History YMMV / TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind

* CrazyAwesome: Divayth Fyr is considered this by most ''Morrowind'' fans, due to him being a 4,000 year old wizard, collector of Dwemer artifacts, and slightly crazy genius who surrounds himself with opposite-sex clone wife/daughters, diseased zombie-esque maniacs and [[spoiler:the last living dwarf]]. He would even become the unofficial mascot of the ''Elder Scrolls'' lore community for a time.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJD-Ufi1jGk main theme]] is lifted from the [[https://youtu.be/Gu77Vtja30c?t=179 Jupiter movement]] of Music/GustavHolst's ''Planets'' suite.

** [[BenevolentMageRuler Master Aryon]] is the [[OnlySaneMan last truly sane]] Telvanni councilor who seeks to save his xenophobic and isolationist Great House from their own self destructive ways. Seeking to replace the self serving Archmagister, he grooms the Nerevarine to one day take the position by using them as his agent and guiding them into becoming a powerful sorcerer. In the meantime, Aryon secures his own position by gathering other mages as allies through skilled diplomacy or impromptu rescue and makes the Telvanni stronger by ordering the assassination of key targets in rival Great Houses and leveraging council support to turn Imperial laws to his advantage. Once his powerbase is secure, Aryon calls on the now magically skilled Nerevarine to [[KlingonPromotion challenge and replace]] the current Archmagister to finally have a leader who shares his values and secure the future of [[TheMagocracy Great House Telvanni]].

** [[GentlemanThief "Gentleman" Jim Stacey]] is the leader of the Morrowind Thieves' Guild and seeks to expands his organization's influence in a xenophobic nation. A charismatic and quick thinking master thief, he fights back against his criminal rivals the [[TheMafia Camonna Tong]] and their Fighter's Guild puppets by cleansing the latter of its corrupt leadership. Using bribery and blackmail to turn a few leaders to his side, he eventually organizes the assassination of the Fighter's Guild leader to ensure to the Tong is too weak to further target his people. Outside of such dirty business, Stacey shows his softer side by reviving the [[JustLikeRobinHood Bal Molagmer order]] to aid the less fortunate in Vvardenfell, while also improving his guild's image in the eyes of the common people. Between stealing valuables for overtaxed peasants and giving them lands deeds to save their homes, [[KarmicThief he uncovers corruption]] in many of the higher echelons of dark elf society, and he ultimately retires content with the future of his guild ensured.

* MagnificentBastard: [[GentlemanThief "Gentleman" Jim Stacey]] is the leader of the Morrowind Thieves' Guild and seeks to expands his organization's influence in a xenophobic nation. A charismatic and quick thinking master thief, he fights back against his criminal rivals the [[TheMafia Camonna Tong]] and their Fighter's Guild puppets by cleansing the latter of its corrupt leadership. Using bribery and blackmail to turn a few leaders to his side, he eventually organizes the assassination of the Fighter's Guild leader to ensure to the Tong is too weak to further target his people. Outside of such dirty business, Stacey shows his softer side by reviving the [[JustLikeRobinHood Bal Molagmer order]] to aid the less fortunate in Vvardenfell, while also improving his guild's image in the eyes of the common people. Between stealing valuables for overtaxed peasants and giving them lands deeds to save their homes, [[KarmicThief he uncovers corruption]] in many of the higher echelons of dark elf society, and he ultimately retires content with the future of his guild ensured.

* NightmareRetardant: After the [[EldritchAbomination parade of horrors]] that are the ash creatures (especially the Ascended Sleepers,) the Ash Vampires, Dagoth Ur's most powerful servants, look like very muscly guys with square ancient Persian beards wearing nothing but a tiny loincloth. Suffice to say, not very intimidating.

