| 1 | The non-CivilWar factions of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. For the full list of characters, click [[Characters/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim here]]. |
| 2 | ---- |
| 3 | |
| 4 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | !The Companions |
| 7 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1487_0.png]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:1000: Jorrvaskr]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | A group of rough-and-tumble folks who excel at strength-at-arms. Their order traces its origins back to the original Companions of Ysgramor, the harbinger of humanity when they first landed on the shores of Skyrim. As such, they adhere to an honor code that holds them to a higher standard than any old band of thugs. They're headquartered in the mead hall Jorrvaskr, in the Wind district of Whiterun, in front of the legendary Skyforge. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | [[folder:The Companions in General]] |
| 13 | * AnarchyIsChaos: Averted. They operate without a defined leader, although the Harbinger comes fairly close to one. |
| 14 | * AncientTomb: Ysgramor's Tomb is an ancient tomb where members of the Companions are buried, located on an island northwest of Winterhold; you visit it with the other members of the circle during the companion quest-line ''"Glory of the Dead"'' after the death of [[spoiler:Kodlak Greymane]]. |
| 15 | ** Also Dustman’s Cairn, another tomb which is a key location in the Companions quest-line ''"Proving Honor"'' In which the Dragonborn and Farkas journey into the tomb to collect fragments of Wuuthrad. |
| 16 | * AnimalMotifs: Their uniform carries a very heavy wolf motif, and they refer to new recruits as "whelps" (a common term for baby wolves). [[spoiler:Given their predicament, this is ironic.]]. Two of the upper-echelon members, brothers, are named after real-life translations of the word "wolf" as well. |
| 17 | * AntiHero: They're good people who protect Whiterun and are noble warriors, but [[spoiler:several of them are also werewolves, many of whom embrace the gift and indulge it frequently]]. Some of them are also not that nice, though they warm up as you prove yourself on quests for them. |
| 18 | ** And when it comes down to it, they're really just a group of sellswords and bounty hunters, albeit ones in good standing with the rest of Skyrim. |
| 19 | * ArchEnemy: The Silver Hand serves as the Companions' primary enemies in their questline. |
| 20 | * BadassArmy: Started out as this: 500 warriors that settled Skyrim against all adversities. |
| 21 | * BadassCrew: Later downgraded to this. When the game takes place, there's less than a dozen of them, but they're still some of the finest warriors in Skyrim. |
| 22 | * BoringButPractical: Their signature Skyforge Steel weapons. Elven-tier [[note]]Tier 5 out of 9[[/note]] damage, Steel-tier [[note]]Tier 2 out of 9[[/note]] everything else, and this effectively makes it better than both. Eorlund gives you one freebie once you're past your probationary period, and any subsequent pieces he sells aren't all that expensive either. Plus, they gain the improvement benefits of the entry-level Steel Smithing perk in the Smithing tree. Players may hold on to their Skyforge steel for some time. Nord Hero weapons, which you gain the ability to make after finishing their questline, are the same Elven-tier strength, but are Iron-tier [[note]]Tier 1 out of 9[[/note]] in weight. And you can easily make it with the plentiful Ancient Nord weapons that you get from Draugr and Skeletons. |
| 23 | * BystanderSyndrome: Their official stance on the civil war is neutral. They refuse to get involved in political disputes because there's no real honor or glory in them. |
| 24 | * DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:As a result of a pact a previous Harbinger made with Hircine, members of the Companions' inner circle have the ability to transform into werewolves, but in return Hircine will claim ownership of their souls when they die. [[LoopholeAbuse However]], if you manage to cure your lycanthropy, the deal is broken, even if you're cured after your death.]] |
| 25 | * DiscOneNuke: Joining the Companions gets you access to Skyforge Steel weapons, which are Steel weapons with the stats of Elven weapons, meaning that it'll probably be one of the better weapons you can find early-game. |
