Akon's 'Smack That' and Morrigan from Dragon Age: Origins have a shared history, according to her writer, who cast her off a 'beat poet rendition' of the song

Dragon Age: Origins - Morrigan holds up her hands in exasperation
(Image credit: BioWare)

Morrigan will always be an icon—as we've already discussed on this site, she's one of the all-time companion greats, pretty much stealing the show in Dragon Age: Origins. A razor-sharp wit, a barbed tongue, and a deeper, sympathetic vulnerability. There's very much a reason why she keeps popping back up in sequels to play the hits.

According to David Gaider, who wrote the character (and several others I quite like), her origins were slightly less high-brow than the end product. Posting to BlueSky, Gaider writes: "Originally, we were looking for a Middle Eastern actress to play her, as Shohreh Aghdashloo was slated to play Flemeth and we wanted a similar sounding voice—but it was a real struggle, and then Shohreh unfortunately had to drop out to do a movie. So suddenly we had nobody for either character!"

"Then, one day, Caroline (our VO Director) comes in with a recording sent by a rep for Claudia Black—who hadn't done game VO back then but wanted to get into it. And it was Claudia doing a slow, beat poet rendition of [Smack That]. I kid you not. I was already a fan, so I lost my goddamn mind." My edit in that quote is there because Gaider briefly got 'Baby Got Back' and 'Smack That' mixed up, which he later corrects. Easily done, they occupy the same venn diagram, and this was 15 years ago. "Yes, I still have the recording. No, you cannot have it." Aw.

Gaider also reveals that Morrigan was meant to be a heck of a lot younger-sounding, as per orders from on high. "We had to agree to get Claudia to sound 'younger', which I was dubious about. The first two sessions we asked her to pitch her voice up and it was AWFUL.

"Claudia had to focus on sounding 'right' instead of acting. So Caroline and I did the sneaky thing, and in the third session we asked her to just... act. Use her natural voice. We loved her performance so much we had the feeling that the team would love it too and forget their nonsense. They did."

Not to apply a layer of cynicism to an anecdote that's otherwise pretty joyous, or anything, but hearing Gaider speak about pressure from the higher-ups this way is sort of fascinating, considering the comments he made last year about writers being "quietly resented"—you have to wonder if Black would have been made to force that higher register in the present day.

Gaider also shares a fun, heart-in-mouth moment wherein, upon speaking with Black, he committed a cardinal sin—comparing her to another actor. "So I meet Claudia, and I'm sweating. I think: I'll start from the beginning, right? 'Well, when I started writing Morrigan, the voice in my head was Helena Bonham Carter' … Claudia gives me a look and tilts her head. 'So what you're saying is... I'm a very cheap version of Helena Bonham Carter.'

"I'm mortified. I melt. I gasp and stutter and she lets me implode for maybe 30 seconds before she throws her head back and LAUGHS. So wicked. I love her instantly and forever."

Gaider finishes his tell-all with a similar expression of love for the character herself: "Morrigan became a real touchstone for me, the heart of DAO. Way beyond her initial inspirations. Some said 'she's just an ice queen' like some I'd written (Viconia, Bastila, etc.) but such categories are very reductive, I find." I'm in complete agreement—though I'm afraid to say that Alistair stole my heart before she did. Gaider can still be chuffed, though, seeing as he wrote him, too.

TOPICS
Harvey Randall
Staff Writer

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

Read more
Dragon Age Manfred skeleton with crystal eyes looking shocked
BioWare considered bringing the hero of Dragon Age: Origins back for Veilguard, but with a horrifying catch: 'Do not let her see me like this'
Baldur's Gate 3 - Lae'Zel looks disaproving
Lae'zel's voice actor Devora Wilde also auditioned for Shadowheart, Karlach, 'And probably Astarion?'
Dragon Age Dreadwolf antogonist, Solas the elf, with a huge wolf walking next to him through smoke
Dragon Age voice actor says his favourite way to play Inquisition is as a woman who romances himself, which is apparently 'the best'
Baldur's Gate 3 romance - Shadowheart raising a cup with the player
The voice of Shadowheart, Jennifer English, would love to return to the role after Baldur's Gate 3—as long as Hasbro doesn't mess it up and 'make her into a cartoon'
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Neve kiss
All the Dragon Age: The Veilguard romance options and what you should know about them
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is my third-favorite game of the year, and I don't care who knows
Latest in Dragon Age
Dragon Age Dreadwolf antogonist, Solas the elf, with a huge wolf walking next to him through smoke
Dragon Age voice actor says his favourite way to play Inquisition is as a woman who romances himself, which is apparently 'the best'
BioWare has reportedly lost at least half its staff, with fewer than 100 people left and the studio a ghost of its former self
Dragon Age character Varric looking confidently forward
'Dragon Age isn't dead because it's yours now,' former BioWare writer reassures fans: 'EA/BioWare owns the IP but you can't own an idea'
Morrigan, the Witch of the Wilds in the Dragon Age serries, shown wielding magic in front of a Darkspawn.
Is this the end of Dragon Age? Veilguard was good, but BioWare needed an all-timer, and I'm nervous about what's next
Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Lace Harding looks inquisitive in a dark inn
Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director departs BioWare after 18 years at EA after an offer to build a new RPG she 'couldn't turn down'
Cullen from Dragon Age: Inquisition stares at the player amidst a snow-cloaked backdrop.
Dragon Age voice actor arrested on multiple charges over allegations, including revenge porn and harassment
Latest in News
A masked man with an axe in the woods
Rebellion CEO seems kind of awed by major studios making massive videogames: 'How do you organize a game that has 2,000 people working on it?'
A young witch watering a smiling mushroom in a magic garden
Here's a roguelite dungeon crawler Steam reviewers call 'a botanical Diablo' and 'like Cult of the Lamb' except you manage a mystical garden
Destiny 2 Rite of the Nine: The Emissary, massive, ominously standing at the edge of a water basin.
Oops! Bungie rolled out Destiny 2's Rite of the Nine event three weeks early, and new loot is already dropping
Chatacabra from Monster Hunter Wilds
The latest Monster Hunter Wilds event quest gives piles of Armor Spheres for hunting a Chatacabra, making this a very bad week to be a frog in the Forbidden Lands
No Rest for the Wicked Steam early access screenshots
No Rest for the Wicked developer Moon Studios is now 'fully independent' after acquiring the rights to the game from Take-Two
A hunter posing with an absurd Blangonga outfit in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Attention, fashion hunters: There's a Monster Hunter Wilds mod to disable all those obnoxious glowing buff effects that distract from your fits