Samson (Dragon Age)

Samson is a former templar, who later became Red Templar General serving Corypheus.

Background
Samson was, at one point, a good templar. According to Samson, the preceding Knight-Commander, Guylian, personally gave him his sun shield. He claims that he left the Templar Order due to "philosophical differences" in order to help apostate mages escape. In truth he was dismissed because Meredith Stannard caught him delivering messages between a mage named Maddox and his sweetheart.

Dragon Age: Inquisition
He was one of the first of the high-ranked Templars who were infected with Red Lyrium, and is fully aware of and complicit in Corypheus's actions, willingly infecting his lower ranked subordinates with Red Lyrium knowing that he was rotting their minds and warping their bodies.

If the inquisition recruits the Mages, then Samson is overseeing the assault on Village of Haven with Corypheus standing beside him. Samson is captured after the Inquisition assault on the Well of Sorrows in the Arbor Wilds.

If the Inquisitor follows Cullen's advice to investigate Samson, they eventually discover that he had created a red lyrium armor that feels like drowning in fire when he first donned it, and by enduring it he had become fit to be "The Vessel". Should the Inquisitor devote Inquisition resources to finding a weakness in Samson's armor, the investigation leads to the Red Templars base at the Shrine of Dumat. The Tranquil Maddox, who was the very mage who got Samson exiled from the Templars for passing messages on behalf of him and his lover, commits suicide rather than let the secrets of Samson's armour be discovered. However, the Inquisitor finds his tools and other materials and with Dagna's help, crafts a special rune to destroy Samson's armour.

Samson accompanies Corypheus to the Arbor Wilds in search of the Well of Sorrows. After fighting through the ancient elven guardians, Samson comes to close to the Well when he is confronted by the Inquisitor. Samson reveals that he will drink from the Well, becoming "The Vessel" of its knowledge for Corypheus. If the Inquisitor uses the special rune, Samson's armour is disabled, weakening him for the fight, otherwise he'll be harder to beat. When beaten, the Inquisitor can later set up an operation to take him back to Skyhold for judgement.

When brought for judgement he defends his actions as merely feeding his men the same lies that the Chantry fed both him and them during their time with the Templar Order: "Hope instead of Despair" and "pain for purpose". Samson believed that templars have always been used and that he was providing the Templar Order a mercy by having them go out in a blaze of glory instead of letting them be thrown away by the Chantry as soon as the lyrium destroyed their minds. He's wanted for his actions in Kirkwall and Orlais. The Inquisitor has the options of:


 * Handing him over to Kirkwall.
 * Exiling to the Wilderness.
 * Having Dagna study him.
 * Conscript him under Cullen.
 * Or simply locking him in a hole.

If the inquisition recruits the Templars, then Samson is merely referenced in a few notes, but does not appear in the game, instead he is replaced by Venatori leader Calpernia.