uhhhhh... he has a tendency to not pay full attention in combat because it's easier mentally to lose himself to adrenaline and survival instinct, so it's way easier to sneak up on him than it should be
the trick is, he doesn't like people worrying and fussing over him because that's his job dammit, so he'll lash out instead of just break down for the majority of situations.
when you get into things like massive violations of his free will or the loss of someone he loves, like Snowblind tends to get into, then he'll just. cry.
and the answer is "the world is fucked". Because while I doubt Enoch would actively fight Heaven's forces of his own volition, Heaven not having his help would probably lead the war to a standstill
and Earth is destroyed in the process and unless God kills Enoch himself to release the power of Metatron to end the war, there just won't be a moment of peace to recreate it.
El Shaddai is a canon that has some major potential for Want of a Nail scenarios because nearly every major event has to happen exactly as it did to get where it's going.
it's hard to find a way to put things back on track, and just when you think you have, there's another detail (like Devil's heart) that still changes everything.
so let's start at the beginning. Little girl discovers her ability to perform magic and uses it because she sees someone trying and failing to light a torch.
She wasn't even trying to hurt anyone, and suddenly here are these templars trying to take her away and her mother's panicked and screaming for her and yeah there's a reason she can't remember this anymore.
She managed to get herself into a place of relative privilege and wind up under the tutelage of the First Enchanter himself, which meant she had some protection from the shit that could have otherwise gone down
the psychological effect of being in a cage never went away (and got worse when outdoor exercise sessions were discontinued), so to her sinking mind, scorn from some was probably scorn from all
making her stay in the Circle not necessarily a singular bad memory or experience, but a prolonged thing that she doesn't see the effects of on herself even now. There were probably a few notable moments-
her oldest friendship, broken up just like that. And on top of that, it tore her away from the only home she'd really known. It devastated her, and made her more insular than she had already been.
She no longer felt she could trust anyone, and then there's what happened right after. The betrayal of the Wardens and the loss of everything she thought her life was going to be. Again.
and then discovering broodmothers for the first time, a grotesque monster that is responsible for birthing the enemies they're sworn to fight - and any woman can become one
she has spoken politely to golems not actively trying to kill her ever since. Greeting them if inert, thanking them if they've fought for her. They probably don't hear her, for the most part.
anyway. Then there's the duel against Loghain and his execution - she won, but if she didn't have a bunch of people healing her at once she might have lost some use of her left hand, and it left her physically
and then she went and struck the killing blow and he seemed to be going more lucid, too?? and his daughter was in range of the blood splatter??? god but that whole thing made her feel like shit even if she-
That's why the Wardens are there. Their initiation involves taking this taint on themselves, which is why they're slowly dying. But it means they read as tainted to the Archdemon - so it tries to transfer its
Morrigan has a ritual that circumvents that. It involves conceiving a child with a Warden who hasn't been one for too long, and the ritual will pass the Warden's taint to the embryo.
and incidentally it's not an Archdemon anymore, really. Since Archdemons are these ancient dragons who may or may not also be gods corrupted by the taint, themselves. And Morrigan says this will remove this-
and that's what sold Katherine on it. She's always taken the route of least loss, even when it means saving the lives of creatures thought to be violent beasts (like the werewolves).
problem: the other parent must be the one performing the ritual, meaning the only eligible Warden? Alistair. Who is also her lover. Who has said he doesn't want to sleep with anyone else.
oh wait I missed one - how about that one time she had to kill a little girl? She was possessed by a demon and Katherine might have had the chance to stall it with conversation but didn't take the risk.
okay so. the Jowan thing, obviously. Also the disastrous battle at Ostagar that left her and Alistair as the only two Wardens left in the whole country.
Those were turns for the worse, where it encouraged her to be closed off and distrust people on principle and emphasized the self-serving parts of her personality to the detriment of the rest.
like. first there was a kid possessed by a demon. the demon wasn't attacking them, though, so it gave them time to do something about it. This might have required a sacrifice, but Katherine found a
"the kid has to die, unless his mother dies for him. except not! good job, now find a literally miraculous panacea nobody has been able to find for years to save his dad from dying too."
it was, in a way, the definitive turning point for her. Because that quest chain was emotionally exhausting, and it wore her out so badly, but she was doing so well with it
and Alistair had fallen in love with her, and when he confessed, it was just timed so perfectly, to where she badly needed the comfort he was offering but also didn't feel undeserving of love like she had.
there were so many traits that the Circle had not encouraged maturation of, and so many things she just hadn't seen or known, and places where she was lacking or underdeveloped because she'd spent her formative
That's her other major turning point. When given rank, like actual, formal rank, she surged ahead. That these people had in the most concrete way pledged their lives to fight for her and the order?
But even then... she was also given the responsibility of the entire arling, because it belonged to the Wardens now, and as the country's commander that made it hers.
1: being cut off from regular sunlight and exercise that started her downward spiral in the first place and set the stage for who she would be at the start? The sessions were discontinued because Anders used-
2: just by becoming one of her Wardens and spending time with her (and having a companion quest), she was exposed to the darker side of Circle life. The mistreatment, the apprentices taken late enough in life-
Jowan, of course. Helped her adjust to Circle life initially and basically provided moral support that was absolutely necessary throughout, though I don't know that he consciously knew how much he meant.
Specifically, if you reopen the wound at a certain edge, she will lose function in her two smallest fingers. This will instantly cripple her more complex spells.
following that, aiming to injure or otherwise prevent her from using her hands will severely hamper her ability to fight back - which is true of a lot of people
(considering the Warden contacts in Kirkwall somehow see Hawke bring Avernus's letter to the dead drop and know where to find them, and Anders could potentially be in the party that does this, I headcanon she's
her emotional weak spots are a lot easier to find: loss of self upsets her, as does loss of loved ones. It's why she opened up to Alistair at all in the beginning.
and on a more intimate note, she forces herself to be as quiet as possible during any sexual activity, because her first experiences and many of the ones thereafter were in a tent in a camp of several people
also, I missed some - more holdovers from Circle life! She keeps her personal belongings neatly and clearly labeled, and may have minor wards on more fragile/valuable stuff at camp.
When eating, she keeps her food close to herself - being a Warden covered for it for a while because she was eating as quickly as she could, but then she adjusted and it was no longer not weird.
Their physical weak spotGuilty pleasuresWhat it takes to make them cryBest places to kiss on their bodyTheir tickle spotsWhat-ifs/Alternate TimelinesBad memories/experiencesFears/phobiasTurning points in their lifePeople who’ve influenced them greatlyTheir physical weak spotTheir emotional/moral weak spotsGrudges and vendettasIngrained habits/forces of habit