Jack Coleman (He/Him) is a News Editor from Ireland. This is his third full year in games media, having previously worked freelance for various outlets, including DualShockers and NME.
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Baldur’s Gate 3’s Minsc is a man of many talents — archery, axe-swinging, hamster-tending, and, apparently, writing. I’m not convinced that Minsc can even read, but he managed to pen at least a section in “A Primer on Mythical Beasts.”
While there’s no confirmation that Minsc really did write this book, I’m reasonably sure that he at least threatened the author at arrow-point to force them to write these words.
Go For The Quill, Boo
“Chapter 5: Miniature Giant Space Hamster,” reads the title of the book’s in-game readable chapter. “Very little is known about this particular cryptid, though stories say they tend to choose well-muscled human males as their steeds when they deign to visit this plane. According to legends, this creature retains a wellspring of indescribable power known only to itself, though it provides its steed with perhaps mystical, perhaps mundane courage. Unsubstantiated rumours claim the creature has a taste for human eyes.”
All of this information is accurate when applied to Minsc’s trusted companion Boo, though we don’t know if he is an anomaly among miniature giant space hamsters. It seems unlikely that Minsc would have enough prerequisite knowledge to write an entire primer on mythical beasts, but he must have at least verbally contributed to this section.
This book can be found in several locations throughout the game, including at the Sacred Pool within the Druid Grove, Waukeen’s Rest and sold by Nansi Gretti at the Bibliophile in Baldur’s Gate.
As for whether Boo is actually a mythical creature, that’s a matter of debate. Minsc is firm in his belief that Boo is a loquacious rodent from space, but not everyone is convinced. Lae’zel believes Boo is just a hamster, but the seer, Madam Eva, seemed to be aware of something special about Boo in the spin-off comic book Shadows of the Vampire 2, though she doesn’t elaborate further when questioned by Minsc.
Minsc and Boo actually originated in a tabletop session hosted by BioWare’s then lead designer, James Ohlen, with Baldur’s Gate’s lead writer, Lukas Kristjanson, fleshing out the character for the original Baldur’s Gate 3.
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Decades later, the dynamic duo remain some of the most popular characters from the Forgotten Realms setting.
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
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