Character
Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi is a fictional character in the 2014 video game Dragon Age: Inquisition. He is a former soldier in the Tevinter Imperium's military forces, and is current…
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Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi is a fictional character in the 2014 video game Dragon Age: Inquisition. He is a former soldier in the Tevinter Imperium's military forces, and is currently a member of the Bull's Chargers, a mercenary company led by the Iron Bull.
Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi is a fictional character in the 2014 video game Dragon Age: Inquisition. He is a former soldier in the Tevinter Imperium's military forces, and is currently a member of the Bull's Chargers, a mercenary company led by the Iron Bull. He was created and written by Patrick Weekes. Canadian-American voice actress Jennifer Hale voiced Krem in Inquisition.
Krem is the first transgender character to appear in a BioWare video game. The character has received mostly positive reception in the Dragon Age series as a positive representation of transgender characters in video games.
Krem is the second openly transgender character in the Dragon Age series, the first being Maevaris Tilani from the comic mini-series Dragon Age: Those Who Speak. Patrick Weekes went into detail about the multi-year creation process for Krem in a blog post published on the official BioWare blog dated December 4, 2014. They revealed that the idea for Krem first began when BioWare organised a panel discussion on how characters from the LGBTQ community are presented in its video games at a prior PAX event. Weekes claimed that an oft-repeated request from fans was for a respectful representation of transgender and/or genderqueer characters, without resorting to stereotypes or tokenism.
The writing team for Inquisition brainstormed and eventually came up with an idea to make the Iron Bull's lieutenant as such a character. Weekes developed the idea that Iron Bull's character, as a mercenary commander, would require the presence of a subordinate as a grounding force "to remind players that Bull has a history of command" and that he "is more than just hired muscle". This character would represent Iron Bull's dilemma over being pulled between a life of freedom and a life of devotion and submission to the Qunari system of thought and behavior, the Qun, and that his status as a trans man could enable them to explore gender roles in Qunari culture. Weekes noted that their writing goal was for Krem "to be a positive character who was living his life happily now", noting that a team of editors would examine every line of dialogue involving Krem and alter any dialogue and paraphrases that may give a wrong impression. Iron Bull and Krem would constantly bicker about little things as part of their relationship dynamic, but never attack each other's "truly sore spots".
The lead writer of Inquisition, David Gaider, recalled that he approved of Weekes' proposal to portray the Iron Bull's lieutenant as a trans man during a meeting, and he suggested canvassing feedback from someone within the transgender community. Gaider explained that Serendipity, a minor queer character who appeared in the Dragon Age II downloadable content Mark Of The Assassin, was intended to be a drag queen, but her comedic portrayal was interpreted by some fans as transphobic. He found the criticisms directed towards Serendipity to be regrettable, and he wanted a transgender character to be properly depicted should the opportunity present itself.
Weekes disclosed that they had received criticism after soliciting constructive feedback about their characterization of Krem from their friends within the genderqueer community; an initial draft which had Krem deserting from the Tevinter Imperium after fighting off someone who discovered his secret and attempted to assault him was derided for relying on the "attacked trans person" stereotype. The feedback Weekes received indicated that while the scenario is plausible, it may inadvertently become an emotional trigger for real life transgender players who have faced traumatic transphobic attacks.
Krem is briefly seen in a cinematic trailer promoting Inquisition starring Iron Bull, which was uploaded on multiple EA-affiliated channels, prior to the release of the game.
Krem appears as a non-playable character in Inquisition, where he serves as the Iron Bull's second in command of the Bull's Chargers. Krem is first encountered outside the Haven Chantry building following the Inquisition leadership's return from the Orlesian capital city of Val Royeaux; he reveals that he was sent by his commander and suggests that their mercenary company would be a good fit for the Inquisition, and a worthy hire in spite of their high asking price. Krem, along with Iron Bull will later be found in the Storm Coast where they could be recruited for the Inquisition. Speaking to Krem periodically after completing a major event in Inquisition's narrative will unlock side quests and text-based war table operations throughout the game. Krem's fate is also involved in the Iron Bull's personal side quest, the outcome of which depends on the player-controlled Inquisitor choosing between sacrificing the Chargers or rescuing them at the expense of an alliance with the Qunari and Bull being excommunicated from Qunari society.
Krem appears in the five-issue limited comic series Dragon Age: Magekiller, where he is dispatched by Bull to lead the Chargers on an operation to the Hissing Wastes with Dorian Pavus and a mage assassin named Marius.
Although he is presented as a minor character in Inquisition, Krem received significant media coverage from gaming journalists and LGBT-centric media outlets due to his positive depiction as a transge
Source: Krem (Dragon Age) (CC BY-SA)
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Krem was specially designed as gender appropriate on matters such as animation, body language, and translation for localization. Krem's face was created by Development Manager Colleen Perman using the character artist team's head-morph system. Hale, who has played multiple characters in BioWare's games, developed a voice for a trans man "in a world without access to transitional procedures" under Director of Voice Acting Caroline Livingstone's direction. Weekes noted though it wasn't the simplest of tasks to overcome" as much of the game's engine was based on set assignments of gender, "from voice to face to animation set to localization plan for foreign languages", and praised the various departments working on Inquisition for their enthusiasm and dedication.
