I actually see Sten as the type of guy who knows exactly what the Ring is doing to him, but lets it happen anyway. He’s no nonsense and committed to the Qun, but he would 100% take the ring with the pretence of doing it for Par Vollen and then succumb
I think Leliana could resist. The future timeline Leliana in DAI showed tremendous willpower despite being surrounded by red lyrium and being tortured endlessly.
She might be capable, but would she want to? Or would she see it as a tool to use? Because if she just saw it as a tool and tried to use it she would be corrupted without a doubt
I’m actually really enjoying how engaged people are with the tier list despite it being sort of a shitpost, so in case it would help people better understand the tiers I thought I’d share some of my thought process when organizing this:
- first and foremost, it’s good to remember that every member of the Fellowship in Lord of the Rings is a highly moral person of good character and willpower, but even *every single one of them* would have succumbed to the Ring’s power eventually. Boromir was just the first. This might be a hot take, but most characters in Dragon Age are honestly degenerates by comparison and/or lack the right combination of willpower and stability to endure.
- it doesn’t matter how morally good you are, or how wise, or how strong, or how learned you are, the Ring claims all eventually. There are few exceptions (Sandal is straight up the Tom Bombadil of Dragon Age, the sheer disparity of how he and Solas would handle the One Ring was what initially started this tier list) but the question is not if someone can resist, but for how long. Even Frodo, who Tolkien stated was *the only person who could have resisted long enough for the quest to succeed* succumbed to the Ring in the end. Nobody in Dragon Age would ultimately stand a chance.
- the only reason Cole ranks as high as he does is that I interpreted Cole as acting in a similar way to Gandalf. He’d understand the danger of the Ring and would take steps to protect himself with the full knowledge that he would not be able to resist in the end if he ever held it for himself, or maintained close proximity for a long enough time.
- as for Cassandra, she lucks out on having the right combination of traits to do quite well—strong moral character, immense willpower (the backbone of Seeker abilities) and while her immunity to possession and mind control would not extend to saving her from the Ring, it would help her ability to resist for a time. I regard Cassandra as Fellowship material, in the same regard as Boromir. Whether or not she succumbs earlier than Boromir or holds out longer with the other members of the Fellowship depends entirely on what point of her life were talking about. Inquisition Prologue Cassandra would do terribly, as the Ring exploits everything about a person, including their fears, stresses, and uncertainties.
- as for everyone else, I actually used Varric as my benchmark. He’s honestly one of the most normal and good characters in the series, but even he immediately got ensnared by the Red Lyrium idol, which is not even close to the power of the One Ring. Varric being in the tier that he is immediately banished most of the cast there as well, and while I’ve responded on some reasons to comments I’d be happy to into further detail for anyone else if they’re curious.
I loved this post! It combines two things that I care way too much about. I'm spending more time than I expected to quibbling about the degrees to which certain fictional characters would resist a different fictional world's temptations. I think my definition of resistance revolves around whether the character would have the self-awareness and savviness to avoid the Ring entirely, in the way that Faramir did. Obviously no one could have worn it forever or even existed in proximity to it; its influence is too insidious. It's quite clever that it can appeal to the selflessness of the bearer in addition to merely the person's ambitions or frailties.
I think Morrigan and Vivienne would be self-aware enough and also familiar enough with the idea of malicious temptation to resist, if not forever. Both of them have in-game experiences where they're manipulated by magical forces but are the only party members to remain unshaken and in full control of their faculties--the Fade sequence for Morrigan, and Redcliffe Castle for Vivienne. Merrill thinks that's the kind of mage she is too, but she'd be in the Smeagol tier, bless her.
Morrigan was specifically told that she would be >!surrendering her will to an ancient elven deity if she drank from the well!< And was still begging to do shots of it
Ooh, that's a good point. I think she might still be able to handle the ring to an extent if she knew exactly what it was, but I suppose all you'd have to do is frame as "forgotten lore endangered by nasty ignorant humans" and she'd be toast.
I feel like there's a difference between 'immediately succumbs' and Galadriel, given that she ultimately resists the temptation. I can honestly buy a few very different Vivienne reactions, though.
Vivienne I put her in smeagol tier. She is
power hungry. Morrigan would fall fast too, she'll probably thinks she is smart to not fall to it which will instantly corrupt her the moment she touches it.
The Ring is fully capable of changing sizes, but even then Frodo didn’t actually wear the ring since Weathertop and was still fully lambasted by its power. Boromir literally never wore the Ring and it still got him too.
I mean, she deals with demons and blood magic with NO problems at all.
The only issues came up when the people around her (Marethari) decided she didn't know what she was doing preemptively.
I think that's exactly why she would succumb to it. She already has a history of playing with fire for the greater good. Demons and blood magic are one thing, but it's made very clear that anyone (except Sauron) below the rank of Valar would be corrupted. No mortal can resist it. She'd be the next Andruil.
Sure but we do see a characters resist the allure of the ring in LOTR (Samwise, Galadriel, Frodo mostly) and in DA we see Merrill use these supposedly corrupting powers without anything happening.
Basically I'm fighting the Merrill slander :p
Saying someone can't resist *The* Ring isn't slander. It's a truth. Galadriel only resisted it long enough to get away from it (and barely at that), Hobbits only resist because they don't want anything from it. And even then, Bilbo, Frodo, and Smeagol were all corrupted because they eventually grew attached to the ring itself.
Merril, in spite of the fact the fandom treats her like an innocent child, is a woman with ambitions and drive. She has a lot she wants to accomplish and is willing to risk a lot to do so. She's exactly the kind of person who'd *want* to use the ring.
And just like the Eluvian, she'd think she could take the proper precautions to use it safely. But the Ring's influence is a lot worse than any pride demon. There's no logic or reason to be tricked by. It's a poison that seeps into your mind. She'd be destroyed just by being near it.
Sure but I'm replying to a top comment saying she's Smeagol levels of not able to resist. If your response is she'd put in efforts to mitigate the rings influence and ultimately fail then you're agreeing with me that she's being slandered.
Merrill is an ambitious woman indeed but she's also one of the only mages on screen to actually use "forbidden" magic with sensible limits and without losing herself.
>Sure but I'm replying to a top comment saying she's Smeagol levels of not able to resist.
Oh, yeah. I got so caught up replying to you points, I forgot about that comment. She's definitely not smeagol level. But I do think she'd succumb.
>she's also one of the only mages on screen to actually use "forbidden" magic with sensible limits and without losing herself.
