Creature Broodmother
Affiliation:	Darkspawn
Rank:	Boss, Elite Boss
Skills:	Gas Ranged Spit Scream Sweep Vomit
Locations:	The Dead Trenches Kal'Hirol - Lower Reaches The Nest
Appearances:	Dragon Age: Origins Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Heroes of Dragon Age

A broodmother is a giant sessile ghoul capable of spawning vast numbers of darkspawn in a manner reminiscent of an insect queen.^[1]

Background Edit

Broodmothers give birth to a large litter at once, between twenty and fifty children.^[2] They emerge from her womb as toddlers, often already able to walk, and grow rapidly in their first few weeks of life. A broodmother will birth thousands of darkspawn young in her lifetime.

Female captives are usually made broodmothers by the darkspawn. They contract the taint by being force-fed on darkspawn tissue. This gives them cannibalistic urges but also mutates them. These females turn into fully-fledged broodmothers after devouring massive amounts of flesh even from their own kin.

The race of the broodmother determines which kind of darkspawn she will give birth to. An elven broodmother will spawn shrieks, a dwarven broodmother genlocks, a human broodmother hurlocks, and a Qunari or kossith broodmother ogres. Each broodmother is capable of spawning thousands of darkspawn.

Involvement Edit

Dragon Age: Origins Edit

“We now have a dog and Alistair is still the dumbest one in the party.” — Morrigan
This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins. Click here to reveal them.

The Warden faces a broodmother in order to pass through the Dead Trenches during their search for a missing Paragon. The dwarven broodmother encountered here was one of the women of House Branka named Laryn. Branka willingly allowed her to be corrupted in order to use her "children" to probe the traps protecting the Anvil of the Void.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Edit

“I do not seek to rule my brethren. I only seek to release them from their chains.” — The Architect
This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. Click here to reveal them.

Several broodmothers are killed by the Warden-Commander in the Lower Reaches of Kal'Hirol.

The Warden later confronts the Mother, a hurlock broodmother who was subjected to an awakening by the Architect.

Abilities Edit

Strategy Edit

• See Broodmother (strategy) for details on fighting the broodmother in A Paragon of Her Kind.
• See The Mother (strategy) for details on fighting the Mother in the Depths of Depravity.

Trivia Edit

• To date, no specific broodmothers of elven or qunari/kossith origin have been shown or described.

Gallery Edit

Broodmother concept art

The Mother, a human broodmother

Add a photo to this gallery

References Edit

1. ↑ David Gaider (18 July, 2010). "What do darkspawn eat?" . The BioWare Forum. Retrieved on March 5, 2014.
2. ↑ Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 1, p. 148