Baldur's Gate 3's least-popular character could be its most important, according to this fan theory

gamesradar.com:

Baldur's Gate 3 fans are debating the game's most important characters - and there seems to be something of a gulf between their popularity and how central they are to the story.

This article contains spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3.

In a post on the game's subreddit, one player made their pitch for Lae'zel as "the unofficial main character of the game," arguing that "her story has by far the largest ties to the main plot of the game and the consequence of her plotline on the lore of the Forgotten Realms are huge." They go on to argue that since Baldur's Gate 3 is canon, Lae'zel's story - which concerns the history and origin myth of her entire race - has significant ramifications on D&D's entire plotline.

Unfortunately for Lae'zel, she's the least popular of Baldur's Gate 3's Origin characters. She might be a slightly more popular companion, but she's also rude and antagonistic, which is likely to turn some players off using her. Compare her to the always-friendly Karlach, who as a Barbarian fulfills a pretty similar role to our unfortunate Githyanki Fighter, and it might not be too surprising that Lae'zel doesn't get too much time in the spotlight, despite her importance.

However, plenty disagree with the idea that the grumpy Gith is most important, and the main counter appears to be Shadowheart. One user points out that while you can completely avoid several substantial parts of Lae'zel's story, there's no dodging the Gauntlet of Shar, around which the entire second act hinges. That puts Shadowheart - who also carries the Prism that accelerates the story's first act - as a strong contender. She comes in 4th out of 6 in Larian's Origin character popularity poll but does seem to be a dramatically more popular companion