Anders/Hawke

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Pairing
Pairing: Anders/Hawke
Alternative name(s): Handers, Fhanders (Anders/female!Hakwe), Mhanders (Anders/male!Hakwe)
Gender category: Het, Slash
Fandom: Dragon Age
Canonical?: player determinant
Prevalence: moderate
Archives:
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Anders/Hawke, also known as Handers, is the pairing of Anders and Hawke from Dragon Age II. It can be either het or slash depending on if the player romances Anders with a female Hawke (Fhanders) or male Hawke (Mhanders).

Canon

Anders will flirt with Hawke, whether male or female, early in their acquaintance. He is eager to earn Hawke's approval and allegiance. Romancing him does not significantly affect his main storyline in Dragon Age II.

As with all companion relationships in Dragon Age II, Hawke's relationship with Anders may be supportive or antagonistic, with a romantic relationship being possible in either case, referred to in fandom as "friendmance" and "rivalmance," respectively. Anders's friendmance path generally involves Hawke being supportive of the rights of mages and critical of the Chantry, whereas the rivalmance involves Hawke being skeptical or critical of the mage rights movement and supportive of the Chantry. However, not all decisions that give Friendship or Rivalry points are related to this ideological divide, which can result in dialogue-gameplay dissonance if, for example, a mage-friendly Hawke rivalmances Anders, as once the type of relationship is locked in, all Anders's dialogue assumes Hawke is pro- or anti-mage, accordingly.

In Dragon Age: Inquisition, Hawke expresses a degree of disapproval of Anders's actions to the Inquisitor regardless of the player's actual choices in Dragon Age II, which frustrated many players who were sympathetic to Anders.

Fandom

As a returning character from Awakening (and already a moderately popular, though non-canonical shipping partner for player characters), Anders was a popular love interest early after the release of Dragon Age II. This was complicated by his polarizing plot trajectory as more fans finished the game, with some fans abandoning the ship, while others embraced it more strongly.

A subset of Handers shipping also prominently involves the Fade spirit, Justice, in various roles, including as part of an OT3.[1]

Tropes in Fanworks

  • Hurt/Comfort - Anders's history of poor treatment at the hands of the Templars and other canonical traumatic events make this a popular theme in Handers fanworks
  • Mutual Pining - Anders's in-game romance dialogue suggests a longstanding romantic interest in Hawke developed well before they get together, which is prominently explored in many fanworks

Fanworks

Fanart

With female!Hawke

With male!Hakwe

Fanfiction

Cosplay

Zines

Gallery

Fanart

Cosplay

Archives & Fannish Links

References