This article will play fast and loose with spoilers from throughout the first three Mass Effect games and the first two Dragon Age games, but won’t spoil anything major from Dragon Age: Inquisition or ME: Andromeda.

With the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition we’ve all been treated to another Bioware RPG full of colorful teammates to join your protagonist on his or her journey through the world. Between the Mass Effect and Dragon Age trilogies Bioware has created some of the most memorable characters in gaming history — as well as some bumps in the road that we’d all like to forget.

After many hours of “research” spent playing the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games over and over and over again, we feel well qualified to offer our definitive rankings of the 43 different companions these six games have to offer. We’ve taken into account personality, personal story, voice acting, usefulness, and a variety of other factors to come up with this list, so hopefully nobody out there will feel the need to disagree with where we’ve put anyone.

Let’s start at the bottom, with the very worst character the six games have to offer, and work our way up to the champion.

43. Anders, Dragon Age II

Anders is the worst. He’s brooding, he’s antagonistic, and his treatment in Dragon Age II ruins what was one of the better companions you could have in the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening expansion. The idea behind Anders is that he’s been taken over by the spirit of Justice and can’t abide the treatment of the mages. The problem with this is that it automatically implies the mages are truly being oppressed, when the entire game is trying to present that question as more complicated than that. It really doesn’t work at all.

Aside from the story issues, we’re talking about a character who blows up a building full of innocent people and then has the temerity to tell you why it was the right decision. We’re talking about a character whose approval rating goes DOWN if you don’t sell another companion back into slavery. The only good thing about Anders is that you get to murder him. I personally said I left him alive in Dragon Age Keep purely so I could try and murder him again in Dragon Age: Inquisition. You suck, Anders.

42. EDI, Mass Effect 3

It’s understandable that Bioware took one of the best characters in Mass Effect 2 and shoved them into a bigger role for 3 (though why not give Joker a hoverchair and have him as a full team member too while you’re at it?). But there aren’t really many good excuses for how ridiculous EDI’s robot body is, and in the end the whole thing comes off as just being silly and weird.

41. Merrill, Dragon Age II

“Hello, I’m Merrill. I am an all-powerful mage but I don’t know where my house is, haha! Also, I’m easily tricked by fade demons despite the fact that, again, I’m an all-powerful mage. I am dumb as rocks and you should never talk to me ever. Welp, see you later!”

40. Legion, Mass Effect 2

Legion is a cool character that Bioware decided to give you at the very end of the game. You can barely even talk to him before the final mission begins. It’s like giving someone an ice cream sundae and then taking it away after two bites. You got hosed, Legion.

38 and 39. Morrigan & Liara, Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect

Both have the character problem of being completely naive about the outside world AND OH BY THE WAY they’re also super-cunning geniuses who always come out one step ahead. Liara starts off as a sheltered archaeologist and by the end of the series is the leading information broker in the galaxy. Morrigan doesn’t know what a handshake is but by Inquisition is suddenly the shadowy power behind the strongest kingdom in Thedas. It’s baffling.

37. Fenris, Dragon Age II

It takes a really special character to make you think, “Look dude, I know you were raised as a slave but do you have to whine so much about it?” This guy literally sits in an abandoned house and drinks for six years. If I wanted to watch someone do that I’d put a camera on my dad.

36. James Vega, Mass Effect 3

Why you’d start off the final chapter of a game series by giving you a character you’ve never met before is kind of baffling. Vega is inoffensive but…why is he here? It doesn’t make sense.

35. Ashley Williams, Mass Effect 1 and 3

You might think we don’t like Ashley because she’s racist or redundant with Vega in your party in ME3, but it’s honestly just because we hate Tennyson. #TeamBrowning 4 ever!

34. Isabela, Dragon Age II

“OK guys, we need one more companion for our game. Who should we bring back?”

“What if we bring back Isabela? She was a strong female character that could fill a rogue role.”

“Great! Now what should her personality be like?”

“Hmm… maybe we could give her a dark past? Something to make her memorable. Maybe she could have a dark secret or someth-”

“Wait…I’ve got a GREAT IDEA!”

“Perfect! Good job everyone.”

33. Leliana, Dragon Age: Origins

Leliana is:

A chantry sister who has been told by the Maker to help the Warden.
A former spy hiding out from her past.

Either one of those is a pretty cool character. Unfortunately, Leliana is both and it doesn’t mesh very well. The Maker plotline is dropped halfway through with surprisingly little fanfare and the former spy plot feels shoehorned in. She’s an awkward mishmash of a character that could be a lot better.

We could also do without the singing.

32. Cole, Dragon Age: Inquisition

Weird floppy hat aside, Cole earns points for his supernatural nature and deadly assassin skills. He loses points for his whining.

31. Jacob Taylor, Mass Effect 2

Jacob is not actively annoying but man is he boooooooooooooooooooooriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Why would we want to go spill drinks with this guy? He makes us fall asleep.

30. Javik, Mass Effect 3

The DLC-only Javik is a pretty boring character too but he benefits from being a Prothean and from being the only regular teammate with access to the fun and powerful lift grenades.