| 26 | * DwindlingParty: [[spoiler:Non-lethal example, but when you travel with the Circle into Ysgramor's Tomb during the Companions questline ''Glory of the Dead'', not all of them make it to the end. Vilkas backs out in shame of losing control while avenging Kodlak, and Farkas bails halfway due to his fear of Frostbite Spiders.]] |
| 27 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: What's the first thing you see when first entering Jorrvaskr? A spat between two members that devolved into a fistfight by the time you enter. And everyone else just sits back and cheers it on - including Circle members, the de facto leaders of the group. |
| 28 | ** You might also get your first glimpse of them fighting a giant at a farm just outside Whiterun. You can help them kill it, and they'll gladly talk to you afterwards--Aela will congratulate you if you helped, or criticize you if you didn't. |
| 29 | * FamilyOfChoice: Most if not all of the members consider the Companions to be their true family. |
| 30 | * FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: [[spoiler:The Circle members are all [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]]. However, Vilkas and Farkas will eventually request that you help them cure their lycanthropy. The Dovahkiin can cure themselves too, and since both Skjor and Kodlak are dead by this point, doing so leaves Aela as the only remaining werewolf in the Circle (and, by extension, the entire guild).]] |
| 31 | * HomeBase: Jorrvaskr, an ancient mead hall located at the base of the Skyforge on the east side of the Wind District in Whiterun serves as the headquarters for the Companions. |
| 32 | * InfinityPlusOneSword: Wuuthrad has the same stats as a Daedric battle-axe, making it one of the most powerful weapons in the game. [[http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Wuuthrad#Smithing Its inability to be tempered was actually a bug in the game that was never fixed]]... until the Unofficial Patch came along. With that, Wuuthrad becomes perhaps the most powerful battleaxe in the game. However, it does not benefit from crafting specialization (not a bug), so in order to bring it to its maximum potential, a player would need to elevate his Smithing skill beyond 100 via enchanted gear or alchemy potions. Thus, the Companions quest-chain is quite profitable for a two-handed warrior character. Add on top of this the fact that its natural bonus damage to elves is ''not,'' in fact, counted as an enchantment, and as such it can be enchanted on top of that with a variety of new features, making it ''extremely'' effective. Later Unofficial Patches changed so that it could benefit from smithing perks, but also made it so that it couldn't be enchanted. It also fixed some bugs of its enchantment not affecting some elves like Orcs or elven vampires. |
| 33 | * LikeBrotherAndSister: They refer to one another as "Shield-Brother" and "Shield-Sister." [[SubvertedTrope Doesn't stop rumors that some of them are sleeping together, nor does it prevent you from marrying one.]] |
| 34 | * ManlyMan: They're a guild of grizzled Vikings who live in a great mead hall to rival Heorot, who value strength and honor above all else, and who never shy away from battle. [[spoiler:And don't forget the whole turning into werewolves thing.]] Even the few ladies among them are manlier than most people you'll encounter. |
| 35 | * MeaningfulName: Like the name suggests, completing their quests will eventually give you access to seven potential companions. Most of them are even potential candidates for marriage. |
| 36 | * MonsterAdventurers: [[spoiler:Due to having their lycanthropy bestowed on them by the Glenmoril Witches, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent the Companions can transform at will and have a far better control over their bestial urges when in werewolf form, unlike regular werewolves]]. Even whilst in human(oid) form, they can make use of the [[CursedWithAwesome benefits]] of their beast blood - for example, it renders them impervious to illness. This aids them in protecting the people of Skyrim.]] |
| 37 | * NamedWeapons: According to the ''Songs of the Return'', 'Wuuthrad' means 'Storm's Tears'. |
| 38 | * NobleWolf: [[spoiler:The companions are a group of honorable warriors who unlike most other people with lycanthropy can both transform at will, and are able to control themselves and won’t harm innocent civilians. However criminals, bandits, and members of the Silver Hand are fair game.]] |
