This all makes a lot of sense.

Although, to go back to stealth_noodle's original question about characterization, I have found that, even in the kinds of "what if" and or AU stories you mention (and I should probably mention that when I classify fic, I consider "what if"/alternate reality stories to be a subset of AU), most of the time, when a PC is involved, it's not a generic PC, but one created by the author, often with a played game as at least a template. Especially in the case of the Warden; it's rather easier to keep a Hawke somewhat fuzzier. It's not *impossible* to write a generic or near-generic Warden -- I've done it a couple of times myself -- but even in non-canon based fic, it's not something I've seen very much.