The opening sequence of Dragon Age II follows Hawke's family as they flee northwards to the Free Marches region as refugees from the invading Darkspawn hordes.

Hawke is a pivotal figure behind the origins of the worldwide conflict between the setting's magicians ("Mage" within series fiction) and their custodians the Templar Order, and also plays an important role during a subsequent extradimensional invasion of Thedas by demonic beings as depicted in Dragon Age: Inquisition.

However, Hawke has a distinct origin story and character arc within the narrative of Dragon Age II, and is neither a hero nor a villain as the game has no morality system.

Several critics have retrospectively analyzed Hawke as an atypical and tragic video game protagonist who is not meant to be empowered with full agency over the narrative of Dragon Age II, finding merit in BioWare's creative vision for the character.

Hawke's choice of class determines whether Bethany (for warriors and rogues) or Carver (for mages) survive the journey from Ferelden to Kirkwall, the hometown of their mother Leandra Amell.

According to BioWare Art Director Matt Rhodes, a staff member working in the visual development team "ended up being a launch pad for our protagonist".

Boulton has worked with BioWare on other projects, including minor roles in Origins as well as Mass Effect: Andromeda where he played a major supporting character named Reyes.

[11] With regards to playing a lead character in a video game that is meant to embody the disparate gameplay choices made by a player, Boulton said he kept a good sense of where he would be in his neutral or natural state and from there, he would "branch out" emotionally when acting out various lines from Hawke's three distinct personalities.

[11] As a result of the rushed developmental cycle of Dragon Age II, a substantial amount of content involving Hawke were cut before the final release of the game.

[12] A major unused storyline involved a mage version of Hawke's struggle to withstand demonic possession while being trapped in his or her own mind, a situation that often confronts individuals with magical abilities in the Dragon Age setting.

Gaider noted that "Hawke is the only mage who apparently never struggles with this" within the narrative of Dragon Age, and it is a character arc he deeply regretted being cut from the final game.

Hawke has no choice but to raise funds to pay the bribe that the group needs to enter the city, where they take up residence in Gamlen's small dilapidated house in the impoverished Lowtown district.

Following the death of Viscount Dumar, the Templar Order's local chapter led by Knight-Commander Meredith Stennard assume control of Kirkwall and rules it with an iron fist for the next three years, with mages in particular receiving heavy-handed and oppressive treatment.

Although Hawke maintains a distance from the conflict between the factions, their recurring clashes grow increasingly violent, culminating in the Mage-Templar War following an act of terrorism committed by Anders against the Kirkwall Chantry.

In the 2014 video game Dragon Age: Inquisition, Hawke reemerges following the conclusion of the Mage-Templar War and the revelation of Corypheus' identity as the Elder One.

[19] In response to BioWare's announcement, Fraser Brown was appreciative of Hawke's origin story and believed that it was in line with the creative vision of Dragon Age II.

[19] In an opinion piece published by Game Developer which discussed negative fan reception towards Hawke, Katherine Cross rhetorically questioned whether "empathy with someone fleeing desperately for their lives with their family is really such a terrible thing to cultivate in a medium where standing in someone else's shoes is the whole point?".

Cunningham wished to see more video games which are willing to follow the example set by Dragon Age II, "subtly changing tone and even dialogue as the player shapes a character's personality".

[24] Eric Van Allen from Destructoid identified an overly dramatic response to a non-player character in the Mark of the Assassin downloadable content (DLC) pack to be a standout moment involving a sarcastic Hawke personality.

In retrospect, some critics have focused on Hawke's characterization as a tragic figure who contributes pathos to the game's narrative, even though the character does not provide players with full agency over the story's outcome.

[27] Writing for Remeshed, Cora Walker summarized Hawke's character arc to be essentially about a person burdened with power and yet coping with loss in a world that does not make either scenario easy.

[28] Fraser Brown from PC Gamer was of the view that a lack of control by the player as Hawke, who is important but often powerless, in turn gives the world of Thedas and its characters more agency.

[26] On the other hand, Dennis C. Scimeca from The Escapist said the choices he made by role-playing as a version of Hawke who tries to walk a middle line between the warring factions was undermined by Dragon Age II's incomplete narrative which "fell apart" by its third act.