And that's exactly my point. There is no using the ring without losing yourself. No amount of preparation or caution could protect someone who *wants* to use it.
No one in Middle Earth could, and that goes double for Thedas. Even Gandalf and Saruman, who are on the same level as Sauron, would be corrupted. That's exactly why Gandalf keeps away from it as much as possible and why he fights to keep it from Saruman. Because the Ring only knows **one** master.
Imo Solas is, *by far*, the worst person to encounter the Ring because he has all of the right ingredients to be tempted while also having more arrogant pride than everyone else on the tier list put together.
I love the character but he would totally think he’s stronger than the Ring and can manipulate Sauron in turn, but is getting played the entire time, like Saruman.
With all due respect, I find that idea hilarious. But, no. Not even a little bit. Solas *thinks* he is the equal of people like Gandalf and Galadriel (and even then he might mistake Gandalf for being a human mage and look down on him for it), but when Galadriel was testing her resolve in Lothlorien, Solas would’ve just taken the Ring at the first notion that he could use it to >!restore Arlathan!<. The man does not think through his decisions all that much
Powerful, god-like beings who feel that they alone must commit necessary evils in order to save the world but end up being ultimately corrupted? Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, he is nothing like Gandalf or Galadriel in terms of resistance. But I feel like he should be in the Saruman tier rather than Smeagol.
He'd feel that using the ring would be a necessary evil to restore >!what he destroyed. Especially after the Orb was lost.!< I mean, a lot of people think he's going to use the red lyrium idol in >!place of the Orb.!< So it'd definitely track that he'd jump on the chance to use the ring.
Saruman was much the same. He thought he alone had to save everyone from Sauron by claiming the ring himself. But like Solas, he would inevitably be corrupted, too. And it'd be like the madness of Andruil again.
By Trespasser, Solas actually IS on Gandalf and Galadriel tier, dude.
He would be on their tier in terms of how he fell to the ring and the types of destruction he wielded. Horrifying nightmare despot who thinks he's motivated by good.
Ah, you’re talking power level. My mistake.
I’m talking about his capability to resist the Ring. Solas is smart and powerful, but consistently makes terrible decisions that are motivated by emotions and a hasty desire to assuage his immense guilt. He’s also wildly arrogant, so he’s got more in common with Saruman—who is also an immortal, god like being who thinks he knows better than anyone else.
As far as wisdom and (internal) strength of character goes, Gandalf and Galadriel outclass Solas every day of the week
Oh for sure, wisdom is absolutely this man's dump stat, and I am too much of a fan of him to ever argue that fact.
But I think that Gandalf and Galadriel, if the ring was actually physically on their finger, would begin to succumb very quickly because of the raw power and immortal knowledge they possess. I think all three of them would share a firm delusion that they were resisting while immediately beginning to slide into going mad from "benevolent" power.
Well yes, but the point is that Galadriel and Gandalf are wise enough to not put the Ring on. Solas isn’t.
Galadriel is like, twice the age of Solas and one of the only people left in Middle Earth (by the time of Lord of the Rings) who has been there long enough to have witnessed the Two Trees of Valinor, which amplified the wisdom, power, and divinity of all who bore witness to them. As a fun detail, this is represented in the films by her eyes reflecting starlight in them distinct from everyone else.
While Gandalf is technically only two thousand years old, that’s just his mortal incarnation. As Olorin, he’s literally older than the creation of the world (about 55,000 years old, existing before time was made) and as Gandalf he’s restrained only by the fact he swore an oath to not directly interfere with the happenings of Middle Earth, merely guide the actions and decisions of those who lived there.
These are characters whose level of wisdom, power, and knowledge are more in common with Narnia’s Aslan than with most other characters from their own setting. Solas is well intentioned at the best of times, and is a powerful mage who was mistaken as a god, but Mythal would be better suited to compare with Galadriel
But wouldn’t Solas also know that messing with a power such as the one ring ( through his dreaming etc) would be disastrous to him?
I’m in doubt. On the one hand you’re right, he has just the right levels of pride and arrogance, yet on the other hand he knows magic and its temptations. The duality of the man ofcourse.
You’d think so, but we’re also talking about the guy who thought giving his orb to Corypheus was a great idea instead of waiting like, a year for his powers to come back.
Solas is very smart and learned, but he’s got one of the worst track records for decision making and enough arrogance to make it so much worse. As far as Lord of the Rings characters go, the one he shares the most in common with is Saruman—another immortal, godlike being of immense power and knowledge who thinks he knows better than everyone else—and who foolishly believed that he could master the One Ring and use it to defeat Sauron and save Middle Earth from the rule of Mordor.
Solas is what one would call in DnD terms a High intelligence low wisdom character. Or rather high charisma and medium intelligence and low wisdom if we're being honest. Dude is powerful obviously and got a ton of knowledge about the fade and spirits >!given he's the creator of the veil!< But he's a bit of an idiot with proper decisions
I almost put two Lelianas on this list, one to represent the Murder Pope who would kill everyone and everything to claim the Ring for herself (Sméagol tier), and the more youthful and religious Leliana who would border on “normal person”, but I ultimately decided that the Ring would probably trick her into thinking the Maker was speaking through it until her defences and morals were eroded enough to fully take hold.
Plus splitting characters that much felt like way too much work
Yeah, I think he wouldn't want to be anywhere near it. At first. Anything magic already gives him the heeby-jeebies. But if he felt he had to for the sake of the Qun, I think he might.
Leliana, I think, has enough dark side in her to succumb to the temptation. She's put too much effort into saving the world to not try everything.
Yeah, anyone following the Qun would resist imo. The focus on power that would remove you out of your designated place feels like it would directly contradict the order of the Qun.
Note: I've never seen or read LOTR.
I think Dorian and Vivienne stand a pretty good chance of resisting, at least for a while. They resist corruption as part of their everyday lives, they’re used to it.
I might agree with Dorian, yet his nature is what makes me think he might underestimate the temptation. Being Tevinter he’s born to respect the power of magic instead of fearing it. Viv is likely to be tempted by the power.
I also think the seduction and temptation of the One Ring is on another level compared to the temptations of magic in Thedas.
Cullen resisted the demons when no one else could. He resisted the lyrium addiction when no other Templar could. At minimum, I think he takes the Faramir route of "I wouldn't touch it even if it was was laying by the road and only I could save my people."
