He’s over 200 years old. He’s a vampire. And he’s a character in a popular video game. But Astarion — with his perfectly tousled silver hair, admirable six-pack and endless sassy quips — is the internet’s latest crush to earn the pet name “babygirl.”
The companion character is one of 10 in the Dungeons & Dragons-style role-playing video game Baldur’s Gate 3, which debuted to universal praise over the summer. The game follows a group of ragtag travelers seeking to cure a recent infection from a parasite that will turn them into mindflayers (a squid-like monster).
While the game has been a runway success, Astarion has amassed a devoted following all his own.
Videos using “#Astarion” have garnered more than half a billion views on TikTok, with a significant portion of the content coming from those thirsting after the character. On Tumblr, pages of fan art are dedicated to capturing Astarion’s signature silver hair and pale skin. On Reddit, posts are dedicated to explaining how players can successfully seduce Astarion — and if they should.
It’s a reaction that Neil Newbon, the actor behind the character, never anticipated.
“It’s definitely humbling,” Newbon told NBC News in a recent Zoom interview. “I’ve been trying to make sure that I’m OK all the time and keep my feet on the ground because the attention has been huge, and I’m very grateful for that.”
While Larian Studios, the developer behind Baldur’s Gate 3, gave Astarion quintessential heartthrob features, there’s more than just sex appeal when it comes to the character. Many online who say they’ve fallen for him also say they deeply identify with his story, which includes surviving trauma and sexual abuse.
For some fans, he’s not just a hunky vampire — he’s also a comfort character accurately portraying behaviors of those who live with trauma and stressor-related disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It is incredibly touching to have people come up to me and say, ‘Astarion’s story made me feel seen,’ and that I was not prepared for — that was something, which was amazing and wild and beautiful,” Newbon said.
Fans joke they play the game to seduce Astarion
From Edward Cullen in the “Twilight” series to Brad Pitt’s Louis de Pointe du Lac in the film “Interview with the Vampire,” vampires have long been considered pop culture heartthrobs.
Fans say Astarion is different because they can have an active role in romancing him and choosing how his story plays out. In Baldur’s Gate 3, players are given significant freedom in the way they interact with the companions who join them on the game’s quest. This means they can also explore romantic relationships with those characters, which can change how the player and the characters interact over the course of the game.
Astarion might suggest a night of passion or outright dump the player depending upon how a person chooses to play the game. Players can also learn new things about the characters depending upon how they interact. Entire guides have been produced by outlets like IGN and Game Rant for the sole purpose of teaching players how to successfully romance Astarion.
On social media, some fans have joked that they’re playing Baldur’s Gate 3 not for the plot or the combat, but as a dating simulator as they attempt to “romance” various members of their party.
The game has a number of different endings that a player can achieve, which means many have played through several times in an attempt to see all the ways the relationships can play out.
And while there are a number of characters the player can romance — from the green Githyanki fighter Lae’zel to the handsome warlock Wyll — it’s clear Astarion has become the fan favorite.
On many “For You” pages, Astarion has become a mainstay. In one video, a person shows themselves watching a fan edit of Astarion during a The 1975 concert. In another video, viewed more than 1.5 million times, Astarion simply stares into the camera while the band Sleep Token’s song “The Summoning” plays.
“These developers had NO business making him so hot,” one commenter on TikTok wrote.
“He makes me feel things I’ve never felt before,” another person wrote.
Even some who have yet to play Baldur’s Gate 3 have said they’ve considered getting the game just to romance Astarion.
“I think a lot of a lot of people that go into this got into it the same way I did — I want to date the cute vampire man,” said Alexis Elwood, 27, a Twitch streamer who has been romancing Astarion on her live streams.
Elwood attributes some of the passion around Astarion to Newbon, citing both his performance and his interactions with fans.
Newbon, who was shortlisted this week for a Golden Joystick Award for his performance as Astarion, frequently livestreams himself playing Baldur’s Gate 3 with friends on Twitch, which has created new lore and memes around the character.
“He is, I think, equal in popularity to [actor] Pedro Pascal, even though he’s not real.” said Dawn Stronski, 43, a Baldur’s Gate 3 player who also posts pop culture analysis to TikTok, of Astarion.
Astarion has helped some abuse survivors feel seen
As the story unfolds, players learn that Astarion has escaped his malicious master Cazador Szarr. While a slave to Szarr, Astarion was forced to use his body and sexuality to lure in victims for Szarr to feed on. Szarr also inflicted brutal physical abuse on Astarion.
It’s because of this traumatic history that Astarion, in some playthroughs, uses his body to seduce others in order to gain protection or security. In some scenes involving sex, the game alludes to Astarion dissociating. In other instances he struggles to trust his companions.
These elements of his story have been crucial to Astarion’s success, some fans said — especially those who have survived sexual trauma as well as those who live with disorders like PTSD.
“So we come for the sex appeal, but we stay for the tragedy, right?” Stronski, who said she grew up in a household with “extreme’’ domestic violence, said. “As you listen to what [Astarion] has to say, you peel back this trope to find this harrowing tale of human trafficking, sexual assault and domestic violence — and it is heartbreaking to listen to because so many people have experienced these sorts of tragedies in their lives.”
Newbon and Larian Studios writer Stephen Rooney didn’t want Astarion to be interpreted as simply the “traumatized” character, Newbon said. They wanted him to be as complex and layered as a real person. Trauma was simply one part of his story, yet it informed many of his behaviors.
For example, Newbon explained that Astarion’s theatricality and big personality is actually “obfuscation. It’s all a distraction. Because, actually, when you peel this back, there’s quite a hot mess there and it’s ugly and beautiful and fragile and desperately in need of love.”
As someone affected by trauma, Newbon said he felt his performance was able to capture the realities and authenticity of surviving trauma.
“Now, having heard from so many survivors and talking to people, and realizing that not only did I feel right, but most importantly they feel this was right, it’s a beautiful experience,” Newbon said. “It really is and I feel very honored.”
CORRECTION (Oct. 25, 2023, 6:58 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misspelled the name of the video game Astarion appears in. It is Baldur’s Gate 3, not Baulder’s Gate 3.
