Baldur's Gate 3's Rumored Cut Werewolf Character Explained

Summary

Dataminers discovered a cut companion named Helia, a halfling werewolf bard in Baldur's Gate 3, who had potential voice lines in the game files.
Fans were disappointed that Helia didn't make it into the game as she would have offered a new race to play and added something new to the game.
Players are left speculating about Helia's potential interactions with Astarion and how her bard class would have added to her charm, considering the reputation bards have in fiction.

Baldur's Gate 3 has a plethora of companions to choose from. From Astarion to Karlach, players see a wide range of variety in tropes and personality types. But for some curious dataminers, they were not enough. In dataminers' searches, they found entire areas, quests and storylines, and a cut companion by the name of Helia.

Helia would have been a halfling werewolf bard. She was so far along in development that the dataminers even found potential voice lines from her in Baldur's Gate 3 files. However, she didn't even have a stand-in during early access, making her progress as a character confusing. Fans aren't sure if she was almost ready for release or if she just lucked out with getting voice lines. At the end of the day, she got cut from the game entirely and is only seen in game files.

Details Discovered About Baldur's Gate 3's Helia in Early Access

Helia was planned to be a halfling Bard Origin character and a werewolf. There were even clues to point to her character being based on and inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. With so many different companions in Baldur's Gate 3, when players found out about a small race companion being cut, they were pretty disappointed. After all, many of the races included are big players in the story and in fantasy stories in general.

A character who offered a new race to play and added something new to the game would have been interesting. There are many races that players want to see in Baldur's Gate 3 and werewolves would have been a fun addition. Dataminers found Helia during the Early Access period of the game, alongside characters like Karlach. Unfortunately, there's been no word of Helia from the Baldur's Gate 3 team at all. Players who had gotten attached to the idea of Helia were left heartbroken after seeing that there didn't seem to be any plans to add her.

What would have happened if Helia and Astarion had gotten a chance to interact is now a mystery. Werewolves and vampires being enemies has been a staple trope of countless works of fiction, and it would have been nice to see fan-favorite Astarion's charm slipping and losing his cool in arguments with the cut companion. Players enjoy speculating how things would have gone on Helia's side too—wondering if she had been feral or more level-headed since she was a halfling and not a full werewolf. As a bard in Baldur's Gate 3, players wonder if this would have added or taken away from her charm. After all, bards have an unfortunate reputation in just about every mention they get in fiction.

Moreover, since there isn't presently a bard companion in the game, it makes that omission even more apparent. Thinking about missing classes in Baldur's Gate 3 for patches or potential DLCs has the fanbase excited. But as it stands, Larian Studios doesn't appear to have any concrete DLC or expansions planned at the moment. Even more devastating for potential Helia fans, some of the developers have already moved on to future projects.

If she had been so far developed and even cast, she arguably could have at least been an NPC. There are plenty of NPCs who'd make good Baldur's Gate 3 companions, so putting her among the ranks would've kept the fanbase dreaming. However, no such traces of her exist in the playable game. For now, players will have to keep hoping that one day a patch update will include Helia.