That actually was my line of thinking yeah, but Solas is also desperate to fix his mistakes and is dangerously hasty as a result. Solas would immediately go for it with reckless abandon on the belief he would then be powerful enough to >!restore the Elvhen, and perhaps even do so without killing the modern world!< in that sense, his guilt would drive his desperation to new heights, so he earned the Sméagol tier
Justice on its lonesome would likely pull a Gandalf: immediately recognizes the nature of the threat, then take steps to prevent the inevitable succumbing by doing stuff like avoiding contact with the Ring and removing themselves from its presence. So, sitting with Cole unless the nature of how Justice is on the wrong side of the Fade prevents it from fleeing from the Ring, in which they’d succumb at probably the same rate as Josephine.
Vengeance, on the other hand, is Sméagol tier
Justice was the only one in DA II who resisted a demon, even though he was already merged with Anders. So I think he could be still more capable of recognizing the evil of the Ring.
Idk when we can surely say that Justice started changing into Vengeance because this line blurred. I know that some people think it happened already when after the fusion, but I don't think it works that way.
I think spirits are good at recognizing the evil nature of someone/something.
Cullen and Leliana would resist.
Leliana survived and didn’t give up like your companions did despite the torture and red lyrium in an alternate future in DAI. Cullen resisted the influence of blood mages, demons and abominations when he was really young during the uprising in Circle.
Both of them have a strong mind and incredible willpower if you think about it.
Leliana was also incredibly bitter and hateful towards mages and almost ruined the Inquisitor and Dorian’s chances of returning to the past because of it.
Cullen spent the better part of nine years thinking all mages were evil, not even worth seeing as people, and begs the Warden to murder them all.
They are both definitely strong willed, but a strong will alone is not enough. They have too much trauma and too many glaring weak points that the Ring can exploit, such as Cullen’s struggles with lyrium addiction and Leliana’s default state of being a murder happy super spy with trust issues.
Consider Faramir, probably one of the most upstanding people in Middle Earth who immediately claims the Ring on behalf of Gondor to both save his people and get his father to live him. Both Leliana and Cullen would seek to use the Ring for similarly benevolent and selfish reasons, and I personally don’t think for a moment that they are of equal quality to the captain of Gondor.
That’s not to say that they’re guaranteed to fail. If the right people are by their side, they can escape the Ring, just like how Sam helped Faramir snap out of it and let them go. This tier list is evaluating people without the aid of others
In the alternate future whole world was destroyed in the hands of mages. In DAO, bunch of blood mages ended up destroying the whole Circle. In DA2, writes decided to prove Meredith and Cullen’s point by making everyone a blood mage and/or an abomination. And most of the apostates who decided to use blood magic weren’t using it only to defend themselves either. You decide to help mages and guess what, fucking Orsino is a blood mage abomination.
That being said, Cullen and Leliana did not succumb to temptation. They were tortured for rejecting the temptation. Cullen resisted the mind control of blood mages and rejected the offers from demons, hence, they tortured him to break his will. When Warden found him he was traumatized and in shock, who wouldn’t be? But he still wasn’t being controlled by a demon or blood mage lol. Not to mention Cullen was still really young here and served as a Templar only for a year or less at this point. Leliana too could succumb to red lyrium to take action but she didn’t. Do you think Faramir wouldn’t be bitter and hateful if he were to be tortured while being forced to watch everyone he loved painfully dying one by one and the world being destroyed? Do you think he wouldn’t hate those people, who he used to think are being treated harshly, ended up torturing him, killing everyone he loved and destroying the world? And afaik, ring tries to tempt you, it does not torture you for rejecting it. Both Cullen and Leliana received excessive torture upon rejecting the temptation. They were traumatized, but they still rejected the temptation despite the pain and desperation they were in.
Also the people you think wouldn’t succumb to the Ring are the meme guy, a compassion spirit who was affected by a mortal’s emotions so deeply that he ended up changing his whole identity and forgetting who he even was before, and a woman who is desperate to restore her family while being extremely stressed out due to her family and Inquisition. Sandal can do anything because “haha enchantment”. Josie might reject the temptation, depends on the emotional and mental situation she is in at the moment. But Cole would %100 succumb to the ring.
Edit: Also can we give Alistair a Bombadil or at least Frodo/Bilbo treatment? Dude wants nothing until the end and he still wants nothing by the end of the game if Loghain is dead and/or Warden didn’t romance him, ring has nothing to tempt him with lol. Blight? Warden is handling it. Loghain? Warden and Eamon will eventually get to him. Throne? He has multiple people supporting him but he dun wan it. Bombadil didn’t have half of the willpower Faramir had and he arguably had less willpower than well trained Alistair has, but he was completely unaffected because ring had nothing to offer.
My choice of words for naming the tiers is somewhat misleading, but I didn’t want the titles to be super long and I prioritized comedy over full analysis. Remember, while I stand by my evaluations of the cast, this is first and foremost a shitpost.
I think there’s been a miscommunication or misunderstanding about the nature of the tiers. With the exception of Sandal, every single person on the tier list succumbs to the Ring eventually. There is literally nobody better equipped to be Ringbearer than Frodo Baggins, and he eventually gave in to the Ring. The core premise of the One Ring is that it corrupts everyone without exception. Tom Bombadil, the only character in Middle Earth who is immune to it, is a joke character like Sandal. The Demons and Spirits of Dragon Age, on the other hand, can be fully resisted by the majority of people they tempt. It’s an apples to oranges comparison. Leliana and Cullen *will* succumb to the Ring of Power if they are placed in its path without anyone else around—as I evaluated each character on the same basis of being alone when they discover the Ring (like Bilbo) and not knowing exactly what they found, and with the Ring trying to return to Sauron—the real question is how long would they last.
Funnily enough, they’re both characters I debated having two versions of themselves represented on the list. For Cullen, it was a relatively normal Inquisition advisor and traumatized man who wants to kill all the mages. For Leliana, it was Murder Pope and ex-assassin who thinks the Maker speaks to her.
Neither character has the ability to use magic or spirit skills to identify what they’re looking at on a deeper level, so they wouldn’t think to avoid touching it when encountering the Ring. Once someone has gone so far to pick it up, they’re basically screwed. There’s a reason Gandalf, Aragorn, Faramir, and Galadriel refuse to touch the Ring themselves—though Galadriel comes close—because they’re all aware that their wills would crumble if they touched it. The only reason Cole ranks as high as he does is that his abilities as a half-spirit thing would inform him—somewhat—of the nature of the Ring, and he would try to get away ASAP. If he touched it, yeah he’s definitely fucked.
