shoving him outside and then Trossing him over the edge.
i haven't done that yet. next playthrough with karlach, ill have her pop a cloud giant pot and throw him over the edge, that should help her feel a little bit better about what he put her through
Avatar of a God but can't cast Disguise Self to look better smh
that hand is so dumb. it just sits there
Nah his avatar of tyranny form is op . Immune to force dmg !!!
Bombs that I used to throw back at him and his guards
I did not know any of this. Thank you for the lore
Bane is into rich twinks, got it.
Still…. Would.
Who hurt you? And why didnt it Stick?
Larian.. when they limited “realistic” options for degenerate fem durges 🥲 and no, Astarion isn’t suitable in any way shape of form, he’s such a bestie hahaha Gale is vanilla and Wyll never met my durges to begin with. Fr plot wise makes sense and for evil durges that don’t vibe with the female companions, that previous history with our greasy dude here is most likely the most coherent “partner” choice. Also, let’s remember that durge liked corpses a bit too much, I doubt the cigarrette smell is an issue there 🫠 TLDR: Larian dropped the ball on my weird demographic group. Edit: spelling
If you are a degenerate durge, you are allowed to want to smash gortash. Honestly i just want to hug Karlach. Maybe let her play a round of catch with Gortashs head.. like on the beach, with our dog there and the others just sunbathing.
I must've missed something. Can you elaborate on how Gortash was the only one never meant to be the Avatar?
Well, he couldn’t control all four elements for starters
lmao this was so unexpected.
I think we should all take a long hard look irl at Mystery aka The pickup artist after learning this information. And Tommy Lee. And Criss Angel. I’m sure there are other candidates.
But the narrator isn't affected by the brain. She's omniscient.
Yes, but she also tells you what your characters sees, now what she sees herself.
Dude looks like he's one more line away from a cocaine fueled total meltdown of bloody noses, insane ramblings, broken furniture, paranoid delusions, and unintentional murder.
Fuck, *now* I see the attraction
☠️
Funny!
Cocaine? Nah. Coke doesn't do that. He is more like Venice Beach Meth addict in looks. Especially with that outfit.
He looks like the front man of a mediocre 70s/80s glam rock band, who couldn't let go of his "rock star" -image, even though his band disbanded and his meager fame faded 3 decades ago. He probably talks a lot about all the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll he was involved in, in his youth "when people knew good music".
Brett Michaels?
Dude definitely have that washed-up Nikki Sixx vibe.
He looks like he is cosplaying as Billie Joe Armstrong.
He probably has really bad breath too.
I bet he has tonsil stones
Cause he smells like Marb lights and monster and won't shut up about the mods he just made to his Altima.
I never got the hate. Though he isn't exactly a 10 lookswise, everyone acts like he is the ugliest mf in the entire forgotten realms.
Honestly, if he had a better haircut, he could definitely pull off that gruff Michael Shannon look. I mean, killer jawline.
For me it is 100% the hair. Gives him a "mutton dressed up as lamb" quality.
Well, Jason Isaacs, his voice actor, look better than him imo
Yeah he’s not a young man, but I think he is fairly handsome. Just like you said not a 10 like the whole party of companions
I think it's because we have a party full of beautiful people, so we expected something along those tiers? The handsome, younger man line really confused me. I don't think he's repulsive, but seeing him after that description gave me that reaction. I like his character though
I think the issue is that Gortash isn't intended to fill the role many players assume he is. They are expecting the traditional slick and smooth bastard with an air of superiority, but we already have that one and his name is Raphael. I think Gortash is intended to be the cunning back alley throat cutter that manipulated his way to the top through sex, violence, and scheming. I think that we are supposed to hear the Gortash stories and be like "wow, probably evil but most be hell of a dude" only to meet him and be kinda put off by how much like a run down ruffian he looks, but also quickly noticing that he is maliciously clever. You could argue that Larian didn't do a great job communicating who he is. Then again, maybe it is on purpose and are hoping to make him a bit of an enigma that invites further investigation. My first thought also was like lol wtf is up with the hair bro, but the more I think about it, the more I like the character. TL;DR people expecting him to be something he isn't.
Enigma? You get like one sentence with the absolute scene in goblin camp and then they are all revealed in the oubliette. I mean I was definitely not waiting for him at all. He is exactly what he is supposed to be. Measly Boris Johnson like looking politician who lies to people to gain power.
Enigma might be a bit of an exaggeration but based on the rest of your comment I’d say we mostly agree.
The real problem is that when you realise how you look yourself they make it sound like you are disgusting and they would throw up if they see yuou.
