Karlach's actor in Baldur's Gate 3 has been really getting into her character's romance with Minthara.
Samantha Béart recently held a Q&A where she fielded questions about Baldur's Gate 3 and her wonderful warrior Karlach. When asked if the actor had a favourite NPC by a viewer, Béart responded with "I've been recently getting to know Minthara. Minthara and Karlach romance is insane - talk about ride or die, wow."
"No I think the performances are incredibly, I certainly don't have a favourite. Yeah Minty, Minthara, she's a fucking legend. But yeah cause of where she's placed people might not get to her - do a Dark Urge run," Béart advised. Honestly, that's some pretty sound advice.
Béart also said she'd just recently spoken to game director Swen Vincke about a certain topic that he confirmed as "canon" - 'Bad Karlach.' "I said to Swen 'you know that Soul Coin thing? Is that a war crime or a crime against humanity?'" Béart said, referencing how Karlach can ingest the souls of people in coin form to power her Infernal Engine.
"And he said 'yes, it's a fucking war crime, and Karlach used to do it,'" Vincke confidently told Béart, according to the actor. That means that yes, Karlach most definitely did ingest Soul Coins before Baldur's Gate 3 takes place, so she's consumed a few souls of the damned in her time.
Béart reflected on the first time she acted out a scene with Karlach and a Soul Coin, remembering that her character got "quite grabby" around the item. The actor straight up asked the development team at Larian if Soul Coins were akin to "crack," to which they responded "yes."
"Yeah, do not let her use them, she's trying to turn over a new leaf," Béart concluded. I think it's pretty clear to anyone who's played Baldur's Gate 3 and met Karlach that you shouldn't give her a Soul Coin, even if it does come with a hefty buff for combat. At least Béart has shed a little more light on Karlach's backstory.
Baldur's Gate 3 devs are already working on their next game, and it sounds like it'll push boundaries.