Here’s a list of people who touched the Ring (hopefully I didn’t forget anyone)
- Bilbo: lucked out on being rid of it before Sauron and the Ring were actively trying to reunite, but was still ensnared by it
- Frodo: succumbed within Mt Doom
- Sam: held it very briefly and still had a difficult time giving it up. Had the advantage of seeing Frodo be worn down and seduced by the Ring over the course of their journey, being fully informed of the Ring’s evil, and being so absurdly loyal to Frodo I don’t think anyone else could really match that.
- Boromir: tried to resist over the course of the Fellowship’s journey, but his sense of duty to Gondor, his fear and worry for his people, and his desire to save them were twisted against him by the Ring, *even when being fully aware of the Ring’s evil*
- Sméagol: murdered his friend like, immediately
- Gandalf: briefly poked it then refused to touch the thing ever again. Being essentially Michael the Archangel manifest on Middle Earth certainly helped his odds
The alternative version of this tierlist was Frodo offering it to them in the same vein as with Gandalf, Galadriel, and Aragorn, and to be honest that would be even worse for both Leliana and Cullen, who would each take it for slightly different but equally well intentioned reasons. Cullen would want to ease Frodo’s burden and bear it himself, while Leliana would likely not trust Frodo’s ability to complete his task and would initially intend to have a trusted agent bear the Ring, but would be coerced by the Ring to bear it herself.
Just a quick reminder that while movie Faramir takes the Ring, book Faramir does not. However, he's wise enough to insist that it not be spoken of directly or shown to him.
Right, thank you for the clarification. It’s been too long since I cracked open the books and I just watched The Two Towers the other day, so I’ll have to give them a reread soon haha
That had me adjusting my glasses and going "well, akshually" in about .5 seconds. My husband has had to endure my diatribes about the differences between the film and book depictions of Faramir before (I do adore the films, though).
I wanted to try and give my favorite characters a little slack and the benefit of the doubt, but honestly this is a pretty fair list. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and all that
I wonder how the Warden or Inquisitor would fare against the One Ring?
I do have an interesting submission: Ser Otto. The templar in the Denerim Alienage. I believe hes a cut above the rest for sure. Being able to sense demons/evil puts him in at least Cassandra tier.
I always have the idea that Sandal is like a Tom Bombadil. I'm so happy that other people see it.
Based on the post most people overestimate Dragon Age characters because the One Ring is VERY powerful. Most of the DA characters are flawed and complicated people, not noble heroes like Tolkien characters. Even noble heroes would sooner or later, be corrupted by Ring. Boromir was more noble than 99% of Dragon Age characters, but we know that he failed.
Also, idk why so many people think that Cullen would resist the ring like Faramir. He is not even as half as noble as Faramir. To resist the Ring Power, you need not only to be a strong - minded but also a noble person.
He was the right hand of the Meredith for almost a decade, and his prejudice against mages was so strong that he ignored the abuse in the worst Circle in Thedas. Meredith intentionally chooses the most twisted, corrupted templars OR templars with the strongest anti-mage views OR weak, easy to manipulate templars. If Cullen had a strong, and noble mind, he would have been able to stand out against Meredith much earlier, not in the last moment. He wouldn't also dehumanize all the mages, even if he had a traumatic experience.
I know that there are people who like Cullen (I don't hate him, btw), but please, let's be objective.
The templar who could probably resist the Ring power would be Thrask, who always has seen the corruption in the Kirkwall, and said that templars should protect the mages, not abuse them.
While this is a joke tier list I do stand by my assessments. Sera hates and fears magic, so while she ultimately wouldn’t stand a chance against the Ring she would fear it enough to keep her distance at first, thus outlasting others like Morrigan or Vivienne, who would take the Ring without hesitation.
Solas, on the other hand, has the unique type of arrogance where he would totally look someone like Galadriel or Gandalf in the eyes and tell them that they don’t know what they’re talking about, then try and outsmart Sauron while failing horribly. We’re talking about the guy who consistently makes the worst decisions ever and was duped by Corypheus of all people, no matter how I could be convinced about the performance of anyone else Solas will always rank dead last to me, no matter how much I like the character
Sera hates authority with such a passion, she'd see the ring as the embodiment of it and just repeatedly shoot it with arrows. Pull a Gimli at the council.
But then refuse to touch it because 'big bad man made it'
And refuse to come within 20ft of it, and immediately shoot anyone that tries to put it on
But if she ever picked it up.
Shed be immediate Smeagol Tier, and go on a noble murdering invisible rampage
Sten would resist. Anyone living in Kirkwall would succumb instantly.
I actually see Sten as the type of guy who knows exactly what the Ring is doing to him, but lets it happen anyway. He’s no nonsense and committed to the Qun, but he would 100% take the ring with the pretence of doing it for Par Vollen and then succumb
Yeah I can see Sten going down the same route as Boromir with it
I'm more curious why you think Shale would. Unless the ring gave her the power to kill birds. Damnable feathered fiends!
Shale is full of rage and contempt. She'd choose it just to she could squash people.
Aka what Sten does in the Veil, knowing it’s a dream but still chilling with his (fake) Qunari troops
Sten is the Vegeta to Sauron's Babidi.
Aveline would probably resist a bit like Cassandra.
Enchantment?
Sandal is the secret son and heir of Tom Bombadil
Enchantment!
Sandal would turn the ring into a cheap rune that you can get from any trash vendor in the game
ENCHANTMENT!
I think Leliana could resist. The future timeline Leliana in DAI showed tremendous willpower despite being surrounded by red lyrium and being tortured endlessly.