| 39 | * OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:They were blessed by Hircine with lycanthropy and it's noted that their gift is different than that of normal were-creatures, since they still mostly keep control of themselves while transformed rather than attacking indiscriminately, however only the members of ''The Circle'' have Lycanthropy (Kodlak, Skjor, Aela, Farkas and Vilkas).]] |
| 40 | * PrivateMilitaryContractor: What they basically are. However, they have a strict stance on political neutrality and mostly take jobs to deal with criminals (either through violence or intimidation), to kill trespassing dangerous animals in people's homes, or to clear out crypts. Since the two formal military forces in the province are busy bleeding each other in a civil war, this means business is good for the Companions since strong sword-arms are still needed by the populace for some things, and the group's honor is (currently) unimpeachable. |
| 41 | * {{Protectorate}}: They are the avowed protectors of Skyrim, especially Whiterun. |
| 42 | * ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Nords in general are this, but these guys are more or less the epitome and template standard to which other Nords might aspire. They are not as exclusive as some Nords are seen to be, though; the guild has a history of accepting people of other races into their ranks. Currently, this includes Athis (a Dunmer), Ria (an Imperial), and the Dovahkiin (if playing as anything other than a Nord). |
| 43 | ** Further adding to their image as the ultimate HornyVikings, their ancient mead hall of Jorrvaskr is an upside-down Viking longboat, still bearing the name of that ship amongst the fleet of Ysgramor's Five Hundred Companions. |
| 44 | * SecretUndergroundPassage: The Underforge, a hidden chamber located underneath the ancient and legendary ''Skyforge'' where members of ''The Circle'' gather to hold meetings and perform rituals [[spoiler:and where the Dragonborn is inducted into ''The Circle '' and gains the ability to transform into a werewolf.]] |
| 45 | * TribalFacepaint: All the Companions have facial markings, except Torvar and Vignar Gray-Mane. |
| 46 | * TrueCompanions: As well as being part of their name, it's emphasized that the group is essentially like a family and consider each other brothers/sisters in arms. Of course, there are limits to this, such as the case of Arnbjorn, who was kicked out for presumably being too bloodthirsty for the group. |
| 47 | ** It's worth noting that, if you get in trouble with the guards after joining the Companions, they will drop whatever they're doing and ''help you fight the guards.'' |
| 48 | * WeaponOfXSlaying: Wuuthrad deals [[ScrewYouElves bonus damage to elves]], though an elven Dragonborn can carry it without any problems. |
| 49 | * WonderfulWerewolf: The Companions are an ancient group of honourable warriors and muscle-for-hire who are in good standing with the majority of Skyrim. [[spoiler:The senior members of the Companions, known as ''The Circle'', are also werewolves.]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder:Kodlak Whitemane]] |
| 54 | [[quoteright:204:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kodlak_4953.JPG]] |
| 55 | [[caption-width-right:204:''"Glory in battle, honor in life."'']] |
| 56 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Michael Donovan (English), Vadim Maksimov (Russian) |
| 57 | |
| 58 | The current Harbinger of the group, he's getting a bit world-weary. |
| 59 | ---- |
| 60 | * AffectionateNickname: Several of the companions, Aela in particular, refer to him as "The Old Man." Overlaps with InsultOfEndearment. |
| 61 | * ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:After the Dragonborn and remaining Companions enact the ritual to break his curse and defeat his wolf-spirit, he thanks the Dragonborn, declares them the new Harbinger, and announces that he must go, as he plans to wage battle from Sovngarde with the honored dead heroes against Hircine to free the spirits of other Companions who did not get the option to be freed from their curse.]] |
| 62 | * CoolOldGuy: The guy's a badass [[AFatherToHisMen father to his men]]. |
| 63 | * DreamingOfThingsToCome: [[spoiler:After his death and you are declared the new Harbinger, you can find his journal in his room; reading it will reveal that he dreamed that you would aid him in battling the beast spirit and freeing him to go to Sovngarde some time before he actually met you, and that this dream is largely responsible for the trust he had for you.]] |