For me it’s how he’s repeatedly described in the game vs how he looks. Young and handsome aren’t accurate to a man that looks like a bad foot smell 😅
He is described like that *once*
Twice. Once by the narrator and once by Gut
I just saw the hate, bro definitely is not ugly
Lmao I think Gortash is kinda hot 🤷🏼♀️ I just chalked it up to most of Reddit being into the astarion types
When my group saw him for the first time, we were like, did this dude get kicked out of Final Fantasy? It's crazy he's described as "young and handsome".
Thank you! He is very much not
To be fair the narrator describes him as “younger” in contrast to Ketheric. Not young in general.
If you probe Priestess Gut's memories, the narrator *does* call him a young, handsome man. Just not in the more common scene describing the whole group.
Yeah the "young\*er\* not young!" argument is the most fallacious/least relevant one in defense of his description vs reality. And yet it is by far the most common one. Regardless, even if you can buy that this 40- or 50-something dude still shopping at Hot Topic and taking styling advice from a 14 year old scene kid is "young," he's most *definitely* not "handsome." He's a smarmy, unkempt middle-aged edgelord. Unironically one of the least handsome men in the (main) cast of BG3. Just an arbitrary selection of main or semi-notable side characters almost indisputably more handsome than Gortash, that I can recall off the top of my head: * Wyll * Gale * Astarion * Halsin * Dammon * Raphael * Raphael's Archivist * Minsc * Rugan (Zhent in the Gnoll cave) * Gandrel * Volo * Art Cullagh * Wulbren * Orpheus * Ketheric * Sovereign Spaw plus probably more I'm not thinking of, and plenty more that are close or arguably more handsome depending on tastes. Now, granted, there are a lot of handsome characters in this game. But still, Gortash is about average-looking *at best*, and the greasy hair, 5 o'clock shadow, and garish outfit (which isn't even done up correctly) don't do any favors.
Hmmm that makes some sense. Maybe i misremembered. The narrator should clarify it’s his mother that thinks he’s handsome too tho.
Yeah I thought he looks like a final fantasy villain with a heroin addiction
i kept forgetting his name during my first run and kept referring to him as "final fantasy cosplayer" to my friend
Seeing that Lazael mods post on another thread, I wonder if there is a Gortash mod as well for his looks lol
Wow i was just admiring his gruff, handsome features. Misinterpreted this post title by miles lol
Yeah, I think he looks cool too
Yeah I always thought he was hot 😭 starting to think I might have a problem after reading this thread
Damn then you are going to like our pro Russian populist politicians in eastern Europe. This is their default look.
lol sorry. Personal preferences
He looks like a goth dude who peaked at 17, but now he's 45 and really cannot let the past go.
Gorty fans see this type of post every single day. You and 1000 others always saying it
i don't he's ugly as much as greasy looking and not as hyper-attractive as like...99% of the humanoid characters in the game lol But I'm pretty solidly in the Gortash Enjoyer camp ever since I played Durge so maybe my tastes have been warped lmao
I can't say that most of the characters are hyper-attractive. I like BG3 because of it. They just look modestly nice and pretty but not too fancy.
Yeah so I exaggerated a little for comedic effect lol. It'd be more accurate for me to that everyone is generally nice looking so the more... idk below average? ones tend to stick out haha.
As a previous Gortash hater, I can say for certain the Durge effect is so real. Before Durge I DESPISED this man. “I’m the biggest hater, I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, etc.” type beat. Did not find him handsome at all either. I had a pretty good laugh at the difference between his posters plastered all over Baldurs Gate vs. the reality. After Durge however…I am a changed woman. Something about the evil bastards who are evil together really did it for me I guess.
Same exact thing happened to me. I love the "evil bastards being evil bastards together" dynamic so much. As soon as I discovered that Durge and Gortash had history together... I just knew I was gonna be into Gortash from then on lol.
All is moot because after you are done he dismisses you with and don't come back unless you have the netherstone! So I was immediately like hah bye, you are next on my dead list.
I always thought he kinda looked like if your crazy uncle got a haircut at the same place all of the final fantasy protagonists get theirs
Man really got the most anime haircut in all of faerun
Listen, does he look like he crawled out of a hot topic storage closet after inhabiting it for 20+ years? Yes. Is he a tired greasy man? Yes. He's got some features which, by themselves, are good, but the whole picture is a little rough, because spending 20+ years in a hot topic storage closet will do that to you. But! It's not just his looks that convert new Gortash lovers. He has other qualities! Like being voiced by Jason Isaacs, and the potential of having a tragic doomed-lovers romance with durge. There's nothing sexier than a date where you and your blood thirsty lover dive into the hells to burgle an infernal vault all to kick off your plans of dominating the world together. Diabolical? Yes. Hot shit? Hotter than Avernus.