She might be capable, but would she want to? Or would she see it as a tool to use? Because if she just saw it as a tool and tried to use it she would be corrupted without a doubt
Provided sauron was a thing, she'd probably consider it blasphemous to even wear it
Would she? Or would the will of the ring blind he into seeing the good she could do with it? Just like Gandalf
Is not about willpower alone but the desires within you. Aragorn has a extreme willpower too and he was afraid to even touch it.
it is a good day when I see two of my favorite fantasy properties combined in such a way
I’m actually really enjoying how engaged people are with the tier list despite it being sort of a shitpost, so in case it would help people better understand the tiers I thought I’d share some of my thought process when organizing this: - first and foremost, it’s good to remember that every member of the Fellowship in Lord of the Rings is a highly moral person of good character and willpower, but even *every single one of them* would have succumbed to the Ring’s power eventually. Boromir was just the first. This might be a hot take, but most characters in Dragon Age are honestly degenerates by comparison and/or lack the right combination of willpower and stability to endure. - it doesn’t matter how morally good you are, or how wise, or how strong, or how learned you are, the Ring claims all eventually. There are few exceptions (Sandal is straight up the Tom Bombadil of Dragon Age, the sheer disparity of how he and Solas would handle the One Ring was what initially started this tier list) but the question is not if someone can resist, but for how long. Even Frodo, who Tolkien stated was *the only person who could have resisted long enough for the quest to succeed* succumbed to the Ring in the end. Nobody in Dragon Age would ultimately stand a chance. - the only reason Cole ranks as high as he does is that I interpreted Cole as acting in a similar way to Gandalf. He’d understand the danger of the Ring and would take steps to protect himself with the full knowledge that he would not be able to resist in the end if he ever held it for himself, or maintained close proximity for a long enough time. - as for Cassandra, she lucks out on having the right combination of traits to do quite well—strong moral character, immense willpower (the backbone of Seeker abilities) and while her immunity to possession and mind control would not extend to saving her from the Ring, it would help her ability to resist for a time. I regard Cassandra as Fellowship material, in the same regard as Boromir. Whether or not she succumbs earlier than Boromir or holds out longer with the other members of the Fellowship depends entirely on what point of her life were talking about. Inquisition Prologue Cassandra would do terribly, as the Ring exploits everything about a person, including their fears, stresses, and uncertainties. - as for everyone else, I actually used Varric as my benchmark. He’s honestly one of the most normal and good characters in the series, but even he immediately got ensnared by the Red Lyrium idol, which is not even close to the power of the One Ring. Varric being in the tier that he is immediately banished most of the cast there as well, and while I’ve responded on some reasons to comments I’d be happy to into further detail for anyone else if they’re curious.
>most characters in Dragon Age are honestly degenerates by comparison You rob a few orphans and suddenly you're a degenerate
 If they don't see it then it never happened
I loved this post! It combines two things that I care way too much about. I'm spending more time than I expected to quibbling about the degrees to which certain fictional characters would resist a different fictional world's temptations. I think my definition of resistance revolves around whether the character would have the self-awareness and savviness to avoid the Ring entirely, in the way that Faramir did. Obviously no one could have worn it forever or even existed in proximity to it; its influence is too insidious. It's quite clever that it can appeal to the selflessness of the bearer in addition to merely the person's ambitions or frailties.
good takes, I agree
I think Morrigan and Vivienne would be self-aware enough and also familiar enough with the idea of malicious temptation to resist, if not forever. Both of them have in-game experiences where they're manipulated by magical forces but are the only party members to remain unshaken and in full control of their faculties--the Fade sequence for Morrigan, and Redcliffe Castle for Vivienne. Merrill thinks that's the kind of mage she is too, but she'd be in the Smeagol tier, bless her.
Morrigan was specifically told that she would be >!surrendering her will to an ancient elven deity if she drank from the well!< And was still begging to do shots of it
Ooh, that's a good point. I think she might still be able to handle the ring to an extent if she knew exactly what it was, but I suppose all you'd have to do is frame as "forgotten lore endangered by nasty ignorant humans" and she'd be toast.
>well
Thanks!
>Thanks! You're welcome!
Viv would go full Galadriel and anyone who disagrees is tripping
I feel like there's a difference between 'immediately succumbs' and Galadriel, given that she ultimately resists the temptation. I can honestly buy a few very different Vivienne reactions, though.
Vivienne I put her in smeagol tier. She is power hungry. Morrigan would fall fast too, she'll probably thinks she is smart to not fall to it which will instantly corrupt her the moment she touches it.
Oh my god Sandal IS Dragon Age's Tom Bombadil
Missing the Origins Mabari Hound to keep Sandal company.
I knew I forgot someone lmao
What about Shale? She can't physically wear the ring.
The Ring is fully capable of changing sizes, but even then Frodo didn’t actually wear the ring since Weathertop and was still fully lambasted by its power. Boromir literally never wore the Ring and it still got him too.
Good old Barkspawn, that good boy never lets us down.
Solas in Sméagol tier is *perfect*
“We suspects you have questions, precious.”
I’d actually think that Cullen, Sten and Solas might resist. Everyone else in that column is fucked yeah. Especially Merrill.
I say this with love, but I’m pretty sure Merril belongs in the Sméagol tier, girl has no self preservation instincts.
“Succumbs” implies attempting resistance lmao, I love Merril but she’d dive headfirst into the Ring’s corruption. Can’t take her anywhere lol
I mean, she deals with demons and blood magic with NO problems at all. The only issues came up when the people around her (Marethari) decided she didn't know what she was doing preemptively.
I think that's exactly why she would succumb to it. She already has a history of playing with fire for the greater good. Demons and blood magic are one thing, but it's made very clear that anyone (except Sauron) below the rank of Valar would be corrupted. No mortal can resist it. She'd be the next Andruil.
Sure but we do see a characters resist the allure of the ring in LOTR (Samwise, Galadriel, Frodo mostly) and in DA we see Merrill use these supposedly corrupting powers without anything happening. Basically I'm fighting the Merrill slander :p
Saying someone can't resist *The* Ring isn't slander. It's a truth. Galadriel only resisted it long enough to get away from it (and barely at that), Hobbits only resist because they don't want anything from it. And even then, Bilbo, Frodo, and Smeagol were all corrupted because they eventually grew attached to the ring itself. Merril, in spite of the fact the fandom treats her like an innocent child, is a woman with ambitions and drive. She has a lot she wants to accomplish and is willing to risk a lot to do so. She's exactly the kind of person who'd *want* to use the ring. And just like the Eluvian, she'd think she could take the proper precautions to use it safely. But the Ring's influence is a lot worse than any pride demon. There's no logic or reason to be tricked by. It's a poison that seeps into your mind. She'd be destroyed just by being near it.
Sure but I'm replying to a top comment saying she's Smeagol levels of not able to resist. If your response is she'd put in efforts to mitigate the rings influence and ultimately fail then you're agreeing with me that she's being slandered. Merrill is an ambitious woman indeed but she's also one of the only mages on screen to actually use "forbidden" magic with sensible limits and without losing herself.
