This 'Cooler Karlach' mod lets you make your big demon wife even better with added scars and demonic grit

A modded Karlach, a huge tiefling barbarian, examines her infernal claws.

(Image credit: Larian Studios / labotor of Nexus Mods)

I like Karlach—she's got the energy of a golden retriever despite being able to rip and tear until the job is done. I am, however, impressed by how untouched her face is. Her body's a mess of muscle and scar tissue, but her visage? Pristine, untouched. Well, if you ever wanted her to be more battle-damaged, the modding community's got you.

Several variations on Karlach a muscle-bound tiefling barbarian, all with more scars than her current iteration. — (Image credit: Larian Studios / labotor on Nexus Mods)

Karlach enjoyed a major glow-up during her early access days—her work-in-progress model was a lot smaller and far less beefy. This is to be expected, as everything from that time was a hefty work in progress. Before she hit the gym and got yoked on the fires of Avernus, though, players managed to datamine a preview of her, according to the mod's creator, labotor:

"A certain datamined version of Karlach was circulated around [in early access] that included a new scarred and beefier bodytype + accompanying face," labotor wrote. "The body ended up introduced in Patch 7... but Larian, to the surprise of some, opted to go for a different, much softer face.

Some liked it, but quite a few (me included) were disappointed - nothing about the new face says 'grizzled, battle-hardened warrior that's been trapped ripping demons apart in the Hells' … hence this mod."

The mod also comes with some extra customisation for everyone's favourite infernal war machine, including eyes with black sclera, infernal irises, and a previously-scrapped dreadlocks hairstyle. I have to say, I'm actually a huge fan—while I can see why they went with the newer design, which lets Karlach's excitable tiefling side through, I'm a touch mournful over what could've been.

After all, this is someone who spent her time stomping imp skulls in the hells—and her body tells the tale of that journey. Larian didn't pull its punches with it, either, she's genuinely ripped up. The fact that all stops at her neck, though—bar her chipped horn? Let my paladin's big demon wife look battle-hardened, anyone with taste knows that scars are distinguishing, anyway.

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.