Baldur's Gate 3's last patch quietly clothed a formerly-nude cat, and some players are demanding their little naked man back

His Majesty in Baldur's Gate 3
(Image credit: Larian)

"Updated the visuals of His Majesty, who previously looked like Steelclaw. His Majesty's appearance now befits his name and stature," reads Baldur's Gate 3's latest patch notes. But does it? The emperor once had no clothes, but now His Majesty, a cat who lives in Baldur's Gate 3, is a fluffy longhair instead of the smooth Sphynx we came to love—and an awful lot of fans aren't happy about it.

His Majesty is a minor NPC celebrity in Baldur's Gate 3. Talk to him normally, and he's just a regular cat who hisses at you. Cast the Speak With Animals spell, though, and he's revealed to be a dandy fop with a high opinion of himself, and a low one of Isobel, the cleric of Selune keeping everyone in Act 2's Last Light Inn alive (she promised him a bowl of milk and didn't deliver).

He'll dish some hot gossip on the Shadow-Cursed Lands' inhabitants and, if you're of the Noble background, even toss out a shiny Inspiration point for winning his respect. Crucially to his character and striking first impression, His Majesty was a wee naked man⁠, specifically a hairless Sphynx cat, and I found this breed fit his imperious nature.

Now, His Majesty is a grey and white longhair, still cute, sure, but I'm supposed to believe he sprouted this coat overnight? I feel as though we've lost something, though I do understand Larian's reasoning of trying to differentiate him from fellow Act 2 cat Steelclaw, another Sphynx. Until I reached Baldur's Gate proper and met some more felines, I just figured Larian had the one cat model it was using for the whole game.

The response from fans has been less than positive⁠—they want their nude lord back. A high traffic post by Zazulio on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit demands an explanation for His Majesty's new hirsutism, and the comments are similarly disapproving. Over on TikTok, videos with thousands of likes from minkda and supremestabigail have expressed outrage at the change.

LARIAN! Why is His Majesty not a Sphinx anymore? Explain! from r/BaldursGate3

Even the holdouts on 2023 Tumblr are weighing in on #BaldursSphynxGate, with the account ladyshinga getting plenty of… likes? Re-blogs? Whatever they do on Tumblr for a post lambasting the new His Majesty. "You nerfed him. You made him weaker. This is a sin, Larian. What have you done to my boy?" 

With Larian's blistering pace of updates since Baldur's Gate 3's launch, an oversight like this is plenty understandable. Hopefully it's as simple a fix as just throwing the "nude" switch in Larian HQ back to "on," but I worry about a potential knock-on effect with the Realm of Naked Men. If all else should fail, surely a modder will step in and set this to rights⁠—after all, those guys love making nudity mods.

Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

Read more
A cat gets an affectionate head-scratch in miHoYo's Zenless Zone Zero.
Zenless Zone Zero developer finally embraces its divine domain as the god of jiggle physics, goes mad, adds them to cat balls
The Dark Urge, from Baldur's Gate 3, looks towards his accursed claws with self-disdain.
Larian scrambles to find out who exactly put Patch 8 on the PS5 early, meanwhile I, a PC unfortunate, rattle the bars of my enclosure
Natarkveld, a horrific amalgamation of Nata and Arkveld, screeches like a creature in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds player spits in the face of creation, fuses Nata with Arkveld like they're doing a Full Metal Alchemist villain speedrun
Withers Big Naturals mod image - Withers with big naturals
Larian celebrates 100 million Baldur's Gate 3 mod downloads by bringing 'Withers Big Naturals' to consoles
Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3's shows off its upcoming photo mode by going haywire with memes
Henry gets a haircut.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's March patch brings zoomer haircuts for Henry and the return of the hardcore mode that can kill you before the game even starts
Latest in Baldur's Gate
Minthara BG3 looking upset
Another round of Baldur's Gate 3 unearthing reveals Minthara can end up living in a sewer, an unused beach ending, and more
Gale, a wizard from Baldur's Gate 3, looks very bloodied and very sad at the player while a celestial midnight blooms behind his depressed mug.
Baldur's Gate 3's stress test update fixes heartbreaking bug that wiped out Honour Mode runs at the last possible moment
Baldur's Gate 3 player character made to resemble Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher.
Wait a minute, Geralt of Rivia actor Doug Cockle was in Baldur's Gate 3 this whole time
Half Orc wearing rare Bhaalist Armor in Baldur's Gate 3 standing in front of Astarion and Karlach
It turns out you can get Baldur's Gate 3's best assassin armor without killing a baby angel elephant and joining a cult, all you have to do is pickpocket a ghost
Gale, a wizard from Baldur's Gate 3, looks very bloodied and very sad at the player while a celestial midnight blooms behind his depressed mug.
Baldur's Gate 3's stress test update has, mercifully, made one of its new OP cantrips halfway balanced again—but it's really still quite good
Withers Big Naturals mod image - Withers with big naturals
Sure, why not, here's a guy beating Baldur's Gate 3 without a race or class at all
Latest in News
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine
Marvel Rivals director says a future patch will reduce the shooter's insatiable hunger for RAM: 'It's a very big problem'
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'