** The quest where you have to escort an unpleasant lady to a shrine inside the Ghostgate within two days. What makes this quest frustrating is that she moves at a snail's pace and her [[ArtificialStupidity AI is pretty bad.]] There are also cliff racers and other wildlife that can potentially kill her.
** Completing "Silent Pilgrimage" properly. You have to go from Vivec to an isolated shrine west of Dagon Fel without talking to anyone, including for fast travel. Should you intiatie the quest without any teleportation magic, it's a *long* walk from the bottom of the map to the top.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many claim that this game was the first in the series to flesh out the lore and differentiate it from other high fantasy settings. In actuality, many of the “weird” elements of the Elder Scrolls setting go back to ''Redguard'' (Creator/MichaelKirkbride[='s=] first game with the series) and a few even as far as ''Daggerfall''.

** Goblins, which are relatively weak mooks in all other Elder Scrolls games, are formidable damage sponges in the ''Tribunal'' expansion, having high strength, lots of health, the ability to block hits with shields, and sometimes healing potions which they drink mid-battle. Often, they spawn with the Goblin Club, a crude wood and stone club which is actually the ''[[LethalJokeItem hardest-hitting blunt weapon in the game]]'' and can kill even high-level characters in about three hits.

** Goblins, which are relatively weak [[Mooks]] in all other Elder Scrolls games, are formidable damage sponges in the ''Tribunal'' expansion, having high strength, lots of health, the ability to block hits with shields, and sometimes healing potions which they drink mid-battle. Often, they spawn with the Goblin Club, a crude wood and stone club which is actually the ''[[LethalJokeItem hardest-hitting blunt weapon in the game]]'' and can kill even high-level characters in about three hits.

* JunkRare: ''Tribunal'' adds three artifacts with dubious enchantments that are primarily meant to be donated to the Mournhold Museum Of Artifacts, since you need to donate two items to progress with the main questline. These are The Robe of the Lich (which drains 600 health upon equipping it), The Mace of Slurring (which damages the target's Speechcraft), and the [=BiPolar=] Blade (which is enchanted to both rally and demoralize its target at the same time). While the enchantment is certainly "junky", the [=BiPolar=] Blade still has base damage on par with the game's other legendary two-handed swords, making it something of a LethalJokeItem. Better still, it is acquired at the end of a MatchmakerQuest which requires no combat, allowing [[DiscOneNuke a low-level player to pick it up very early in the game]]. Compare that to some of the other legendary two-handed swords like Chrysamere and The Iceblade of the Monarch, which must be won from tough foes near the end of lengthy faction questlines.

