Baldur's Gate 3's most mysterious character might be a lot more powerful than you think

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Baldur's Gate 3 players are slowly realizing that there might be a lot more to the game's most mysterious character than they first thought.

This article contains worldbuilding and minor story spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3.

During the game's first act, you'll meet Withers, a bizarre, seemingly undead figure who lends his very peculiar set of skills to your party. From his place in your camp, Withers will help you resurrect dead party members, respec your character, and take on hirelings to fill any gaps in your team. He'll also pass cryptic comments on your actions, and suffer the inane chatter of the tiefling child that you might rescue in Act 2.

It's pretty clear pretty early on that there's more to Withers than meets the eye, and players are now starting to determine exactly what that is. In a Reddit post yesterday, one user said they'd stumbled upon two books deep in the game's third act that seem to reveal that Withers' true identity is Jergal, Lord of the End of Everything.

For the benefit of D&D initiates, Jergal was the original God of Death in the game's mythology, but eventually ceded that role to the Dark Three - Bane, Bhall, and Mrykul, whose chosen you're tasked with defeating through the course of Baldur's Gate 3.

There are myriad clues that tie Withers to Jergal. Most apparent is that one of those in-game books attributes to Jergal the question that Withers asks the player when they first meet in Act 1: What is the worth of a single human life? Elsewhere, players have realised the Baldur's Gate 3 Dank Crypt, in which characters comment that it's not clear which God is being worshipped, and in which you find Withers, bears all the hallmarks of being a temple to Jergal thanks to the records kept within. A final clue comes from Arabella in Act 2, who pesters Withers with questions about his… unhealthy complexion. In response, Withers makes clear that he's not dead, undead, living, or unliving. That's not exactly a confession of his divinity, but it comes pretty close.

Depending on how your playthrough goes, Withers' true identity might be more or less apparent, and there are said to be close ties between the character and the mysterious Dark Urge. He might also call you out for your choice of Baldur's Gate 3 romance option (or lack thereof), so he's certainly a somewhat enigmatic figure, but it's a lot of fun to see the broader D&D pantheon at play if he truly is Jergal.

It's details like this one that helped fuel our five-star Baldur's Gate 3 review.

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.