Dragon Age

Dragon Age is a high fantasy role-playing video game series created by BioWare. The first game, Dragon Age: Origins, was released in 2009. Dragon Age II, a sequel to Origins, was released in March 2011. Dragon Age: Inquisition was released in November 2014. The series' fantasy setting has also been used by a variety of other media, including books and tabletop games, and the three main games have been joined by a variety of downloadable content (DLC) add-ons.

Video games

Main series

Spin-offs

Dragon Age Legends

Dragon Age Legends is a strategy RPG developed by EA for the Facebook Platform. Dragon Age Legends gives players their experience of the Free Marches, the setting of Dragon Age II. Dragon Age Legends gameplay will unlock items within Dragon Age II. The game features character customization and an upgrade system that isn't similar to the real game.

Dragon Age Journeys

A three-episode Flash game spin-off by EA 2D is under development, entitled Dragon Age Journeys. The first chapter of the game, The Deep Roads was released for free. Players can unlock achievements in the game, which will unlock unique items in Dragon Age: Origins. The second and third chapters are purchase-only.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age: Inquisition is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The third major game in the Dragon Age franchise, Dragon Age: Inquisition is the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II. The game was released in November 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

The story of Dragon Age: Inquisition follows a player character known as the Inquisitor on a journey to settle the civil unrest in the continent of Thedas and close a mysterious tear in the sky called the "Breach", which is unleashing dangerous demons upon the world. The Inquisitor is viewed by some as the 'chosen one', as they have a 'Mark' on their hand capable of closing the Breach. The Inquisitor assembles the titular Inquisition in an attempt to stop Corypheus, an ancient darkspawn, who opened the breach in an attempt to conquer Thedas.

Gameplay of Dragon Age: Inquisition is similar to its predecessors and mostly consists of elements found in a typical action role-playing game; players control their customized Inquisitor, and the companions they meet. They can defeat enemies with swords and magic, complete side quests, interact with non-playable characters, and progress through the main story. Players mainly control their protagonists in a third-person view, though a traditional role-playing game top down camera angle is also available.

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that features in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies, and the Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan (namely the Japanese dragon), Korea and other East Asian countries.

The two traditions may have evolved separately, but have influenced each other to a certain extent, particularly with the cross-cultural contact of recent centuries. The English word dragon derives from Greek δράκων (drákōn), "dragon, serpent of huge size, water-snake".

Name

The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon, which in turn comes from Latin draconem (nominative draco) meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from the Greek word δράκων, drakon (genitive drakontos, δράκοντος) "serpent, giant seafish". The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological, and this usage was also current in English up to the 18th century.

Inquisition

The Inquisition is a group of institutions within the judicial system of the Roman Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy. It started in 12th-century France to combat religious sectarianism, in particular the Cathars and the Waldensians. Other groups which were investigated later include the Spiritual Franciscans, the Husites (followers of Jan Hus) and Beguines. Beginning in the 1250s, inquisitors were generally chosen from members of the Dominican Order, to replace the earlier practice of using local clergy as judges. The term Medieval Inquisition covers these courts up through the 14th century.

In the Late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the concept and scope of the Inquisition was significantly expanded in response to the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Its geographic scope was expanded to other European countries, resulting in the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition. Those two kingdoms in particular operated inquisitorial courts throughout their respective empires (Spanish and Portuguese) in the Americas (resulting in the Peruvian Inquisition and Mexican Inquisition), Asia, and Africa. One particular focus of the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions was the issue of Jewish anusim and Muslim converts to Catholicism, partly because these minority groups were more numerous in Spain and Portugal than in many other parts of Europe, and partly because they were often considered suspect due to the assumption that they had secretly reverted to their previous religions.