17. Leliana

First appearance: Dragon Age Origins (2009)

My first game in the Dragon Age franchise was DA: Inquisition, where Leliana acts as your master of whispers and takes care of all the dark dealings needed to keep the Inquisition running.

I quickly fell in love with the character (who isn’t romance-able in DAI, because life is unfair like that).

And as I went back to the first two games in the series, my respect only deepened.

Her character development from a religious bard to the hot female version of Varys the Spider is just fantastic to watch – plus, she’s a viable romance option in DA: Origins.