Why Baldur's Gate 3's Key Art is Missing a Key Companion

screenrant.com:

Every time a player boots up , they are greeted with artwork depicting several of the game's key companions. While this image features major party members who can be acquired early into Act 1, it also strangely leaves out one of the game's most important supporting cast members, Karlach. Meanwhile, a minor character like Mizora, whose story is interwoven with Karlach's, is fairly prominent, standing just behind the game's signature warlock, Wyll.

Karlach is typically introduced just after meeting Wyll, but she remains relevant throughout the game. The fiery barbarian is often a source of humor but also has one of the most tragic stories in the game. Because of this, it is no wonder that her absence was noticed, with many wondering where the companion is and why they aren't featured on the artwork for the game.

In Baldur's Gate 3, 25 characters can join your Camp, allowing you to share meals, stories and moments with your companions throughout the story.

is a largely narrative-driven game, and because of this, it can be preferable to go into the game blind on the first playthrough. This makes it possible that one reason for Karlach's absence is to avoid spoilers, as most fans will be introduced to the tiefling as an antagonist to Wyll, whom players are likely to meet first. If it was widely known that Karlach was a playable character, players may be more inclined to trust her at their first meeting.

Throughout Baldur's Gate 3's extensive runtime, Karlach wins the hearts of players with her emotional story which is propped up by excellent dialogue.

While this sounds plausible at first, it has a major issue that makes it unlikely. The biggest problem is that Karlach is front and center on the physical disc of the game, which was released in early 2024. The PS5 version shows her alone on the disc, and the Xbox Series X version shows her next to another missing origin character, the Dark Urge. It could be argued that the only spoiler to be gleaned from this is that