* GoodBadBugs:
** Some of the Ash creatures have vigorous running animations, but the creatures actually move slowly. This leads to an effect that looks like slow-motion running, a la Baywatch.
** One of the easiest money earning methods takes advantage of a rounding error, and doesn't even require decent stats: the game works out the total price of goods differently depending on whether you click on a whole stack of items at once or add them individually. Simply pick up a large stack of cheap items. Go to a merchant and add them to your "sell" stack one by one and the game will raise the price by the minimum value rounded up to a whole coin on each click. Sell four hundred arrows, then [[MoneyForNothing buy the whole stack back for just one]]...
** Because potion effects stack, if you drink two sujammas, your Intelligence attribute will be drained entirely, but once the effect wears off, your magicka reserve will be restored entirely.
** The Soultrap spell has a glitch that, if combined with another spell effect, will make the latter permanent. This can allow you to create entire armies of summoned creatures that never disappear, and can allow you to max out your stats to god-like levels. All without worrying about the effects running out.
** Draining and/or damaging a skill's level before getting it trained will have the trainer treat that stat as is, allowing you to level a skill to 100 with any trainer and cheaply too. Of course this also means if you fortify a skill, it'll cost more to level for no reason. This can be used to raise your character's level far beyond what the developers intended. Gaining a level is tied to improving class skills, which puts an effective level cap to where all your class skills are maxed out. This circumvents that limitation.
** By 'juggling' weapons that grant stat bonuses, it's possible to have the effect stack with itself and render you nigh-godlike. This allows you to complete the game in a [[http://speeddemosarchive.com/Morrowind.html matter of minutes]].
** You can fire projectiles [[TacticalDoorUse through closed (interior) doors]] to overcome staggering odds.
** By default, the game seemingly intends for you to either accept Wraithguard from Vivec, or kill Vivec, loot a depowered Wraithguard from him, and then have Yagrum Bagarn jury-rig it so it works. However, the game forgets to remove the death item status of the "Unique Dwemer Artifact"[[note]]the item Yagrum Bagarn jury-rigs[[/note]] from Vivec's inventory after you accept the normal Wraithguard from him, meaning you can get Wraithguard from him, then kill him and take the Unique Dwemer Artifact, then have Bagarn power that up, ''allowing you to have two Wraithguards, one for each hand''[[note]]the regular one is for the right hand, while the jury-rigged one is for the left hand[[/note]] - you'll still have to deal with the [[MaximumHPReduction massive health debuff]] from the jury-rigged Wraithguard[[note]]as well as strangely having the appearance of a left-handed Daedric Gauntlet[[/note]], though[[note]]although there isn't much point in wearing both at the same time outside of RuleOfCool, since you can't dual-wield in ''Morrowind''[[/note]]. The Morrowind Patch Project corrects this, making it so it's only possible to obtain 1 Wraithguard, although as somewhat of a compensation, the massive health debuff from the jury-rigged Wraithguard is gone[[note]]said debuff was because of a fault in the game's programming; it's ''supposed'' to debuff your current total health, but it would instead target your total health period[[/note]], it's now a right-handed equip, and it has the correct model.

* ScrappyMechanic: There are a few.
** Spell reflection if you're a magic-oriented character. Many enemies in the game will randomly throw your powerful destruction spell right back at you - which, considering the likely power of your spells combined with your own [[SquishyWizard squishiness]], is more than likely to kill you outright. Gets absolutely ridiculous, to the point of being unplayable, in the expansions. Further complicating matters is that any enemy with even a small percentage of spell reflection can cause this to happen due to how the mechanic works. For example, an enemy with 10% Reflect doesn't reflect 10% of your damage back at you, which would be more tolerable. It means that enemy has a 10% chance to reflect ''the entire force of your spell'' back at you. Even low to mid-tier enemies like Ash Ghouls and Atronachs have at least a 20% Reflect.
** The Imperial Legion's fixation on uniforms. When you first join, you're given an Imperial Chain Cuirass as your uniform that you HAVE to wear if you want to talk to anyone in the Legion. As you advance through the ranks, you'll be given additional armor pieces and increasingly better cuirasses up to the mighty Lord's Mail, which is one of the best armor pieces in the game. Until then though, you're forced to carry around least one Imperial-type cuirass with you (as you'll most likely find much better armor rather quickly) and if you make the mistake of talking to anyone in the Legion without wearing it, you'll be curtly informed that you're out of uniform (which will cut off further communication) and suffer a small disposition loss with that person. Note that this will even extend to any fellow soldiers you're sent to ''rescue'', who apparently [[SkewedPriorities care more about the Legion's dress policies than they do about being saved from murderous Daedra worshippers or bandits]]. The Legion is also the only faction in the game that has this mechanic, making it seem even more out of place.
** Having to wait several days between quests for the East Empire Company in ''Bloodmoon''. While it makes sense in-universe in that construction on the colony is ongoing between assignments becoming available (and those assignments are usually you removing issues that were holding up construction,) it unfortunately allows all of Solstheim's [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou vicious and plentiful wildlife]] to respawn during that time. The lack of fast travel across much of the island means you'll be battling the same packs of wolves and hordes of Riekling Raiders every time you cross the same track of wilderness. While not overly challenging to a high-level character, they do wear out your equipment and greatly slow your traveling speed.
** Stamina drains as you run and the more Stamina you lose, the more often tasks you perform fail. This leads to players having a hard time dealing with anything after running a short distance, including battle, unlocking things, and bartering.
** The beast races ([[CatFolk Khajiit]] and [[LizardFolk Argonians]]) not being able to wear boots or full helms. This cuts them off from using some of the best equipment in the game, like the Boots of the Apostle (legendary Light Armor boots with a Levitation enchantment) and Masque of Clavicus Vile (a legendary Heavy Armor full helm with a massive Fortify Personality enchantment). The game does [[JustifiedTrope Justify]] it as each race has non-humanoid feet and snouts too long to fit under helmets, but it is extremely unpopular nonetheless. (All future games in the series changed it to allow these races to wear any boots or helmets available.)
** The combat system's RNG, though normal enough in some other games, becomes incredibly annoying in a first-person game. Veterans don't have as much trouble with it, but new players are usually baffled by the fact that they're firing arrows or slashing their swords and going dead-on point-blank without doing a single point of damage. The main things are that there's no animation for a missed attack aside from the target not reacting, and it adds another level of difficulty to hitting your attacks on top of actually hitting the target (which, in most games, RNG mechanics are an abstraction for to begin with).

