Varric Tethras

Dragon Age Origins
Female noble Warden
Alistair and Warden are king and queen of Fereldan
Bhelen Aeducan is king of Orzammar
Warden dealt the killing blow to the Archdemon

Dragon Age II
Male mage Hawke
Carver becomes a Gray Warden
Varric doesn't kill Bartrand
Hawke allies with the mages
Anders lives

Dragon Age Inquisition
Male Lavellan Inquisitor
Inquisitor allies with the mages
Stroud is left behind in the Fade
Gray Wardens are made allies
Public truce in Orlais
Inquisitor drinks from the Well of Sorrows

Option 1.
Varric’s very fond of talking. A lot. He loves the sound of his own voice, and is convinced other people do, as well. If people let him, he’ll happily engage them in cheerful conversation, drink, and games of Diamondback until they’re drunk. And possibly poor. Despite this, Varric hardly ever actually says anything about himself. Even when asked direct questions, he’ll most likely deflect, either with some half-truth that may or may not sound plausible, a joke, a story that may or may not be true, or by steering the conversation other ways. For someone so talkative, Varric is an extremely private person. It's rare that he'll tell anyone something personal about himself.

It’s also entirely likely that Varric’s memorizing everything the other person says, looking for information that could be of use to him, for the chance to make a profit on something, or even just fuel for his stories. Varric absolutely adores telling stories. There’s nothing better than an appreciative audience, and Varric loves being at the center of it.

In most other situations, though, Varric is more than happy to stand in the background and let someone else have the attention. There’s a reason that Hawke is the main figure in his stories, and not Varric, and it’s the same reason that Varric was more than happy to have first Bartrand and now the fictitious Elmand be the head of the family business. Varric’s type of work is much better done when he can be overlooked, considered far less important than someone else who remains the center of attention. The life of a hero is always incredibly complicated, and Varric has no desire to make his own life more so.

His life is really one giant pretense. He pretends to be the idle younger son, the cheerful friend who does nothing but drink and play Diamondback (for all that quite a few people know there’s more to him. He’ll continue to deny it). His sense of humor is near constant, to the point that sometimes it’s difficult to tell when he’s joking and when he’s telling the truth. And while being a shrewd businessman and caring more about coin than anything else isn’t really a pretense, Varric is secretly a bit of a softy. He’s unlikely to turn someone down if they really need help and it’s in his power to do so. Though he may complain and blame someone else the entire way.

Varric’s the kind of person who has a lot of “friends,” but few actual friends. Rare as they are, there’s not much he wouldn’t do for the people he genuinely cares about. This includes protecting them with his own life, and even (more importantly), with his own money. Not that he wants to admit it, of course, even if pressed. He has a reputation as a businessman to maintain, and that doesn’t include being the guy who goes behind his friends’ backs and gives away coin to keep them safe. Once someone gains his loyalty, it's pretty hard to get him to give up on them.

Despite his good qualities and charming exterior, Varric isn't necessarily a good guy. His morals are fairly loose, and he lies and cheats and steals with the best of them. Ultimately, Varric is concerned with his own survival and the survival of the people he cares about. He has absolutely no problem with killing - he has done so many times, without remorse. It doesn't matter if they're faceless mooks or acquaintances or even someone who's been helping them and is likely about to betray them, Varric will kill them without hesitation.

For Varric, his full potential would be reaching a place where he can be a little more honest with himself about his sentimentality and his capacity to do good. Part of him still believes that if he wasn't forced into helping, he'd be sitting out on the sidelines - when challenged on that in canon, his response is noncommittal. His full potential would include becoming more genuinely sure of himself, and settling into a mentor-like role.