Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 5 Makes a Very Niche Community Character Canon

Warning: Spoilers for the Baldur's Gate 3 epilogue, as added in Nov. 30's Patch 5, as well as the voice cast Dungeons & Dragons session below.

From thousands of lines of dialogue to a much better inventory system a whole get-together post-game, Larian Studios introduced a slew of exciting updates in its absolutely massive Patch 5 on Thursday. But the most niche? Bing Bong. Bing Bong is canon.

For those who don't know (which will probably be plenty of fans), Bing Bong is an imp NPC who was introduced when the voice cast of Baldur's Gate 3 played and live-streamed a session of Dungeons & Dragons in-character back in September. If you've ever played D&D, you know how quickly a seemingly random NPC can become the star of the party, and Bing Bong did just that.

As chaotically embodied by Dungeon Master Mark Hulmes, Bing Bong quickly became both yet another point of contention between Lae'zel and Shadowheart and a fast fan-favorite. Seriously, the community has not forgotten Bing Bong, from some absolutely delightful fan art to calls from the voice actors to get Bing Bong in the game somehow. Larian even addressed Bing Bong in a post on X/Twitter shortly after the D&D session.

It's Monday morning and we're still thinking about Bing Bong. https://t.co/og5NbqxhqO

— Larian Studios (@larianstudios) September 25, 2023

Well, it's finally happened… kind of. Bing Bong might not be in the game, but he is canon, mentioned by Shadowheart in a line of dialogue seemingly in the epilogue, as spotted by u/wew_lad on Reddit.

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It's worth noting that there are some fairly specific circumstances that need to be in place to get this already very specific reference. As noted by @juli4x_py on X/Twitter, you need to romance Shadowheart in order to get this dialogue, where she talks about all the two of you have done in the months between the end of the events of the main game and Withers' rockin epilogue party. You'll also need to have Shadowheart spare the Nightsong and align with Selûne in Act 2, although perhaps Shar-aligned Shadowheart still has a Bing Bong mention that we haven't seen.

"Well, there's the visit to the House of the Moon, fending off Sharran assassins, that stray imp that joined us – Bing Bong, wasn't it?" she says. "We've squeezed a lot – and I'm glad I got to share it all with you."

they made bing bong canon lmaoooo pic.twitter.com/VZjtYyM2OL

— THEObr🌞mic (@theobromic_) November 30, 2023

Needless to say, fans are delighted (especially considering Bing Bong reached an, uh, untimely demise at the hands of Lae'zel in the D&D session). Or, as u/LEPOL puts it, "Finally, justice for Bing-Bong!"

"You just can't help but love Larian and how much attention they're paying to the community," adds u/Vaiara.

Long live Bing Bong.

If Thursday's patch has inspired you to dive into Baldur's Gate 3 all over again, check out our full Baldur's Gate 3 walkthrough, or our Shadowheart romance guide if you're really trying to get that Bing Bong line.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.