| 64 | * AFatherToHisMen: His role as Harbinger basically positions him as a father figure to the Companions, dispensing guidance and wisdom on matters of honour. Specifically, however, he's a father figure to the player; he's the only Companion aside from Farkas who starts out warmly receiving you. His journal also sings your praises and he laments that he hasn't had more opportunities to speak with you. [[spoiler:And after his death you are told he loved you very much, like a father might.]] |
| 65 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: The official game guide states that he has contracted a disease known as "The Rot" and is slowly succumbing to it, hence his weakened state in battle. [[spoiler:Werewolves in-game have a 100% natural immunity to disease.]] |
| 66 | * HandicappedBadass: Despite being a veteran badass in the Companions, he can't go out hunting for the shards of Wuuthrad or on other missions anymore, because he's terminally ill. According to the strategy guide, he contracted "the rot" about a year prior to the game, and is slowly succumbing to it |
| 67 | * JustTheFirstCitizen: Harbingers aren't supposed to be "leaders" of the Companions, per se, so much as senior councilors. Everyone in the group is free to go their own way, and he chides Vilkas for calling him "master" (right before strongly suggesting there'd be no harm in letting the player join, so his word still has ''some'' weight). |
| 68 | * ManlyFacialHair: He's a Nord, he leads the Companions, he has the sobriquet "Whitemane". Need we say more? |
| 69 | * MeaningfulName: Like most of the rest of the Companions. Derived from 'vukodlak,' a Balkan word for [[spoiler:werewolf/vampire/shapechanger]]. |
| 70 | ** Also, "Whitemane" is a pretty fitting sobriquet for a CoolOldGuy with a tough beard and a head full of long, grey hair. |
| 71 | * TheMentor: To the entire guild, and to you in particular. |
| 72 | * MilesToGoBeforeISleep: He longs for the Nordic afterlife of Sovngarde, but his obligations as Harbinger and his knowledge that [[spoiler:werewolves are bound for Hircine's Realm are keeping him from it.]] |
| 73 | * OldSoldier: His sobriquet isn't "Whitemane" for nothing... |
| 74 | * ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Because Nords are. He's also unhappy his illness is keeping him from battle. |
| 75 | -->'''Kodlak:''' When you get to be my age, you'll come to miss the smell of blood. Strange, I know. |
| 76 | * RealMenLoveJesus: When sending you off to slaughter the Glenmoril witches to [[spoiler:avenge their cursing of the Companions and to help reverse that curse]], he gives you a heartfelt "Talos guide you, lad/lass." |
| 77 | * UndyingLoyalty: [[spoiler:Even in death. He relishes the fact that with his curse broken, he can now seek to raise arms with the honored dead in Sovngarde to free other long dead Companion souls from Hircine's hunt, and thanks the Dragonborn for doing so.]] |
| 78 | * VikingFuneral: [[spoiler:Gets killed in the course of the Companions' main quest by the group's mortal enemies, the werewolf-hunting Silver Hand. His funeral pyre is in the fire pit of the Skyforge, attended by a lot of notables from Whiterun, including the current Jarl. His ashes somehow reinvigorate the Skyforge and allow the player to re-craft the Ancient Nord weapons found in dungeons as Nord Hero weapons, along with Ancient Nord Armor, which cannot be scavenged from the Dragur found in the dungeons and is very rare to find.]] |
| 79 | * WeaponSpecialization: His weapon of choice is a Steel Warhammer. Ironically, this makes him the only Companion who does ''not'' use the superior Skyforge Steel weapons, though it is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in-game by the fact that Skyforge Steel warhammers (and maces) aren't available to begin with. |
| 80 | * WhatTheHellHero: Gives you a mild one when he finds out about your and Aela's private crusade against the Silver Hand. He points out that you avenged Skjor's death when you killed Krev the Skinner and that should have been the end of it. |
| 81 | [[/folder]] |
| 82 | |
| 83 | [[folder:Aela the Huntress]] |
| 84 | [[quoteright:198:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aela_3793.JPG]] |
| 85 | [[caption-width-right:198:''"I don't know how those cozy lords manage to draw themselves out of bed every day. Why bother if you're not living?"'']] |