29. Solas, Dragon Age: Inquisition

Basically Spock. Solas has some interesting mysterious touches to his character, and his dry wit can occasionally be funny, but he doesn’t do a lot to stand out or be memorable.

28. Vivienne, Dragon Age: Inquisition

Vivienne suffers because if you feel like having a fancy wizard in your party, you’re going to choose Dorian every single time. Also, her melee-focused magical specialization can be a bit tricky to use correctly, compared to the other more traditional magic-users on your team.

27. Kasumi Goto, Mass Effect 2

Kasumi is a fun character and has unique powers. Her loyalty mission is a lot of fun and isn’t entirely just you shooting people (it’s only mostly you shooting peeople). But after you complete her loyalty mission… that’s it. You can’t talk to her in detail like you can everyone else and her powers aren’t quite good enough to keep her in your party. She’s just there.

25 and 26. Sten & Oghren, Dragon Age: Origins

It’s kind of weird that both of these characters are in the same game. They largely fill the same role: both are two-handed warriors that have gone through emotional trauma right before you come across them. They largely sit at your camp because two-handed warriors aren’t great in Origins and they each have one joke (Sten is grumpy! Oghren’s a drunk!). They’re fine characters but they aren’t all that memorable.

24. The Iron Bull, Dragon Age: Inquisition

Hilariously voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr., the Iron Bull is an interesting take on the Qunari that helps offer a new perspective on that race. He’s a useful and powerful warrior but the character side of things doesn’t quite come together as well as you might hope.

23. Cassandra, Dragon Age: Inquisition

Stern and serious to a fault, Cassandra’s act can wear a bit thin at times in Inquisition, but you’ll probably be willing to forgive her thanks to her powerful demon-slaying abilities. Working through her personal quests gives you a chance to see her let her guard down a bit eventually, which is a nice change.

22. Alistair, Dragon Age: Origins

Alistair is not a very good companion, but he’s a good character. Alistair is one of the only companions you get across both series that is intentionally written as unlikable, at least at the start. Your warden can either change him for the better, giving him the confidence to rule his empire, or make fun of him and leave him a hopeless drunk. You can even have him killed, which can either be a tragic or hilarious surprise, depending on how you feel about him. Alistair is overall a pretty well-written and fun character to either support or doom.

21. Tali, Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3

Tali is a fun character for the first two Mass Effect games and is useful throughout the Mass Effect series. As one of two characters featured as a squadmate in all three games, Tali gets more time than most others and is largely a solid and useful addition to the team. By the third game she is a pretty mediocre character, though, and for some reason Bioware decided to make her a love interest in a way that stripped away a lot of her other more interesting characteristics.

But hey, if you want to know what her sweat would taste like, this guy’s got you covered.

20. Jack, Mass Effect 2

A good friend of ours pursued the Jack romance path in his first Mass Effect 2 playthrough. It took a while, but he cracked through her rough exterior and found the broken person underneath. Gradually, he showed her that the world wasn’t as ugly as she believed it to be and she was finally able to find happiness.

And then during the end-game suicide mission he picked the wrong person to hold up the biotic barrier and Jack got carried away by a swarm. Man, that’s so funny.

19. Sebastian Vael, Dragon Age II

Bioware hides some of their better characters inside DLC, and Sebastian is an example of that trend. The wayward prince of Starkhaven is honestly a great companion mostly because he loathes the rest of your Dragon Age II companions. He has a clear goal that he needs Hawke’s help with and he’s not really interested in socializing. You can’t even really romance him, which makes him unique and incredibly welcome after you’ve been hit on all game. He even threatens to burn Kirkwall to the ground at the end of the game and man did we want to help him.

18. Thane Krios, Mass Effect 2

Thane only gets knocked down because his loyalty mission is kind of lame and you get him later in Mass Effect 2, but overall he’s pretty awesome. He’s a biotic with a sniper rifle and he’s deadlly with both. He’s a fun counterpoint to Zevran from Dragon Age: both are assassins, but while Zevran has thrown himself into life, Thane has removed himself from life completely. He’s purely a weapon. As his friend, Shepard can re-connect Thane with the world in his dying moments in Mass Effect 3. It’s a fantastic character arc.

17. Kaidan Alenko, Mass Effect 1 and 3

Kaidian is sneakily one of the best Mass Effect characters but hardly anyone gave him a chance. Kaidan wasn’t a great squadmate in Mass Effect and most players chose to leave him to die on Virmire. If you kept him around, though, you were surprised to find that Kaidan endws up being a great squadmate by Mass Effect 3 and had a surprisingly cool backstory. The best part about Kaidan is that he doesn’t whine. He had a rough life but he’s moved past it. You’re a cool dude, Kaidan.

16. Miranda Lawson, Mass Effect 2

Miranda is one of the best companions you can get in Mass Effect 2, she has an interesting backstory, and her loyalty mission is excellent. What’s best about Miranda, though, is that she doesn’t particularly like Shepard for much of the game. In a game where everyone loves your character, it’s kind of nice to have someone who won’t give him the time of day.