Minsc

Minsc was a kind-hearted, but rather addled warrior known for his habit of talking to a hamster. He believed that the animal, called Boo, was a miniature giant space hamster, but no-one else ever saw any evidence of this.

Description
Minsc was a large human with a tattooed, bald head.

Personality
Minsc was very capable physically but mentally much more limited. Besides talking to the hamster Boo, whom he believed to be a miniature giant space hamster, he had a very simplistic view of the world, and was often quick to decide someone was evil and should be attacked. Fortunately he was also kind by nature and determined to be a hero. He was somewhat unstable and prone to flying into a rage. He will also react violently to his witch being threatened.

He was once considered neutral good, but later became chaotic good.

As a ranger, his favored enemies were first gnolls and later vampires. By the 1480s DR he stated his favored enemy as simply "evil".

1368 DR
"You point, I punch!"

"Who wants some?"

"Less talk, more fight!"

"Squeaky wheels get the KICK!"

"When the going gets tough, someone hold my rodent."

"No effect?! I need a bigger sword."

"Minsc will lead with blade and boot! Boo will take care of the details."

"The bigger they are, the harder I hit!"

"Jump on my sword while you can, evil. I won't be as gentle!"

"Ooo, squirrels, Boo! I know I saw them! Quick, throw nuts!"

"Camaraderie, adventure and steel on steel. The stuff of legends! Right Boo?"

"Boo must have his exercise, lest he bite us all in hard to reach places."

"Make way evil, I'm armed to the teeth, and packing a hamster!"

"Every hamster has his day."

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, watch it! I'm huge!"

"Butt-kicking for goodness!"

"Full-plate and packing Steel!"

"Evil, meet my sword! SWORD! MEET! EVIL!"

"Swords! Not words!"

"Where Minsc goes, evil stands aside."

"There is safety in numbers. And I'm two or three at least."

"A den of STINKING evil! Cover your nose, Boo! We will leave no crevice untouched! (Squeak squeak squeak squeak!)"

- When entering a dungeon

"Stand and deliver, that my hamster might have a better look at you."

- When first met

"Fear not! I will inspire you all by charging blindly on!"

- When raging

"Go for the eyes, Boo, GO FOR THE EYES!! RrraaaAAGHGHH!!!"

- Battle-cry

"Magic is impressive, but now Minsc leads. SWORDS FOR EVERYONE!"

- When chosen as leader

"Evil 'round every corner! Careful not to step in any."

- In big city

"My hamster is getting antsy; if we be adventurers, let us adventure."

- When standing still

"I must rest; I have a terrible case of armor chafe."

- When fatigued

"I need healing, lest my hamster become an orphan."

- When critically wounded

"I agree, Boo. This group could do with a swift kick in the morals!"

- When reputation goes low

1369 DR
"None shall see me, though my battle-cry may give me away."

"Where goes the stench of evil, so goes the cleansing wind of Minsc and Boo."

Baldur's Gate
"Stand down, dirty minions of evil &mdash; or face my hamster's wrath!"

- Minsc upon become "alive" again

"Okey, Evils, you strutted you badness... Now its Minsc's Turn!"

"That is how we smash evils in Rashemen!"

"If there is Danger, then I shall Dange it!""

"If there is evil to be kicked, I shall be the kicker!"

"I have not run this much since the Rashemen wolf races of my youth..."

"If you be true warriors of goodness, then you know we are also heroes of good and right things! Stand aside or my steel --"

Neverwinter
"There are evil-doers who need butt-kicking!"

"You are looking quite furry today, Boo! (Squeak!) Yes you are, yes you are! (Squeak squeak!)"

"Hell has no fury like Minsc and Boo! We should know. We've been there."

"Evil, meet my sword! Sword, MEET EVIL!"

"It is too late to change your ways, evil, for I shall continue my righteous pummeling!"

"I saw a Thayan wizard before. Beware the ones that talk to themselves... they are the worse evil that deserve the biggest kick!"

"Neverwinter! Such an interesting city, and i have been to many cities!"

"My fist is getting itchy, as is my hamster. We must fight something, and soon!"

"We must fight something, Boo is getting quite anxious! (Squeak!)"

"I grown tired of this standing around! Surely, there must be some evil that needs kicking!"

History
It was believed that that Minsc had suffered significant head trauma sometime in his past; it was not known what his mental capacities were before that, but he mentioned that it had happened around the time he befriended Boo.

Minsc was first encountered in Nashkel in 1368 DR, and played a role during the Bhaalspawn crisis. He was originally looking for heroes to help him save his charge Dynaheir who had been captured by gnolls. The pair of them had both left their homeland of Rashemen to perform their respective rites of passage, he acting as her bodyguard and she as his "witch". Minsc and Dynaheir then formed an adventuring party along with Imoen, Jaheira and Khalid.

Later, Minsc was found trapped in a dungeon. He was distraught over the loss of Dynaheir, who had been murdered in front of his eyes, also meaning that he had failed in his dajemma (a ritual journey to manhood). There were also reports of him escaping Irenicus's dungeon along with Abdel Adrian.

Sometime in the 1480s DR, Minsc mysteriously returned. A statue depicting "the beloved ranger" was accidentally struck by a spell cast by the wild mage Delina which was meant for an attacking Gargoyle. Somehow, the spell restored Minsc and Boo to life. The pair joined up with the thieves Krydle and Shandie to battle the Cult of the Dragon. Coran, now a member of the Parliament of Peers was the only person who recognized Minsc as anyone but someone who was dressed like the statue.

Minsc and Boo have also assisted the Emerald Enclave in their battle against the four elemental cults.

Some time later, Minsc and his companions, while working as sellswords in the Lower City district of Baldur's Gate, helped defend a temple of Kelemvor against an attack of werewolves who had broken in. The werewolves fled after stealing the temple relics in search of a magic amulet and kidnapping Nerys, a cleric of Kelemvor. Upon chasing them back to their lair with the help of Boo, Minsc and his companions were swept up by mists and transported into the land of Barovia.

While in Barovia, Minsc had his fortune partially read by Madam Eva, but stormed out of her tent after she predicted that he would fail in destroying the evil that permeated those lands. The companions also briefly interacted with the wereraven Davian Martikov after saving his son Adrian from an attack of ghouls and spent the night at the Wizard of Wines winery.

The following day, the companions proceeded to Vallaki, which was holding the Parade of Purple decreed by the burgomaster Vargas Vallakovich. During the parade, they were attacked by Strahd. After narrowly surviving a confrontation with Strahd and his vampire and werewolf minions, the badly wounded companions managed to escape Barovia through the activation of the amulet by Delina and were transported back to Faerûn, about half a day's travel away from Fireshear.

Behind the scenes

 * Minsc was the roleplaying character of Cameron Tofer years before being part of the Baldur's gate story. In fact many of the characters from the Baldur's Gate video game featured in a real pen-and-paper campaign run by James Ohlen.
 * Minsc appears in all the games in the Baldur's Gate series and is voiced by Jim Cummings.

Appearances

 * Video games
 * Baldur's Gate
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
 * Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (mention only)
 * Neverwinter
 * Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms 
 * Novels
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn novelization
 * Comics
 * Legends of Baldur's Gate
 * Shadows of the Vampire
 * Frost Giant's Fury