“It doesn’t matter that they won’t remember me. What matters is I helped.”
Cole is such an interesting character. I wish we had the option to give him a hug sometimes.
As much as I absolutely ADORE Solas and Blackwall… Cole is actually my favourite character in DA:I.
I’ve tried making him both a human and a spirit, and I prefer Cole as a spirit. I’ll admit there is something problematic about his helping sometimes taking the form of making people forget their pain, or forgetting his own. But I think there’s something to be said for the fact that Cole’s only drive, really, is to help. He sees pain, and he wants to heal it. And as a spirit, he wants to help as quietly as possible without people even knowing he was there. And as a spirit, once he’s healed the hurt, he moves on with no expectation of reward. Once you get him that amulet to protect him from corruption, he’s a powerhouse of pure compassion, and that ability – to be so selflessly kind, without being hurt or dredged into another’s pain – is incredibly powerful and marvelous.
We sometimes talk about what superpower we would have if we could. If I could have a superpower, it would be to be like Cole.
The Sharper Edge of Love: Romance, Sex, and Fanfic 