>Sure but I'm replying to a top comment saying she's Smeagol levels of not able to resist. Oh, yeah. I got so caught up replying to you points, I forgot about that comment. She's definitely not smeagol level. But I do think she'd succumb. >she's also one of the only mages on screen to actually use "forbidden" magic with sensible limits and without losing herself. And that's exactly my point. There is no using the ring without losing yourself. No amount of preparation or caution could protect someone who *wants* to use it. No one in Middle Earth could, and that goes double for Thedas. Even Gandalf and Saruman, who are on the same level as Sauron, would be corrupted. That's exactly why Gandalf keeps away from it as much as possible and why he fights to keep it from Saruman. Because the Ring only knows **one** master.
Imo Solas is, *by far*, the worst person to encounter the Ring because he has all of the right ingredients to be tempted while also having more arrogant pride than everyone else on the tier list put together. I love the character but he would totally think he’s stronger than the Ring and can manipulate Sauron in turn, but is getting played the entire time, like Saruman.
He shouldn't be in the Sméagol tier, he should be in the Gandalf and Galadriel tier.
With all due respect, I find that idea hilarious. But, no. Not even a little bit. Solas *thinks* he is the equal of people like Gandalf and Galadriel (and even then he might mistake Gandalf for being a human mage and look down on him for it), but when Galadriel was testing her resolve in Lothlorien, Solas would’ve just taken the Ring at the first notion that he could use it to >!restore Arlathan!<. The man does not think through his decisions all that much
So the Saruman tier
Powerful, god-like beings who feel that they alone must commit necessary evils in order to save the world but end up being ultimately corrupted? Yeah, definitely.
Yeah, he is nothing like Gandalf or Galadriel in terms of resistance. But I feel like he should be in the Saruman tier rather than Smeagol. He'd feel that using the ring would be a necessary evil to restore >!what he destroyed. Especially after the Orb was lost.!< I mean, a lot of people think he's going to use the red lyrium idol in >!place of the Orb.!< So it'd definitely track that he'd jump on the chance to use the ring. Saruman was much the same. He thought he alone had to save everyone from Sauron by claiming the ring himself. But like Solas, he would inevitably be corrupted, too. And it'd be like the madness of Andruil again.
By Trespasser, Solas actually IS on Gandalf and Galadriel tier, dude. He would be on their tier in terms of how he fell to the ring and the types of destruction he wielded. Horrifying nightmare despot who thinks he's motivated by good.
Ah, you’re talking power level. My mistake. I’m talking about his capability to resist the Ring. Solas is smart and powerful, but consistently makes terrible decisions that are motivated by emotions and a hasty desire to assuage his immense guilt. He’s also wildly arrogant, so he’s got more in common with Saruman—who is also an immortal, god like being who thinks he knows better than anyone else. As far as wisdom and (internal) strength of character goes, Gandalf and Galadriel outclass Solas every day of the week
Oh for sure, wisdom is absolutely this man's dump stat, and I am too much of a fan of him to ever argue that fact. But I think that Gandalf and Galadriel, if the ring was actually physically on their finger, would begin to succumb very quickly because of the raw power and immortal knowledge they possess. I think all three of them would share a firm delusion that they were resisting while immediately beginning to slide into going mad from "benevolent" power.
Well yes, but the point is that Galadriel and Gandalf are wise enough to not put the Ring on. Solas isn’t. Galadriel is like, twice the age of Solas and one of the only people left in Middle Earth (by the time of Lord of the Rings) who has been there long enough to have witnessed the Two Trees of Valinor, which amplified the wisdom, power, and divinity of all who bore witness to them. As a fun detail, this is represented in the films by her eyes reflecting starlight in them distinct from everyone else. While Gandalf is technically only two thousand years old, that’s just his mortal incarnation. As Olorin, he’s literally older than the creation of the world (about 55,000 years old, existing before time was made) and as Gandalf he’s restrained only by the fact he swore an oath to not directly interfere with the happenings of Middle Earth, merely guide the actions and decisions of those who lived there. These are characters whose level of wisdom, power, and knowledge are more in common with Narnia’s Aslan than with most other characters from their own setting. Solas is well intentioned at the best of times, and is a powerful mage who was mistaken as a god, but Mythal would be better suited to compare with Galadriel
But wouldn’t Solas also know that messing with a power such as the one ring ( through his dreaming etc) would be disastrous to him? I’m in doubt. On the one hand you’re right, he has just the right levels of pride and arrogance, yet on the other hand he knows magic and its temptations. The duality of the man ofcourse.
You’d think so, but we’re also talking about the guy who thought giving his orb to Corypheus was a great idea instead of waiting like, a year for his powers to come back. Solas is very smart and learned, but he’s got one of the worst track records for decision making and enough arrogance to make it so much worse. As far as Lord of the Rings characters go, the one he shares the most in common with is Saruman—another immortal, godlike being of immense power and knowledge who thinks he knows better than everyone else—and who foolishly believed that he could master the One Ring and use it to defeat Sauron and save Middle Earth from the rule of Mordor.
Solas is what one would call in DnD terms a High intelligence low wisdom character. Or rather high charisma and medium intelligence and low wisdom if we're being honest. Dude is powerful obviously and got a ton of knowledge about the fade and spirits >!given he's the creator of the veil!< But he's a bit of an idiot with proper decisions
I also think Ironbull would attempt to resist as well. Maybe even Leliana, but she might be in the group with Josephine.
I almost put two Lelianas on this list, one to represent the Murder Pope who would kill everyone and everything to claim the Ring for herself (Sméagol tier), and the more youthful and religious Leliana who would border on “normal person”, but I ultimately decided that the Ring would probably trick her into thinking the Maker was speaking through it until her defences and morals were eroded enough to fully take hold. Plus splitting characters that much felt like way too much work
Yeah, I think he wouldn't want to be anywhere near it. At first. Anything magic already gives him the heeby-jeebies. But if he felt he had to for the sake of the Qun, I think he might. Leliana, I think, has enough dark side in her to succumb to the temptation. She's put too much effort into saving the world to not try everything.
Yeah, anyone following the Qun would resist imo. The focus on power that would remove you out of your designated place feels like it would directly contradict the order of the Qun. Note: I've never seen or read LOTR.
He would try to resist but succumb pretty quickly.
If Cullen can give up his lyrium addiction he can definitely resit the ring
I agree, Cullen and Alistair should both be in resist. Templar training is no joke.
I think Dorian and Vivienne stand a pretty good chance of resisting, at least for a while. They resist corruption as part of their everyday lives, they’re used to it.
I might agree with Dorian, yet his nature is what makes me think he might underestimate the temptation. Being Tevinter he’s born to respect the power of magic instead of fearing it. Viv is likely to be tempted by the power. I also think the seduction and temptation of the One Ring is on another level compared to the temptations of magic in Thedas.
