One of the first things you’ll need to do before starting your Baldur’s Gate 3 adventure is essentially create two characters. The first is the one you’re playing as while the second is a Guardian. If you’re like most players, you’re probably wondering, what is a Guardian?
The Baldur’s Gate 3 character creator doesn’t give you any information aside from saying, “You need a guardian.” Which further adds to the confusion. So you’re left wondering if you’re creating a second character or what. Even though you can see the background is a bit more ethereal in comparison to making your first character.
What is a Guardian in Baldur’s Gate 3
Spoiler Light Section
This is a difficult question to answer since it can dive into some spoilers and that’s the last thing we want to do. So instead of explaining too much, I’ll give you a mostly spoiler-free idea of who they are. And I heavily recommend not searching further for answers unless you want to be spoiled.
The Guardian isn’t a playable character like your main or the many companions you’ll come across. Instead, they’re an NPC that will occasionally appear in your dreams when taking a long rest. This isn’t guaranteed each time, but you’ll have an early long rest encounter in Act 1.
Looking back through my recordings my Guardian appeared during my second long rest. Even though this could vary from player to player depending on how far they are. But, I can’t say for certain. This is why I mentioned in our 10 Best Baldur’s Gate 3 Tips and Tricks guide how important it is to rest frequently.
Without saying much, the Guardian plays a major role in the story that this dream sequence reveals. During this sequence and others, they’re labeled in subtitles as a Dream Visitor. Regardless of whether you’re playing with other people or not, every person has their own Dream Visitor. This includes your companions as well.
Spoiler Disclaimer: If you’d still like to know more about the Guardian and don’t mind some spoilers, I’ve included a section below. The screenshot of the best boy in Baldur’s Gate 3 below is there to separate both sections. As much as I’d love to tell you Scratch is the Guardian.
All the homies approve of petting Scratch.
Moderate Spoilers About the Guardian Below
This section is for those of you who want to know more past the spoiler-free section above. First, our first encounter with the Dream Visitor/Guardian reveals that they’re protecting you. Upon waking up from your sleep into a dream, they’ll start talking to you about how you’re transforming.
Having mostly no idea who they are aside from a brief bit showing them on the Nautiloid ship, you’ll get some dialogue options. Afterward, they’ll explain how they’ve been protecting you and preventing your ceremorphosis. For those unfamiliar, this is the transformation into a Mind Flayer via the fun little Illithid tadpole in your head.
You may recall that ethereal realm we mentioned on the character creator screen for the Guardian.
Oddly enough, the Dream Visitor will recommend learning to work with the tadpole and gain powers from it. While the current one in your head won’t do anything, you will come across more throughout Baldur’s Gate 3. Upon leaving the dream sequence, you’ll start the quest, Embrace Your Potential. The first objective says to, “Explore the powers your parasite gives you.”
Once you find a Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen item, you can right-click it to consume it. This won’t absorb it quite yet so don’t worry. Afterward, you’ll unlock a new window that you can open on PC by pressing B. Otherwise, your inventory is one area you access the tab from.
Some of the early Illithid Powers can be tempting to grab so it’s up to you whether you go deeper or not.
This new window shows several new abilities and passive buffs you can take advantage of by absorbing more tadpoles. Which we can all admit seems a little suspicious considering our goal is to get rid of the first one. Even though your Dream Visitor/Guardian is saying they’ll protect you.
What Role Does the Guardian Play in Baldur’s Gate 3
The quick answer is that the Guardian is protecting you from the Mind Flayer tadpole eating away at your brain. However, they’re a major character that reveals themself further as you get deeper into the game. And for those who are wondering if they can romance their guardian, the answer is yes.
I don’t want to dive too much further into spoilers about the Guardian so I’ll leave it here. This at least gives players who are interested in learning a bit about the Guardian somewhere to start. And even a bit more for those of you who can’t help yourselves.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.