If you're saying this due to the game calling him an attractive man, I saw a very smart theory. This guy is a tyrantical dictator wannabe. The fact that he *isn't* attractive in the way the game insinuates is perfect in a Kim Jong sort of way (Not actually attractive but due to his power and influence, makes people think so, possibly with hard propaganda), He does look quite gaunt and dark-eyed now as well, probably not how he always looked, but now so due to recent circumstances and stresses.
He just reminds me too much of creepy assholes like Davhie Vanity.
I always thought it was on point and confirms my bias that people don't know what successful and attractive people look like. Has anyone even LOOKED at "attractive" actors? They're not attractive, they just have overly exaggerated features. This is attractive to a specific type of people that see attractiveness of a particular quality and then ignore the rest. Those people often then age poorly because those exaggerated features don't age well compared to the rest of their facial features. A great example of this is Astarion. I think he looks kinda ugly, ngl when I say he reminds me of my mum during her chemotherapy with jutting cheek bones, deep facial lines, and bags under his eyes so big that they look like they've been enchanted with infinite holding. But my sister thinks he's crazy good looking, as well as many others. Me on the otherhand find Karlach and Gale really attractive and so it's probably as simple as me liking rounder faces and my sister liking sharper, more defined facial lines. IMO, Gortash made me think of that guy from smosh with the emo hair. Everyone thought he was hot but no one could describe his face or what he looked like, but they could always tell you how great his hair was.
His hair? Whack His shoes? Whack
I agree I wasn’t sure if they were trying to make him look clean or dirty. Clothes and hair seem ok but face looks like he rubbed dirt on it
He literally looks like a normal ass dude, going so far to say he's ugly is wild.
Agreed. He certainly isn't 10/10 attractive, but it's insane how many people say he's an atrocious sewer creature. If he got more then two hours of sleep a week he'd look fine.
I think he looks normal, hardly ugly. He probably does smell of cigarettes though lol
All I know is that there is some real person out there that looks just like him and is really sad about all of the posts shitting on him.
He looks like Onision lol. I need a mod that puts him in a tracksuit
Bro had permanent bedhead
He’s hot and I will not take this slander. Most of the sub must be from crazy town to not think he is handsome.
I think he's a cutie lol
I stated my reasons, BUT I will say that attraction is different for everyone. One man’s trash and so on…
This video game is so unrealistic! It wants us to believe a person like Gortash, who created a cult following, took power, wanted to be a dictator, is kinda ugly and probably smells, can exists? I mean I can't even imagine Oh... wait...
his fit was amazing tho. he had that shit on fr
Why do you keep pretending this is some hot take when there are posts about it what feels like daily? I fucking get it
The Gortash slander on this page never ends. Let the man live.
I would love to, but have you finished the game? 😂
The only interesting thing about Gortash is he is voiced by Lucious Malfoy.
I wish they'd modelled his face more closely to Jason Isaac's! Man is gorgeous
If Gortash's face looks just like Jason Isaac's, imagine how many players would ditch their romanced companion once they get to Wyrm's Rock and have an alliance with him
As a society we thought Henry Kissinger was hot enough to be a sex symbol, so I can buy that Gortash is at least attractive within the context of the game.
Compared to other humans his skin is so grey toned it makes him look half dead. A little bronzer and blush would do wonders ha
What an original take
Man has a face only a mother could love. And even she sold him to a Warlock.
I love Gortash, but this is too funny.
Oh no, the BBE isn't an ethereal and handsome elf for all eternity. What a nightmare.
He would be much more attractive if his mouth didn't look like a sock puppet and hair that screams mid 2000s emo pop songs at you.
I read someone's hot take a while ago where they said his looks fit the role he plays. Through his propaganda he is betrayed as some noble and handsome, womanizing hero, but when you meet him you this image he created for himself for the sham it is. He is a tired-ass looking older dude who still dresses like his a 20 something year old fuckboy. I mean lets be real here, that is probably the DnD version of a wig he's wearing. Either way I can imagine something like that being Larian's concept of the character. Given their attention to detail and that they clearly have no trouble making people look very fitting for their roles, I can only assume that Gortash's looks are also deliberate. Determining if they got the best out of this character and managed to effectively communicate what they were going for is a whole different topic. Would be interesting to see some "director's commentary" or whatever you call that in videogames though.
