Would you become a monster if it would save the world?
That is the central conflict of Baldur's Gate 3, a three-act epic fantasy that continues the story of the critically acclaimed series, bringing a new threat to the city of Baldur's Gate in the form of an illithid invasion. We, the player character, find ourselves infected with an illithid parasite and must unravel the source of the parasite's uniqueness, and its connection to the rising Cult of the Absolute before we, too, are transformed.
While an epic fantasy in scope, our parasitic infection brings us into intimate proximity with the monstrous in a relationship best described as Gothic. But what exactly is the monstrous in a setting full of fantastical creatures and horrors that reach out to us all the way from the Far Realm? And why is it so queer? To answer this, I think we need to frame our understanding of the monstrous through one of the most enduring monsters in literature and media: that of Frankenstein's Creation. Scientific experimentation, body horror, paranoia, and the Gothic all merge in Shelley's enigmatic monster. Unraveling the seams of this creation, both its horror and humanity, will serve as the foundation to help us piece together the nature of monstrosity in Baldur's Gate 3.
So, what is a monster?