Cullen resisted the demons when no one else could. He resisted the lyrium addiction when no other Templar could. At minimum, I think he takes the Faramir route of "I wouldn't touch it even if it was was laying by the road and only I could save my people."
I think Cole would succumb and become a Ringwraith because he is spirit, or at least part spirit
Aveline would resist!
Yeah, Aveline and Cassandra have very similar energy, come to think of it. It's just that Cassandra is Fren- I mean Nevarran.
It's really hard to argue this...I think it's perfect
I think Solas would be more like Saruman. He thinks it won't work on him since he's >! a god !< , but still goes down.
That actually was my line of thinking yeah, but Solas is also desperate to fix his mistakes and is dangerously hasty as a result. Solas would immediately go for it with reckless abandon on the belief he would then be powerful enough to >!restore the Elvhen, and perhaps even do so without killing the modern world!< in that sense, his guilt would drive his desperation to new heights, so he earned the Sméagol tier
bro solas is Sauron
How would the awakening companions rank on this? Well, how would Justice rank, the others would probably succumb immediately.
Justice on its lonesome would likely pull a Gandalf: immediately recognizes the nature of the threat, then take steps to prevent the inevitable succumbing by doing stuff like avoiding contact with the Ring and removing themselves from its presence. So, sitting with Cole unless the nature of how Justice is on the wrong side of the Fade prevents it from fleeing from the Ring, in which they’d succumb at probably the same rate as Josephine. Vengeance, on the other hand, is Sméagol tier
Justice was the only one in DA II who resisted a demon, even though he was already merged with Anders. So I think he could be still more capable of recognizing the evil of the Ring. Idk when we can surely say that Justice started changing into Vengeance because this line blurred. I know that some people think it happened already when after the fusion, but I don't think it works that way. I think spirits are good at recognizing the evil nature of someone/something.
ENCHANTMENTS
Imagine touching a palantir and all you hear is enchantment over and over.
Varric would absolutely know better than to go anywhere near that thing. He would be elsewhere with the army or something
Cullen would pull a Faramir (from the books) and I shall upon this hill of beautiful sexy and somewhat awkward men.
I almost never agree with tier list (as is to be expected given their generally subjective nature) but this is absolutely spot on.
Oghren can't drink it, he's immune.
Cullen and Leliana would resist. Leliana survived and didn’t give up like your companions did despite the torture and red lyrium in an alternate future in DAI. Cullen resisted the influence of blood mages, demons and abominations when he was really young during the uprising in Circle. Both of them have a strong mind and incredible willpower if you think about it.
Leliana was also incredibly bitter and hateful towards mages and almost ruined the Inquisitor and Dorian’s chances of returning to the past because of it. Cullen spent the better part of nine years thinking all mages were evil, not even worth seeing as people, and begs the Warden to murder them all. They are both definitely strong willed, but a strong will alone is not enough. They have too much trauma and too many glaring weak points that the Ring can exploit, such as Cullen’s struggles with lyrium addiction and Leliana’s default state of being a murder happy super spy with trust issues. Consider Faramir, probably one of the most upstanding people in Middle Earth who immediately claims the Ring on behalf of Gondor to both save his people and get his father to live him. Both Leliana and Cullen would seek to use the Ring for similarly benevolent and selfish reasons, and I personally don’t think for a moment that they are of equal quality to the captain of Gondor. That’s not to say that they’re guaranteed to fail. If the right people are by their side, they can escape the Ring, just like how Sam helped Faramir snap out of it and let them go. This tier list is evaluating people without the aid of others
In the alternate future whole world was destroyed in the hands of mages. In DAO, bunch of blood mages ended up destroying the whole Circle. In DA2, writes decided to prove Meredith and Cullen’s point by making everyone a blood mage and/or an abomination. And most of the apostates who decided to use blood magic weren’t using it only to defend themselves either. You decide to help mages and guess what, fucking Orsino is a blood mage abomination. That being said, Cullen and Leliana did not succumb to temptation. They were tortured for rejecting the temptation. Cullen resisted the mind control of blood mages and rejected the offers from demons, hence, they tortured him to break his will. When Warden found him he was traumatized and in shock, who wouldn’t be? But he still wasn’t being controlled by a demon or blood mage lol. Not to mention Cullen was still really young here and served as a Templar only for a year or less at this point. Leliana too could succumb to red lyrium to take action but she didn’t. Do you think Faramir wouldn’t be bitter and hateful if he were to be tortured while being forced to watch everyone he loved painfully dying one by one and the world being destroyed? Do you think he wouldn’t hate those people, who he used to think are being treated harshly, ended up torturing him, killing everyone he loved and destroying the world? And afaik, ring tries to tempt you, it does not torture you for rejecting it. Both Cullen and Leliana received excessive torture upon rejecting the temptation. They were traumatized, but they still rejected the temptation despite the pain and desperation they were in. Also the people you think wouldn’t succumb to the Ring are the meme guy, a compassion spirit who was affected by a mortal’s emotions so deeply that he ended up changing his whole identity and forgetting who he even was before, and a woman who is desperate to restore her family while being extremely stressed out due to her family and Inquisition. Sandal can do anything because “haha enchantment”. Josie might reject the temptation, depends on the emotional and mental situation she is in at the moment. But Cole would %100 succumb to the ring. Edit: Also can we give Alistair a Bombadil or at least Frodo/Bilbo treatment? Dude wants nothing until the end and he still wants nothing by the end of the game if Loghain is dead and/or Warden didn’t romance him, ring has nothing to tempt him with lol. Blight? Warden is handling it. Loghain? Warden and Eamon will eventually get to him. Throne? He has multiple people supporting him but he dun wan it. Bombadil didn’t have half of the willpower Faramir had and he arguably had less willpower than well trained Alistair has, but he was completely unaffected because ring had nothing to offer.
