Summary
- Archdemons are key to Dragon Age lore, rising to bring forth Blights and destruction across Thedas.
- Notable Archdemons include Andoral, Urthemiel, Zazikel, Lusacan, Dumat, bound to Elven Gods, causing chaos and ruin.
- Each Archdemon has unique abilities and stories in the Dragon Age universe, challenging heroes in epic battles.
Dragon Age owes its name to the core piece of worldbuilding that distinguishes it: The Archdemons. These beasts are a link between the past and present of the series, and have been presented since the first game as the Source of All Evil in Thedas. Enormous, nearly immortal, and gifted with the ability to command Darkspawn, these beings rise once per age to bring forth the Blight and scourge the lands from the Anderfels to Ferelden.
In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, players face the final two Archdemons: Lusacan and Razikale, commanded by the beings who gave birth to the Blight itself: Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain. Now, with all Archdemons having appeared in comics, books, the Dragon Age TTRPG, and the games, it's possible to rank these notorious beings from the weakest to the strongest.
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This list contains spoilers from the games and graphic novels.
7 Andoral
The Fourth Blight Destroyed Antiva & Forced the Extinction of Gryphons
The Archdemon Andoral left his underground lair in 5:12 of Exalted, kickstarting the tragic Fourth Blight. Though Andoral wasn't as big or powerful as most Archdemons, he was worshiped as the God of Slaves (or The God of Unity) in Tevinter. Before rising to the surface, it amassed an army of Darkspawn below Antiva. Emerging alongside the horde, it took the kingdom by surprise. Andoral not only killed the whole Antivan Royal lineage, but also took down the Warden Commander Turab, leaving the Order in disarray. This allowed Andoral to rampage for years to come.
The Wardens had to ally themselves with the Antivan and Orlesian armies, alongside the forces of the Free Marches. Finally, the Wardens came up with a plan: they Blighted their own Gryphons using a blood magic ritual and the essence of defeated Archdemons. This resulted in the ancient allies of the Grey Wardens becoming rabid and corrupted. In a final blaze of glory, the heroic Elven Warden Garahel flew with his Gryphon, nearly losing himself to the blight, and stabbed Andoral in an old wound in his skull.
The aftermath of that battle was terrible. All Gryphons had to be put down, and the secret was buried alongside the remains of Andoral and Garahel in the Cauldron, the Vault of Secrets of the Grey Warden Order.
6 Toth
The Third Blight Took Nearly Two Decades To End
Toth, the Dragon of Fire, rose as an Archdemon on 3:10 Towers and brought forth the Third Blight. Tevinter was recovering from the First and Second Blight, which came in quick succession. Nearly two centuries later, the Third was the last nail in the coffin for the Old Imperium. Toth destroyed the Tevinteran cities of Vyrantium and Marnas Pell, then turned to Orlais, laying siege to Arlesans, Churneau, and Montsimmard.
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The Grey Warden Order defended the walls using siege engines and ballistas. Most Blights start slowly, but in this case, Toth emerged from the ground in the middle of Thedas, alongside a literal geyser of Darkspawn that flooded the land. Luckily, the Ferelderan forces, combined with the Orlais Army, the Tevinter Magisters, and the Grey Warden, ended Toth's reign of terror after two decades of destruction.
5 Urthemiel
Nearly Destroyed Thedas With The Fifth Blight
While the Thedosian Monarchies were ridden with infighting and the Grey Warden Order was in shambles, an Archdemon rose from the Deep Roads. It was Urthemiel, the Dragon of Beauty, who came to spread the Fifth Blight across Thedas. Rising in Ferelden, he interrupted the moot of Ostagar, where the Ferelden High Command was gathering forces alongside the remains of the Grey Wardens to stop the Darkspawn.
This time, the Archdemon was awakened by The Architect, a former Grey Warden turned into a Blighted but sentient being who was trying to stop the Blight for good. He was guided by a mysterious voice from beyond the Fade, which turned out to be the voice of none other than Solas.
The Ferelderan forces did not heed the warnings of the king or the Wardens. This resulted in a tide of Darkspawn breaking into Ostagar, ending with the death of the King of Ferelden. Urthemiel would be finally slain by either Alistair, or The Player Warden in Dragon Age: Origins.
