Larian leans into Baldur’s Gate 3 fanservice, adds the ‘perfect’ Shadowheart voice line straight from a Tumblr meme, and fans can’t believe it’s real

Larian sure loves its fans.

Image displays Shadowheart, a companion in Baldur's Gate 3.
Image via Larian Studios

Larian has shown its dedication to the fans in the latest Baldur’s Gate 3 patch, which adds a number of lines referencing deep-cut jokes from the BG3 community. One particularly fitting addition to Shadowheart’s dialogue came straight from a Tumblr meme that fans and BG3’s voice actors love.

It’s no secret that BG3 is a viral gaming sensation, as it garnered nearly a million concurrent players during its first month of release and is on track for multiple Game of the Year awards. The underground success of BG3 was driven by the game’s passionate fanbase, which developer Larian is constantly showing its appreciation for. In BG3’s 5.0 patch, which released on Nov. 30, Larian added a popular meme to the game in the form of a new dialogue line for Shadowheart.

The line in question originated from an old Tumblr post that reads “Yes I’m a gatekeeper and a hater. I’m also God’s Favorite Princess and the most interesting girl in the world.” This line wasn’t attributed to BG3 until it was paired with image of Shadowheart by X user mister lou, a pairing so good that fans couldn’t separate the quote from the character.

The rich world of Dungeons & Dragons is designed to give players a creative outlet to share personal stories and humor within the confines of a campaign. But BG3’s popularity and diverse characters gave rise to a fandom so large that the voice actors are taking notice, including Shadowheart’s voice actor, Jennifer English. English performed the line in a video on Aug. 20, 2023 which fans and English’s partner considered “perfect.”

The voice line was also referenced by English in a D&D campaign presented by High Rollers DnD on Sep. 22, 2023, featuring the voice cast of BG3, where she introduces the character of Shadowheart as “God’s favorite princess.” Interestingly, another meme from High Roller’s campaign also made its way into BG3’s most recent patch, and fans are loving that one, too.

Author

Kate Robinson
Staff Writer. Kate has written about all aspects of the games industry, from the smallest of indie titles to the largest of RPGs. She also has a game design degree obtained from the developers of Sneak King and a unique writing style that is present in all her work.