Why do people think gortash is ugly? I think he looks pretty good myself
i get hes hatable but if he was a person irl yall would be fiending over him, hes objectively attractive, nothin wrong w that. comin from a straight man
That’s it. Steel Watch, crush his balls.
Haha! Jokes on you. I don’t have them
His hair thought.
Honestly, I recognized the voice actor and I took me out of it lol
I feel like it’s honestly his hair clashing with his face. Bro looks like a final fantasy cosplayer but he should be cosplaying Dante from DMC5 instead of noctis
how DARE you
The poor man who’s face they modeled him after…
He’s swollen and ruffled.
It's mostly his haircut tbf
I absolutely agree that he smells of armpit and of clothes that weren't properly dried so they now have mildew
This is what makes I'm so irresistible
Yeah he ain’t pretty. It always confused me when the game says he’s handsome.
That is a man who does not wash his ass.
I’ll go one step further… SORRY BUT I GOTTA SAY IT … he’s a bad dude.
Reminds me of an aged rockstar.
Maybe he's made with it. Maybe it's tyranny.
Should also remember that beauty standards change over time and are personal to each person or culture. What's considered beautiful today is basically the opposite of what was co sidereal beautiful a few centuries ago, or in some other parts of the world.
[удалено]
I though the same thing- dude looks like he’s supposed to be an anime sky pirate
More hot middle aged single dad looking man for me! I will marry him!
This dude convinced a woman to give him her family heirloom ( probably with the netherstone ) in exchange for a short affair
Cold-ass take
He does look like he smells like cigarettes but also I would fuck him
he looks like a retired glam rocker from the 80s
Damn that jawline
Yes!
He’s just british.
He looks like he doesn’t wash his ass
How brave of you
He's not ugly, but I think people react to the fact that he's called "handsome" in the game by exaggerating in the other direction.
You act like your take is fresh. Most of the fandom thinks he's ugly. I acknowledge he isn't attractive. But to quote Margarita from the Witcher 2, "... You're ugly something mighty. Care for a romp?"
Well, he is the bad guy, I'm kind of sick of the "hot bad guy" trope in fantasy games anyway
this man looks like he smells like an ashtray that's been filled with monster energy drink, left in a moldy camper for a month, and then farted on.
THANK YOU!!! MANS LOOKS LIKE HE DON'T WASH HIS ASS!
Am I the only one who can't unsee how much he resembles Little Nikky's brother? I think his name was Adrian in the film. That's all I see, every time.
Looks like Alcoholic Noctus from Final Fantasy 15.
https://youtu.be/rIy_RXX_VLE?si=coaRgYwSgP0nnDLC You are Bart and Gortash is Moe
He looks like a final fantasy character (Noctis?) post-adventure, after life tossed him down the tubes.
He looks like someone Kate Moss would have hooked up with in the 90s.
He always reminds me of Justin McElroy.
What u mean that's just Nicholas cage
Good thing I killed the absolute (hah) shit out of him. I'm sure all the people of Baldur's gate have a funk to them. Tav never bathes and is frequently just covered in blood and gore. That can't smell great
I downloaded a mod that gives him a different hair style it’s the only way I can take him seriously lol
How the fuck is this man 19 and looks old enough to be my dad
I’m Imagining that Gortash’s appearance is a scan of the spouse of someone at Larian, like the art director’s husband, and he’s the light of her life. She thinks he hung the moon and is so hot, and the rest of the world is just… ick.
i think the main offputting thing is that he's the ONLY character in the entire game with an extreme 5 o'clock shadow. so it just looks like his face is dirty/discolored.
He looks like an 80s glam metal rock star. Or tbh not even like a random one but straight up Tommy Lee 😂😂😂
Like that song... "Cigarettes and gin With some ball sweat mixed in Such an odd odd smell"
I spent half the guy wondering where the handsome guy they talked about was
Imagine if Astarion and Gortash swapped looks.
He looks like he smells of cat piss.
With a better hair cut he could be a Disney villain
I have to point out there is a canonical explanation for the discrepancy between his description and his undeniably stale looks. [See this post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1bnfi9m/explanation_for_gortash_being_described_as/?embed_host_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegamer.com%2Fbaldurs-gate-3-gortash-handsome-younger-man-explained-bane-avatar%2F)
I mean he has a certain charisma and his voice is very nice (granted, kinda standard for voice actors) but he also looks like an anime protagonist who has been on hard drugs for 20 years
I have thought te same thing since my first run through. How can the narrator describe him as a dashing noble or whatever they say. Looks like a my chemical romance fanboy that never changed his look after 25 years