* EnsembleDarkhorse: A few notable ones.
** Jiub. His badass appearance, the fact that he is the first character players encounter, the fact that he is a fellow prison-ship prisoner along with the player, and his friendliness all make him very popular with fans, despite only having a few lines before being [[PutOnABus put... or rather, kept on a boat.]] There are more than a few [[GameMod mods]] that bring him back and add quests centered around him. Later, in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', there is a mention of him having been canonized as a Saint for ridding Vvardenfell of all [[GoddamnedBats Cliff Racers]]. Finally, in the ''Dawnguard'' expansion to ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', [[spoiler: he returns in person. The player can encounter Jiub while wandering the Soul Cairn, where soul trapped individuals eventually end up; as it turns out, Jiub was in Kvatch just in time for the Oblivion Crisis, and his soul was captured by an invading dremora. Although initially somewhat oblivious to his true fate, he asks the player to collect pages from the first part of his epic twenty-six volume Opus, ''The Rise and Fall of Saint Jiub the Eradicator Hero of Morrowind and Savior of the Dunmer.'']]
** Divayth Fyr has inspired a rabid fandom for a guy who has only a short (but vital) role in the game's main quest. Being a CoolOldGuy DimensionalTraveler who is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Really 4000 Years Old]], has made himself multiple OppositeSexClone wife/daughters, has a [[TheCollector large collection]] of legendary artifacts (which you can take... [[LockAndKeyPuzzle if you can find the keys]]...) and [[spoiler: helps the PlayerCharacter become TheAgeless]] tends to cause that.
** M'aiq the Liar makes his first appearance here and was so beloved that he was brought back for each game that followed.
** Heddvild, the big [[EveryoneLovesBlondes blonde]] Nord woman in Balmora, is surprisingly used in a lot of fanfiction and some people have even "[[CanonWelding cast]]" [[HeroOfAnotherStory her as]] the PlayerCharacter in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]''.
** Crassius Curio, an imperial nobleman whose sponsorship you must gain to join House Hlaalu. He is memorable for his DirtyOldMan personality, for being the only house sponsor who actually takes a liking to you and has the easiest task to get him to sponsor you (which is to strip naked, regardless of your gender). You can ask him for advice with house quests, which will lead you to find he actually has a firm moral code when it comes to political matters. This adds the option to a number of the quests to report corrupt officials to him.
** And of course Tarhiel, despite being a OneSceneWonder who usually dies upon meeting him, because said scene is very memorable and establishes how Magic works in this game. Like M'aiq, he received numerous shout-outs in the following games.

