History Literature / TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks

* ArtificialHuman: Well, Artificial Dunmer: Vivec's second mother, which was built by Dwemer.

* FearfulSymmetry: In ''The Mirror'', the protagonist is an expert at shield based combat. No matter who he fights, he can block and deflect their attacks almost indefinitely, until they slip up and he kills them. Until one day he meets someone with exactly the same fighting style as him, with the same skill level. [[spoiler: He loses... and it turns out they were brothers, separated while young. The surviving brother apparently never finds out the truth.]]

* YouAreNumberSix: According to ''Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st edition'', Altmer from the Summerset Isles don't have names, just combinations of numbers that sound like such to the few humans who visit the isles and hear them speaking to one another.

* DavidVersusGoliath: In ''16 Accords of Madness - Volume VI'', Sheogorath and Hircine challenge each other to summon beasts that will duel to the death; Hircine chooses a mutated daedroth while Sheogorath chooses a songbird. The songbird perches on the daedroth's snout and tricks it into [[EyeScream blinding itself with its own claws]], then proceeds to taunt it with cheerful song as it tears itself apart trying to find and kill its prey. The story is a WholePlotReference to one of Literature/AesopsFables, with the bird standing in for a fly and the daedroth for a lion, though it leaves out the part where the fly buzzes off bragging about its triumph and runs into a spider web.

* NoManOfWomanBorn: Andas in ''The Hope of the Redoran'' is the subject of a prophectic vision which declares that he shall never suffer pain or injury from blades, magic, disease, or poison, and not a drop of his blood will ever spill on the ground... none of which helps him when his cousin Athyn beats him to death with a club.

* TortureCellar: An extremely nightmarish one shows up about halfway through ''Horror of Castle Xyr'' after being discovered on the other side of a hidden passage. Its description is pretty brief, but still [[[[BodyHorror quite terrifying]] all the same.

* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: ''Night Falls on Sentinel'' ends with female knight Haballa about to use the pressure points described by assassin Jomic on him.

* MindScrew: Applies to the metaphysics and finer theological points of the ''Elder Scrolls'' universe anyway, but special mention has to go to the mysterious concept of CHIM briefly (and sketchily) outlined in ''The 36 Lessons of Vivec''. Even mentioning it is certain to provoke hours of heated philosophical discussion in certain corners of the Internet. The idea can mostly be likened to achieving [[{{UsefulNotes/Buddhism}} Nirvana]], but the specifics are often debated.

* OutscareTheEnemy: ''The Art of War Magic'' describes a battle between the Chimer and the Nords; the Nord shamans send a windstorm to confuse and dismay the Chimer army, but a crafty Chimer sorceror summons an ice demon and orders it to hide out of sight behind the Chimer army. When the Chimer try to retreat from the storm, the ice demon reveals itself and the Chimer, more scared of the demon than the storm, charge back towards the Nords and eventually win the battle.

-->[[TimeCrash "Don't you see where you really are?]] Don't you know who Shor [[GodInHumanForm really is?]] Don't you know [[RealityIsOutToLunchwhat this war is?"]]

* UnreliableNarrator[=/=]UnreliableExpositor: Sorting fact from fiction is a little hard here. Contradictory accounts are given in both the books themselves and in in-universe reactions to them.

* BreakoutCharacter: Originally a minor sidequest in Morrowind, the ''The Lusty Argonian Maid'' appears frequently, even the subject of some dialog, in ''Oblivion'' due to the MemeticMutation it received. By ''Skyrim'', an equally filthy sequel has been published.

-->''If an enemy is facing us, we might consider our options, and even [[KnowWhenToFoldEm slip away if his sword looks too big]]. If his back is to us, however, I personally favor knocking him down, and then jumping on his neck where the bones snap with a gratifying crunch. Of course, it is up to you and your personal style.''

* ConspiracyTheorist: The author of ''Tribunal—Living Lies'', who calls themselves "Disordinator", is one. They claim that the [[PhysicalGod three Living Gods]] mentioned in the title are in fact actually all one giant soul-stealing monster, who controls people's minds through chanting and bees with magical pollen. They even have an obligatory WaterSourceTampering accusation.

* SincerityMode: ''The Horror of Castle Xyr'' contains an exchange between Anara and the protagonist where she states that the Xyrs are loyal Imperial subjects; the protagonist replies, "As, I hear, are all Telvanni." The stage directions explicitly state that this line is meant to be read without ''any'' audible sarcasm, but also [[DeadpanSnarker that it never fails to get a laugh from the audience]] regardless of [[StrawanPolitical local political leanings]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition. And also check what the actual ratings are.

-->[[TimeCrash "Don't you see where you really are?]] [[GodInHumanForm Don't you know who Shor really is?]] [[RealityIsOutToLunch Don't you know what this war is?"]]

* AwesomeButImpractical: Sirollus Saccus in ''The Armorer's Challenge'' forges a suit of ebony platemail and a fire-enchanted dai-katana in order to win a bet with another blacksmith. It looks impressive when the gladiator wearing it first puts it on, but when he has to fight in it in an arena that's been partially flooded to resemble swamp terrain (because the duel is meant for picking army equipment for a campaign in Argonia), the water extinguishes the fire magic on the blade and the combination of heavy armor and mud makes it almost impossible for him to move, resulting in an easy victory for the opposing gladiator, who is wearing chainmail and carrying a spear.

* HeelRealization: ''The Lure of the Camonna Tong'' is an account of how one Dunmer decided to leave the [[GenericEthnicCrimeGang Camonna Tong]] after an attempt to intimidate an up-and-coming Argonian seamtress goes too far. He urges others to leave too, before they start SlowlySlippingIntoEvil.

* FancyDinner: ''The Feast of Saint Coellicia'' describes how an emperor famous for his DecadentCourt antics decided to commemorate a saint who died of starvation with a huge feast that lasted a full twelve hours and included 40 exotic dishes, such as birds drowned in fortified wine and eaten whole while the diner wears a cloth draped over their head (ostensibly to trap wine vapors, but really to prevent all the juices and viscera from spraying everywhere)[[note]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortolan_bunting This is based on a real life French dish and the only difference is the name of the bird]][[/note]], swans stuffed with so much filling that some ''exploded'', beehives roasted whole, pottage with duck eyes (the emperor is said to have only them about this until ''after'' they were done to invoke IAteWhat), and bread rolls stuffed with some sort of surprise, like huge pearls or a live dove.