Dark Urge in Baldur’s Gate 3 Explained (BG3)

Baldur’s Gate 3 lets you create your own custom character, choosing their race, class, background, and more. But if you’ve been poking around the character creator or just watching BG3 videos on YouTube, you might have stumbled across the sinister-sounding Dark Urge. So if you’re ready to explore one of the game’s nastier aspects, here’s Dark Urge in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) explained. And maybe a little squirrel murder.

Here’s What Dark Urge Does in BG3, Whether You Want it To or Not

The Dark Urge is one of the character origins you can choose when you’re creating a character. If you select this origin, your appearance will be set to a Dragonborn but you can amend their appearance and species as you see fit. It’s what’s inside that counts.

And what’s inside, in the case of the Dark Urge, is the drive to murder and maim. Your amnesiac protagonist doesn’t know why, but they’re not always in control. The Dark Urge initially alters dialogue options so, for example, when you meet Astarion your character will make a comment about how he’d make a pretty corpse.

But as you progress through the game, the Dark Urge exerts itself more and more. Sometimes you can choose to unleash the beast, other times you have no choice.

When you first meet Timber the Squirrel, regular players have the option of using a Dexterity Roll to kick it which, if successful, is fatal. If you’re a Dark Urge character and you interact with Timber, they’ll just straight up boot that squirrel, without any additional player intervention.

I’m not going to spoil things any further but there’s a particularly appealing character which the Dark Urge has you murdering in your sleep. There are power/character bonuses for having this origin though you’ll have to decide if it’s worth the cost in blood and/or small furry animals.

It’s early days for my Dark Urge character, a mash-up of The Chuckle Brothers and Dean Learner from Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. Those further down the path have reported that you can, eventually, divest yourself of your Dark Urge. But where’s the fun in that?

So, if you’re thinking of putting a particularly bloody spin on your next BG3 run, that’s Dark Urge in Baldur’s Gate 3 explained. For more on the game, check out our guides on how to respec your party members, as well as fixing any save bugs that might pop up. And if you’re just starting out, watch Destructoid’s excellent beginner’s guide to Baldur’s Gate 3.