What is a Guardian in Baldur’s Gate 3 and does it matter?

At the start of character creation in Baldur’s Gate 3, you are asked to create a Guardian, but what is this mysterious person and does it matter what fantasy race you select?

After building your own character, selecting race, class, skills, spells, etc, Baldur’s Gate 3 asks you to pick a “Guardian.” The game presents you with a character customization screen that lets you select your Guardian from among all of the playable fantasy races in the game.

But it doesn’t tell you what a Guardian is, why this matters, or what to expect. So if you’re just booting up the game and want to make sure you’re not about to screw up your save, we’ve got you covered.

What is a Guardian Baldur’s Gate 3?

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WILL NOT CONTAIN ANY MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE EVENTS BALDUR’S GATE 3 BEYOND THE TUTORIAL

The core inciting incident of Baldur’s Gate 3 is your character being abducted by Mindflayers, an alien race of evil semi-eldritch beings. You have a tadpole, the natal form of a Mindflayer, attached to your brain. This horrifying twist leads you down a wild path and embroils you in all sorts of conflicts.

Your Guardian is a mysterious figure that will appear throughout the campaign to pull back the curtain somewhat on the events transpiring in the story. The only thing you are doing when selecting your Guardian’s appearance in Baldur’s Gate 3 character creation is picking the cosmetic appearance of the Guardian when they appear.

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That’s it.

The identity and secrets of the Guardian will be peeled back as you play, but for now you’re just selecting looks. There is no story or gameplay consequence for picking any of the appearances for your Guardian. Unlike many other interactions, there aren’t any dialogue options for racial options from the Guardian.