Baldur’s Gate 3 pairings featured prominently in AO3’s 2024 shipping rankings, led by Astarion/Tav at No. 4. These are relationship categories in a ranking—not individual fanfiction stories—and published accounts disagree on how many BG3 pairings made the top 100.
Which Baldur’s Gate 3 pairings appeared in the ranking?
Esports.gg’s account of AO3 Ship Stats 2024 lists six Baldur’s Gate 3 relationship categories. Tav is the player character; “Reader” is a reader-insert pairing category. The ranks below are positions in the reported 2024 list, not measures of the gaps in popularity between pairings.
| 2024 rank | Pairing | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Astarion/Tav | Character and player character |
| 31 | Gale/Tav | Character and player character |
| 45 | Astarion/Gale | Two BG3 characters |
| 52 | Astarion/Reader | Character and reader proxy |
| 56 | Astarion/The Dark Urge | Two BG3 characters |
| 85 | The Dark Urge/Enver Gortash | Two BG3 characters |
Source for the six entries and their positions: Esports.gg’s account of AO3 Ship Stats 2024. Game Developer independently highlights Astarion/player character at No. 4 and Dark Urge/Enver Gortash at No. 85.
Why do reports give different totals?
Game Developer says five Baldur’s Gate 3 romances reached the top 100, while Esports.gg lists six BG3 pairings. The linked AO3 report could not be opened, so the discrepancy cannot be resolved from those accounts. The six-item list is therefore best read as what Esports.gg reports, not as an independently confirmed total.
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Game Developer’s coverage was published on March 27, 2025, and both accounts describe 2024 rankings. They are historical results, not a live AO3 chart.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the rankings show—and what they do not
Astarion/Tav’s No. 4 position and the presence of several other BG3 pairings indicate substantial interest in these relationship categories on AO3. They do not establish how many works or readers each category had, how far apart the entries were, or how representative AO3 is of the game’s wider audience. The accessible accounts provide no verified engagement totals, work counts, percentages, or ranking methodology.
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Game Developer also reports that game writer Alexa Ray Corriea discussed the rankings in a GDC 2025 talk about observing fandom and considering character appeal during ideation. Corriea’s reported point was: “Looking at how your fan base is consuming your game, or how your players are consuming other games you admire…can help with your own character ideation phase.” That is a creative prompt, not evidence that ship rankings predict sales, player numbers, or the success of a character concept.
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