4 Zazikel
The Second Blight Turned Tevinter Into Chaos
The Second Blight came when Tevinter was barely recovering from the First. Zazikel rose from the depths in the year 1:05 of the Divine. What followed was nearly a century of carnage, chaos, and destruction. Zazikel proved to be more cunning than Dumat, though lesser in size and power. It moved hordes of Darkspawn along the Andefells and around the Tevinter settlements, making the Imperium lose grip of the mountains.
First, Zazikel advanced upon Nordbotten, the birthplace of the Grey Wardens and an important center of command. Then, Zazikel directed its attention to Orlais, provoking the Empire to a direct confrontation and forcing them to a battle of attrition. Zazikel was repelled, but the Daelish clans of elves refused to help Orlais. This broke the trust between humans and Elves forever, which would later result in a terrible massacre.
Zazikel then assaulted Minrathous, the seat of power of Tevinter, reducing the splendorous capital to rubble. It continued to raze the world until the Battle of Starkhaven, where the Grey Warden Order planned to bait and kill the Archdemon. They were outsmarted by the beast, and the order nearly disappeared that day. They only succeeded thanks to two Grey Warden lovers: the warrior Corin and the mage Neriah, who sacrificed themselves to destroy Zazikel.
3 Razikale
Archdemon Bound To Ghilan'nain
Little is known about Razikale prior to the events of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, though it is known as the Dragon of Mystery in the Old Tevinter religion. It is the only female Archdemon, and was likely used by Ghilan'nain as a broodmother. Solas revealed that the Archdemons are no Old Gods, but Ancient High Dragons bound to the Elven Gods. Transmitting the voices of their masters from beyond the Veil, the Archdemons tried to corrupt the world to feed the power of those who created them.
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Razikale is responsible for destroying Weisshaupt for good, mutating into a gigantic Hydra-like beast before finally being defeated by Rook and their team. Surprisingly, Razikale didn't blow up upon death, proving that the Last Blight was different from everything else the Wardens had seen.
2 Lusacan
The Last Archdemon, Bound To Elgar'nan
This enormous beast dwarfs all previous Archdemons, including Dumat. Lusacan is controlled by Elgar'na and symbolizes the Night. As he spreads its wings, it shadows the sun and brings obscurity to the world. This Archdemon was the last to rise, but it was not as Blighted as the rest of its kindred. This left his wits nearly intact, and his power thanks to his link to the Elven God Elgar'nan.
He slept for ages under the waters of a lake in the dephts of Arlathan Forest, until his master resurrected him. While active, this beast required countless sacrifices to return to his full power. The Dragon of Night consumed thousands of Elven Slaves and countless cultists before battling Rook and his allies. Lusacan, like Elgar'nan, shares part of his power over Time and Space, and can control the minds of thousands of Darkspawns and cultists.
1 Dumat
Archdemon Of The First Ruin
In the ancient tales of Tevinter, before every Blight, the Imperium adored the Old Gods. These dragons were said to have been punished by God and sent to sleep in the Deep Roads, until the Darkspawn awakened them as Archdemons. It was all a lie, since the Archdemons were the source of all the Blight in the world, and the conduit through which it came to Thedas.
It was Magister Corypheus who first heard the calling of Dumat, the First Archdemon. He led Corypheus to the Depths of Thedas, and forced him to open a pathway to the Golden City. In an attempt to free his Master, an Unknown Elven God (presumably Falon'Din), Dumat tricked the old magister into breaching the Veil using the Lyrium Knife. The artifact was later Blighted and lost to time, only to resurface ages later.
Dumat corrupted Corypheus, spreading Blight into the Old Tevinter Magisters and creating the first Darkspawn, only to lie dormant for a century. He resurfaced again in the year 395 of Ancient Tevinter as the First Archdemon, unleashing the First Blight. Dumat commanded the forces of nature as well as the Blight, and hordes of Darkspwan destroyed Ancient Tevinter in one fell swoop.
What makes Dumat even more mysterious is his ability to return from death. The Grey Warden Order had just been founded, and they were still discovering the implications of the Joining Ritual. However, they managed to destroy Dumat not once, but seven times. The Archdemon rose from the grave time and again. This extended the First Blight for nearly a century, before the Order realized the Archdemon had to be slain by a Warden. When that happened, Dumat died for good, and the tradition of sending a Warden to die alongside the Archdemon in each Blight was born.