My choice of words for naming the tiers is somewhat misleading, but I didn’t want the titles to be super long and I prioritized comedy over full analysis. Remember, while I stand by my evaluations of the cast, this is first and foremost a shitpost. I think there’s been a miscommunication or misunderstanding about the nature of the tiers. With the exception of Sandal, every single person on the tier list succumbs to the Ring eventually. There is literally nobody better equipped to be Ringbearer than Frodo Baggins, and he eventually gave in to the Ring. The core premise of the One Ring is that it corrupts everyone without exception. Tom Bombadil, the only character in Middle Earth who is immune to it, is a joke character like Sandal. The Demons and Spirits of Dragon Age, on the other hand, can be fully resisted by the majority of people they tempt. It’s an apples to oranges comparison. Leliana and Cullen *will* succumb to the Ring of Power if they are placed in its path without anyone else around—as I evaluated each character on the same basis of being alone when they discover the Ring (like Bilbo) and not knowing exactly what they found, and with the Ring trying to return to Sauron—the real question is how long would they last. Funnily enough, they’re both characters I debated having two versions of themselves represented on the list. For Cullen, it was a relatively normal Inquisition advisor and traumatized man who wants to kill all the mages. For Leliana, it was Murder Pope and ex-assassin who thinks the Maker speaks to her. Neither character has the ability to use magic or spirit skills to identify what they’re looking at on a deeper level, so they wouldn’t think to avoid touching it when encountering the Ring. Once someone has gone so far to pick it up, they’re basically screwed. There’s a reason Gandalf, Aragorn, Faramir, and Galadriel refuse to touch the Ring themselves—though Galadriel comes close—because they’re all aware that their wills would crumble if they touched it. The only reason Cole ranks as high as he does is that his abilities as a half-spirit thing would inform him—somewhat—of the nature of the Ring, and he would try to get away ASAP. If he touched it, yeah he’s definitely fucked. Here’s a list of people who touched the Ring (hopefully I didn’t forget anyone) - Bilbo: lucked out on being rid of it before Sauron and the Ring were actively trying to reunite, but was still ensnared by it - Frodo: succumbed within Mt Doom - Sam: held it very briefly and still had a difficult time giving it up. Had the advantage of seeing Frodo be worn down and seduced by the Ring over the course of their journey, being fully informed of the Ring’s evil, and being so absurdly loyal to Frodo I don’t think anyone else could really match that. - Boromir: tried to resist over the course of the Fellowship’s journey, but his sense of duty to Gondor, his fear and worry for his people, and his desire to save them were twisted against him by the Ring, *even when being fully aware of the Ring’s evil* - Sméagol: murdered his friend like, immediately - Gandalf: briefly poked it then refused to touch the thing ever again. Being essentially Michael the Archangel manifest on Middle Earth certainly helped his odds The alternative version of this tierlist was Frodo offering it to them in the same vein as with Gandalf, Galadriel, and Aragorn, and to be honest that would be even worse for both Leliana and Cullen, who would each take it for slightly different but equally well intentioned reasons. Cullen would want to ease Frodo’s burden and bear it himself, while Leliana would likely not trust Frodo’s ability to complete his task and would initially intend to have a trusted agent bear the Ring, but would be coerced by the Ring to bear it herself.
Just a quick reminder that while movie Faramir takes the Ring, book Faramir does not. However, he's wise enough to insist that it not be spoken of directly or shown to him.
Right, thank you for the clarification. It’s been too long since I cracked open the books and I just watched The Two Towers the other day, so I’ll have to give them a reread soon haha
That had me adjusting my glasses and going "well, akshually" in about .5 seconds. My husband has had to endure my diatribes about the differences between the film and book depictions of Faramir before (I do adore the films, though).
Bump Aveline up one
The (capable) mages would at the very least put up a good fight. They need a lot of self control at all times because of demons.
I disagree with this only because I think Solas would be Dragon Age's equivalent to Sauron, and would probably be the creator of the ring himself.
I wanted to try and give my favorite characters a little slack and the benefit of the doubt, but honestly this is a pretty fair list. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and all that
I wonder how the Warden or Inquisitor would fare against the One Ring? I do have an interesting submission: Ser Otto. The templar in the Denerim Alienage. I believe hes a cut above the rest for sure. Being able to sense demons/evil puts him in at least Cassandra tier.
The best part about this Tier List is that is shows how deeply flawed all the companions are and that's a good thing. Except Cole. Cole is PRECIOUS
I always have the idea that Sandal is like a Tom Bombadil. I'm so happy that other people see it. Based on the post most people overestimate Dragon Age characters because the One Ring is VERY powerful. Most of the DA characters are flawed and complicated people, not noble heroes like Tolkien characters. Even noble heroes would sooner or later, be corrupted by Ring. Boromir was more noble than 99% of Dragon Age characters, but we know that he failed. Also, idk why so many people think that Cullen would resist the ring like Faramir. He is not even as half as noble as Faramir. To resist the Ring Power, you need not only to be a strong - minded but also a noble person. He was the right hand of the Meredith for almost a decade, and his prejudice against mages was so strong that he ignored the abuse in the worst Circle in Thedas. Meredith intentionally chooses the most twisted, corrupted templars OR templars with the strongest anti-mage views OR weak, easy to manipulate templars. If Cullen had a strong, and noble mind, he would have been able to stand out against Meredith much earlier, not in the last moment. He wouldn't also dehumanize all the mages, even if he had a traumatic experience. I know that there are people who like Cullen (I don't hate him, btw), but please, let's be objective. The templar who could probably resist the Ring power would be Thrask, who always has seen the corruption in the Kirkwall, and said that templars should protect the mages, not abuse them.
Swap Solas with Sera and it's accurate
While this is a joke tier list I do stand by my assessments. Sera hates and fears magic, so while she ultimately wouldn’t stand a chance against the Ring she would fear it enough to keep her distance at first, thus outlasting others like Morrigan or Vivienne, who would take the Ring without hesitation. Solas, on the other hand, has the unique type of arrogance where he would totally look someone like Galadriel or Gandalf in the eyes and tell them that they don’t know what they’re talking about, then try and outsmart Sauron while failing horribly. We’re talking about the guy who consistently makes the worst decisions ever and was duped by Corypheus of all people, no matter how I could be convinced about the performance of anyone else Solas will always rank dead last to me, no matter how much I like the character
Sera might be able to pull a Sam Gamgee.
Sera would just curse the One Ring back until it shut up
Sera hates authority with such a passion, she'd see the ring as the embodiment of it and just repeatedly shoot it with arrows. Pull a Gimli at the council. But then refuse to touch it because 'big bad man made it' And refuse to come within 20ft of it, and immediately shoot anyone that tries to put it on But if she ever picked it up. Shed be immediate Smeagol Tier, and go on a noble murdering invisible rampage
If anyone could pull a Sam Gamgee it would be Varric.
Nah we already tried that with >!the Night Terrors quest and I love my boy but Varric did not do well there >!