#but all jokes aside.. ever since I saw Solas' new model in the gamescom video in 2020..

[mrs-gauche]

So uh.. I got like a bunch of new followers recently, so first off.. Hi everyone! 🙂 (Where did you all come from??) And second, I feel like it's been a minute since I've annoyed anyone with random useless voice acting trivia, and I need to warn remind people that this blog is also a lot of me rambling about German VAs in particular, because I’m a German obsessed with voice acting and I just can't help it.. It's a strange hobby. 😂

I’ve kinda mentioned it before on here (and I will probably never get tired of talking about it lol), but I just need you all to understand just how funny it is that Solas legitimately sounds like he could be in his twenties in German and how that makes him so much more suspicious in a way?? 😂 (To my ears, at least.) Like, judging solely by their voices, Solas genuinely sounds like he could be the youngest out of all the companions in DAI. Yes, he partially sounds even younger than Cole. (And fun fact, I actually looked it up, and his VA is in fact the youngest out of the entire main cast. lmao)

Unnecessarily long rambling incoming... 😶

See, his German VA is known for voicing a lot of teenage boys. But that's what's so hilarious about it. Solas has this super young voice, but then he suddenly talks like this wise old grandpa with this incredible eloquence, who has apparently seen a ton of war and tragedy?? 😂

And then you just sit here on your first playthrough like.. how on earth does this work, like something doesn't add up here. Either he has to be some kind of super brain “prodigy” or he's *definitely* hiding something.. because regardless of just how long you've been "visiting the Fade", there's NO way you know about all this stuff and have THAT much experience, when you.. just came of age. lol

In general, the way he speaks he sounds like a 100 year old with the voice of a 20 - 30 year old man in a 40ish year old body. And then you just sit here talking to him, like "What even ARE you???" 😂

This is especially hilarious to me when he tries to teach Sera about how to lead a rebellion, calls HER a child and gives her all this advice, when in German, he sounds just as old as Sera if not even slightly younger than her.

I remember this one banter with Blackwall about being a war veteran on my first playthrough when he was like "You should've seen me when I was younger" and I stopped in my tracks "What are you talking about?? Aren’t you, like, 25??"

Another little thing I found funny was how they made him say "Weidmannsheil" ("Hunt well") to the Inquisitor at the Winter Palace, which is like a traditional wish for good luck among hunters around here, but also something I have NEVER heard someone under the age of 80 actually say. lmao

Idk, I just feel like it gives his character this additional interesting but kinda bizarre note, where he comes off as so young and brash, which stands in complete contrast to his extensive knowlegde and wisdom and the way he talks.

But that's also what I actually kinda love about it and in a way, it's what I picture *actual* young Solas must've been like... because, being literally called Pride, the very counterpart of Wisdom in DA, it fits so well with what seems to be his internal conflict or maybe even his own past, assuming the Wisdom spirit turning into Pride theory is true.

Like, in a way, I feel like he wants to be the person he claims to be in Inquisition, to be just himself, the man who is nothing but a humble wanderer who shares and seeks wisdom, because that’s who he truly is at his core, what is left if you strip away all the weight of history, duty and rebel leader strategist. But it’s his pride that prevents him from being that person. And given his description of himself in his “youth”, I feel like the Solas of ancient times had that pride and impulsiveness turned up to 11. 😂

Which is also why I just can't get over how much BioWare's choice for this particular VA for Solas fascinates me (and I just want to believe that there must’ve been some good reason behind this choice, given how they knew how big of a role he was going to play.. And from what I’ve heard, BioWare is very considered when it comes to casting their VAs, especially for the companions, even in different languages).

Because with all due respect and credit to the German VA of Solas, Ozan Ünal, I love his work, but with him they chose a voice actor who's mostly typecast to voice the young, nerdy, soft, kinda bubbly protagonist guy with a heart of gold. Like, just to imagine him going any kind of antagonistic route is so funny to me, because that is really the total opposite of what he usually does.

Some casting director at BioWare really sat there and listened to *this* voice and was like "Yep, that's our next antagonist". 😂 And I'm gonna be super honest here, guys.. But regardless of the other 3000 reasons why I don't think that Solas will be the ultimate threat in DA4, this is actually part of the reason why I just can't picture him as a "true villain". Or rather, I'm just super curious to see if his VA could pull that off. 😂

Like, with Gareth David-Lloyd, I feel like he can do literally anything, but Ozan Ünal sounds just way too innocent to be really taken seriously as a threat, you know. 😂

#you can tell.. I think about this a lot 😂 #way too much in fact lmao #yours truly - the founder of the Ozan Ünal appreciation club #I love how this is still an established tag on this blog lmao #I know I'm probably like one of five people in this world who like his German voice lol #and I still think that no one can top GDLs performance #but I just love both ok 😂 #actually I love Bertrand Nadler in the French version too #they're all great <3 #but all jokes aside.. ever since I saw Solas' new model in the gamescom video in 2020.. #..I actually have a REALLY hard time to imaging how Mr Ünal's voice is even going to match this new look 😂 #like I know I shouldn't judge two seconds of early animation.. #but in this short clip it looked almost like they stripped every bit of ''softness'' from him? 😂 #and Ünal's voice is nothing BUT soft..? lmao #so uhh I'm REALLY curious how this will end up working.. or *not* working lol #solas #ozan ünal