Following the wide adoption of Bing Bong into the fandom, Baldur’s Gate 3 players have begged the developers, Larian Studios, to add the devilish imp into DLC. While this hasn’t happened, Larian did decide to make Bing Bong canon.
**Slight spoilers for High Rollers Presents: Shadows of Athkatla.**
Back on September 22, the BG3 cast of Origin characters and the narrator (Amelia Tyler) made a guest appearance on DnD High Rollers. With Mark Hulmes serving as the Dungeon Master, the group played the Shadows of Athkatla campaign. Splitting up to search for clues, Lae’zel (Devora Wilde) and Shadowheart (Jennifer English) ran into a red imp in a blue cap working at a Wal-Mart-style store called “Adventurers’ Mart.” The bickering duo ended up sort of adopting the devilish imp who, thanks to a language barrier, was largely limited to repeating the phrase “Bing Bong!” (Hence the name.)
The BG3 community fell in love with this dynamic instantly. In the story’s final battle, Lae’zel threw Bing Bong as an improvised weapon. This killed Bing Bong immediately. So much fan art (and at least one mod) came from that story and even eulogies following Bing Bong’s timely transport back to the Nine Hells.
As Lae’zel, Wilde took to TikTok to explain her reasoning. Then, when Wilde met a similar imp in her BG3 playthrough, she expressed vindication about her reckless homicide. Meanwhile, fans continued asking Larian Studios to add Bing Bong into the game via DLC. Because Larian Studios stays tight-lipped on DLC, no one had any idea if this could truly happen. However, the most recent update brought him into the game.
Bing Bong in Patch 5
**Slight spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 3, specifically the Epilogue and Shadowheart’s ending.**
On November 30, Larian released another huge update for the game with Patch #5. It’s 30 GB, but requires 130 GB of free space. In addition to new features, a language option (Korean), and fixes, the studio added a new section. Basically, six months after the events of the story, Withers invites everyone back for a party. According to IGN, this section includes 3,589 lines of newly recorded dialogue. The studio wrote, “For the writers of Larian, this ‘final goodbye’ has been some of the most complex writing in the game so far, as it takes advantage of the game’s reactivity across the entire adventure.”
I’m not sure how to make all the choices to trigger this (other than having Withers alive and friendly towards you by the end), but several players who romanced Shadowheart found the Bing Bong canonization. Nervous about seeing everyone for the first time after all the adventuring, Shadowheart talks about deciding how y’all will be divvying up talking points with everyone. It’s kind of like making a game plan before going to one’s high school reunion or a family gathering after years apart.
Here, Shadowheart reflects on the adventures you had since y’all separated from the group. She’ll mention an imp before remembering its name—BING BONG! This was such a nice touch to the game for the fans that have supported the other appearances by the cast. The best part about this is that this inclusion makes Bing Bong officially a part of Dungeons and Dragons canon.
(featured image: Larian Studios edited by Alyssa Shotwell)