* GameBreaker:
** Players can brew potions. These potions are more effective depending on how high the player's Intelligence stat is. However it is possible to brew Intelligence-enhancing potions with dirt-common ingredients. The Intelligence buff you get from that can then be used to brew even more powerful Intelligence potions, which can be used to brew yet '''more''' powerful Intelligence-enhancing potions. This can go on as long as you have enough ingredients (and as noted, the ingredients are very common.) When your Intelligence stat has reached the desired level of godliness, go ahead and brew whatever over-powered mega-potions you want--from Restore Health 9999 Points on Self for 9999999 seconds to 100% Sanctuary on self for 999999 seconds to Immunity to Magicka/Frost/Fire/Shock/Poison/Normal Weapons on Self for 99999 seconds. Creating a potion of Fortify Agility will mean enemies will always miss and you will always hit, although you can still be hit by magic.
** The Corprus Disease. The effects of the disease boost your strength and endurance, but drains a host of other attributes. Both gains and losses from this are cumulative over time, meaning that if you go to sleep for a year, you'll have 0 in the drained attributes, but a strength and endurance in the hundreds. When you finish the relevant quest, ''only the drain is removed''.
** Abusing the Mercantile system is surprisingly easy once the player gets into the midgame and starts finding rare equipment[[note]]Glass, Ebony, Daedric[[/note]]. Selling off rare equipment is essentially always worth more than a merchant can afford, but one can offset this by buying as much of the merchant's items as possible, waiting for their stock of gold to replenish, and selling their equipment back over time. Even without abusing reselling, simply selling off high-level equipment your character won't get use out of will solve most of your money problems before the end of the main quest.

* MagnificentBastard:
** Azura. Simply put, ''the entire plot'' of the game happens according to her plan. Even if you take the "[[TakeAThirdOption Backpath]]" method of completing the main quest, which can get you out of working with ''every other party'' including the Empire and Vivec, she will still benefit.
** King Hlaalu Helseth. Fail to capture the throne of Wayrest during the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall?]]'' He returns to his mother's homeland and captures the throne there. The former King Llethan is old and weak? Helseth poisons him and usurps his throne, killing Llethan's chosen heir in the process. Some "Nerevarine" character is making news in Vvardenfell? He sends the Dark Brotherhood to kill the Nerevarine. When that fails, Helseth gets the Nerevarine to work for ''him''. The in-game book [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:A_Game_at_Dinner A Game at Dinner]] also provides a great example, in which Helseth roots out a spy.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Once the player gets a decent amount of the Main Quest finished, Caius Cosades informs the player that [[spoiler:he's been recalled to the Imperial City, and has to leave Morrowind]]. During this, he notes offhand that the days of the Empire are almost over, and that when the Emperor dies hell will break loose. Come ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', Tamriel is invaded by the LegionsOfHell after the Emperor is assassinated during the opening. And then come ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the Empire is revealed to [[spoiler:be a [[VestigialEmpire decaying fraction]] of its former self, torn apart by Elven invasion and various provincial uprisings]].

* ScrappyWeapon: Polearms. Though fans have been lamenting about their loss (each game in the series that has followed does not include them), it's rare to find someone who actually ''uses'' them. A major factor is that they're two-handed weapons, meaning you cannot use a shield or light source in your off-hand, while doing damage on par with equivalent material one-handed weapons. As in RealLife, their actual strength is in their superior reach.

** Some humanoid eschew weapons in favor of [[GoodOldFisticuffs fighting you bare-handed]]. In ''Morrowind'' unarmed combat doesn't immediately deal damage to your health, but to your fatigue bar. Once drained, you fall to the ground, at which point you suffer regular damage to your health bar. This effectively means that a skilled unarmed duelist can stun-lock you in combat. Because having drained fatigue means you also have a vastly decreased chance of hitting your enemy, you also can't fight back effectively, and because running also requires fatigue, you also can't run away, doubly so because fists have inexplicably high reach. This becomes less of a problem at higher levels, and players relying on magic should never have too many problems, but for a low-leveled character unarmed enemies can be truly annoying foes.