Ever wondered why Shadowheart’s portrait looks like she’s about to ask if you can hear her now?
You squint at Shadowheart's portrait, and something feels... off. Is it the lighting? The background? The unmistakable aura of someone who accidentally opened their webcam in the middle of a breakdown? You wouldn't be the first to notice. In fact, once you see it, it's hard to unsee it: some of Baldur's Gate 3's character portraits look like your boomer co-worker calling in from a dimly lit basement during a mandatory team meeting.
The Great Portrait Illusion
Well, let me tell you how the game actually generates those companion portraits. Spoiler: they’re not static images or lovingly hand-touched-up renders. No, they’re real-time shots of your companions, plucked from a mysterious staging area tucked somewhere deep in the game’s geometry.
These portraits are fully 3D models of your companions, posed and placed in front of brightly colored background squares like it’s Faerûn High’s yearbook photo day. The game snaps a fresh image every time you respec your companions or they level up.
Since the portraits are rendered in real-time with actual lighting and environment effects, they don’t benefit from post-processing magic. That means you get the raw, sometimes weirdly lit, occasionally overexposed version of your beloved companions – like Karlach caught mid-thought or Gale lit like he’s telling ghost stories by flashlight. Shadowheart, true to her name, often appears like she’s brooding in a janitor’s closet with one flickering candle.
And Now, For The Real Show: The Full-Body Portraits
But wait, it gets better. Reddit user grey_anonym shows the full glory of these portraits – because, yes, they are not just portraits. And let me tell you, seeing Lae’zel pose like an angry neighborhood grandpa or Shadowheart standing there like she’s auditioning for a melodramatic anime reboot is… well, it’s a gift.
It’s portrait photography with a twist – and sometimes a visible twist in someone’s armor. The real kicker? Some of the male companions had to be cropped due to, ahem, unexpected full-frontal enthusiasm. Turns out, those character models aren’t always fully dressed under the hood, especially in these hidden areas. You can find the full, NSFW (I told you!) pictures linked in OPs pinned comment. Of course, I didn't look at them. I mean, why would I. I'd never.