Darkspawn

In Chantry tradition as relayed in in-universe codices and developer commentary, the Darkspawn are presented as the product of a corrupting event tied to mages and the fall of the Golden City (recast as the Black City in Chantry myth). That narrative frames the Darkspawn and the Taint as consequences of hubris and sin; writers have described this Chantry account as an in-world perspective rather than a single definitive history, and codices and commentary note multiple divergent in-universe perspectives on the Darkspawn's ultimate origins.

Described broadly as malevolent, ugly humanoid monsters, Darkspawn vary by caste and mutation. Early designs resembled Tolkien-style orcs; later depictions emphasize diseased, twisted features derived from multiple sentient races. Named subtypes include hurlocks and genlocks (human-derived), shrieks, ogres (large mutated units), Broodmothers (grotesque reproductive creatures formed from female victims), and corrupted fauna such as blight wolves, bearskarns, and mutated spiders.

Darkspawn operate as a quasi-plague-like horde species that carry and spread the supernatural disease known as the Taint; contact with Darkspawn blood or fluids is described as capable of transmitting the Taint and eventually twisting victims into Darkspawn forms. They search subterranean realms for Old Gods; when they find and extend the Taint to an Old God it becomes an Archdemon, whose rise to the surface triggers a Blight during which Darkspawn emerge as a unified, marauding force that overruns surface regions. Darkspawn exhibit organized castes (combat roles and reproductive Broodmothers) and include large mutated units and tainted animals.