History VideoGame / TheElderScrollsArena

** Though the High Elves ([=NPCs=] in Summurset Isle) still have their brownish golden skin, and Dark Elves ([=NPCs=] in Morrowind) still have their brownish black skin.

* AbsoluteCleavage: The female enemy mages.

* SexyPackaging: The [[Creator/BorisVallejo Vallejo-esque]] busty blonde wearing [[{{Stripperiffic}} roughly half a square foot of tight black leather]] on the box art probably didn't do much to help the game be taken seriously as a genuine RPG epic.

** There is no mention of the word "Daedra" whatsoever, though the Daedric Prince Boethiah is mentioned as a "Dark Elven goddess".

* RuleOfCool: The title "''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''" itself. One of the developers came up with the name just because he thought it sounded cool--and ''then'' it was decided what the actual Elder Scrolls should be. This is, in fact, how they named ''everything''. Or should that be "thinged everyname"?

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Several pedestrians that you will find wandering around the cities and countryside will inexplicably have blue hair.

* ContemptibleCover: The [[Creator/BorisVallejo Vallejo-esque]] busty blonde wearing [[{{Stripperiffic}} roughly half a square foot of tight black leather]] on the box art probably didn't do much to help the game be taken seriously as a genuine RPG epic.

** The Dark Brotherhood ''exists'' (though obviously not joinable)...but only as a creepy, influential cult. The professional assassin aspect was only brought in by ''Daggerfall'' (which in turn only used the religious aspect as a front for their actual business). It would not be until ''Oblivion'' that the two characterizations were truly merged.

* GameOverMan: Depending on how far in the main quest you have progressed, Ria Silmane or Jagar Tharn will appear in front of you when you die. Ria will lament how Tamriel is doomed without you, while Tharn will gloat about having defeated you and then consider resurrecting you into an undead minion.

* TheEmperor: A benevolent one! Of course, he's not around for most of the game. Most of Tamriel's other emperors have played the trope more straight by necessity, due to the DeadlyDecadentCourt.

* EveryoneIsASuper: Averted, for the only time in the Elder Scrolls series. Character classes that are not designated as "spellcasters" from the start cannot go on to learn magic at all.

* NintendoHard: [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Everything is already trying to kill you]], you'll be lucky to have any gold for your first few dungeons, all crime is a death sentence (instead of being arrested), poisons and disease are far more lethal than future games in the series, and to top it all off, the occasional GameBreakingBug may just finish you off. Good luck, you'll need it.

** The Dwarves are treated more like [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Tolkien dwarves]] than the Dwemer most fans would know from ''Morrowind'' on; absolutely none of the technological elements to them exist yet.

** There are no [[FictionalDocument in-universe]] [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks books]] to collect or read in this game, unlike later installments. The [[TomeOfEldritchLore Oghma Infinium]] can be obtained through a side-quest, but it only serves as a stat boost instead of a book that can actually be read. This was likely a data issue as much as anything (as ''Arena'' was released at the tail end of the floppy disk era and as CD-ROM drives were only starting to be adopted widely), and the number of books would've ballooned the data weight of the game (which is surprisingly svelte for how "big" it is as a game).

** [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Tolkien Orcs]] (who are also not playable, as [[PromotedToPlayable that'd come later]]).
** No playable ''Colovian humans'' (i.e. Imperials), who at this point don't even seem to exist; the Imperial Province (Cyrodiil) is stated to be a melting pot with no one dominant race, and the Imperial City is inhabited by dark-skinned humans (similar to Redguards) with naming conventions that are drastically different from actual Imperial names. The only named character in the game that is confirmed by the sequels to be an Imperial is [[TheEmperor Emperor Uriel Septim]] himself.

** Only the barest mention of how Dunmer or Altmer religion works, no mention of the concept of ''-mer'' for that matter. The Dark Elves are also referred to as "[[Franchise/DungeonsAndDragons Drow]]" at one point in the game.
** The Dwarves being treated more like [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Tolkien dwarves]].

** A CosmicKeystone artifact that has never been seen again.

** There are no [[FictionalDocument in-universe]] [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks books]] to collect or read in this game, unlike later installments. The [[TomeOfEldritchLore Oghma Infinium]] can be obtained through a side-quest, but it only serves as a stat boost instead of a book that can actually be read.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** ''Arena'' sets the Staff of Chaos up to be the CosmicKeystone of Tamriel... and the sequels never mention it again. According to the [=UESPWiki=], it was kept hidden [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Staff_of_Chaos somewhere in White Gold Tower]] (that huge tower in the middle of Imperial City in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'').[[note]]Though with a Citation Needed tag attached.[[/note]] [[http://www.imperial-library.info/content/imperial-palace Dialog in Arena]] says the staff is destroyed when the Emperor is freed, though this may have been [[RetCon retconned.]]
*** Sheogorath ''does'' mention the staff in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'', though it's just a passing mention.
** Same with General Warhaft, the Emperor's chief military adviser. As mentioned above, the CD-ROM version omits him from the ending cutscene, leaving it unexplained whether or not he is saved along with the emperor after Tharn is defeated; you have to play your way through the floppy disk version to see him get rescued. Even after this game, the only mention made of him is that he's written two really boring and useless books.

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: The CityGuards never patrol the streets, and only show up when ''you'' decide to start killing random bystanders. [[SkewedPriorities Never mind the monsters that walk the streets every night]], [[SarcasmMode they apparently need to focus all their effort on]] slaughtering the jackass that [[DisproportionateRetribution attacks doors]] [[CantGetAwayWithNothing that are locked]].

* DungeonCrawling: The game is all about this, even more so than the sequels. Since there are no joinable factions and very few places to receive side-quests other than random palaces and inns, the biggest source of your income will involve plundering dungeons and then selling whatever loot you can haul away in the cities. Since the world outside of the cities is infinite and randomly generated, you'll never run out of dungeons to plunder, even after beating the Main Quest.

** Similarly, the Argonians are gray-skinned humanoids with hair and [[LittleBitBeastly vaguely reptilian facial features]] instead of being full-on LizardFolk like the later games, and they have Greco-Roman names similar to those used by the Imperials in later games.

* UpdatedRerelease: The Deluxe Edition, released on CD-ROM instead of floppy disk, includes computer-animated video sequences, full voice-acting during cutscenes, and contains a slightly altered ending that [[AdaptedOut omits]] General Warhaft, so that only Emperor Uriel Septim is shown being freed from his dimensional prison. It also removes the copy protection notice that appears after escaping from the Imperial City's sewers at the start of the game.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can commit all sorts of crimes in this game (murder, theft, breaking and entering, trespassing, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sneaking into bedrooms without paying]]), with only a handful of CityGuards (which low-level players can easily evade by going indoors and coming back out, or vice-versa) being sent to kill you as a punishment. If you kill those guards, you can continue on with your business as though nothing happened. Even if you're caught stealing from a shop, the shopkeeper will only temporarily vanish from the shop while guards show up to attack you, but you always can come back to the shop later (in fact, immediately after leaving the building) and continue to conduct business with the very same person you tried to rob. Since there is no reputation or bounty system in ''Arena'', nor are there any joinable factions that can suspend or expel you, [[KarmaHoudini there are absolutely no long-term consequences for committing crimes]].