| 86 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Claudia Christian (English), Ramilya Iskander (Russian) |
| 87 | |
| 88 | One of the members of the inner Circle of Companions. [[spoiler:As a member of the Circle, she's also a werewolf, and is the one that most embraces lycanthropy.]] |
| 89 | ---- |
| 90 | * AmbiguouslyEvil: Aela has a disturbing amount of BloodKnight traits that go a little bit beyond "ProudWarriorRaceGuy" and more into "PsychoForHire". In her backstory she emphasizes that she and her father hunted ''everything'' in the woods near their home in a way that heavily implies that they went after [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame more than just animals]]. Her only interest in the Civil War is that she's missing out on earning glory, ergo killing an ungodly amount of soldiers in battle. Finally, and most damning of all, [[spoiler: her pride in being a werewolf takes on a whole new light once you realize that being a werewolf means indiscriminately attacking and feeding on humans and other mortal races. She even says that she was a bit jealous of your rampage in Whiterun following your first transformation.]] |
| 91 | * BadassFamily: Comes from a long line of former Companions - notably, a line of ''female'' Companions. She had an ActionMom, who had an ActionMom of her own, and so on all the way back to Ysgramor's Five Hundred. If you marry her and (with ''Hearthfire'') adopt a child or two, you can make her an ActionMom in her own right. |
| 92 | * BloodKnight: She's the only member of the Companions who's vocal about wanting to fight in the Civil War. However, she doesn't state a preference for either side; she's just worried that others are stealing honor and glory that belongs to the Companions. She also has a lust for hunting. |
| 93 | ** She'll fight for your side in the Battle for Whiterun if you're married to her, have her as your follower, and side with the Stormcloaks. She's stationed by the Imperial archers and starts taking them out the moment you get to the gate. |
| 94 | * CoolBigSis: Certainly has this vibe, especially towards the newer members of the Companions such as Ria and the Dragonborn. |
| 95 | * CursedWithAwesome: She embraces [[spoiler:her lycanthropy and views it as a gift instead of a curse. After the Dragonborn becomes Harbinger, she's the only member of the Circle, besides possibly the Dragonborn, who chooses to keep her lycanthropy, as opposed to Vilkas and Farkas, who decide to purge themselves of the condition the same way Kodlak has. Indeed, Aela's personal quest is all about making the werewolf form ''stronger'' by tracking down the Totems of Hircine.]] |
| 96 | * CynicalMentor: She initially believes the Dragonborn needs to earn the right to be one of the Companions. |
| 97 | ** However, once you ''are'' a Companion, she accepts your worthiness fully. She [[spoiler:agrees to be your "forebear" in the Circle (meaning you drink of her blood to become a werewolf)]], and after [[spoiler:Skjor's death]], you are the only one she recruits to participate in her campaign of revenge. |
| 98 | * DidTheyOrDidntThey: If she's kidnapped as a ''Dawnguard'' radiant quest, when rescued, she'll respond by saying "Thank you for saving me, my love," even if you're not married to her. If you've followed through most of the Silver Hand side of the Companions questlines, it could explain a bit more of their relationship. |
| 99 | * FieryRedhead: Easily one of the livelier members of the Companions, and has deep red hair. |
| 100 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: [[spoiler:Despite how much she enjoys being a werewolf and her devotion to Hircine, Aela only ever actually changes into her werewolf form once, during the scripted event where she acts as the Dragonborn's forebear. Unless you use certain mods, there's no way to make her actually be a werewolf as a companion.]] |
| 101 | * ILoveYouVampireSon: Is the Dragonborn's forebear (the werewolf who turns them into a werewolf), assuming they become one, and can later be married. |
| 102 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Starts out arrogant and condescending (especially if you're not much help against the Giant if that's where you first encounter her), but she steadily warms up to you as you rise through the ranks. |
| 103 | * MayDecemberRomance: Subverted. There's a rumor going around that she's involved with Skjor, but [[LikeBrotherAndSister while they are very close]], she states that it is untrue. [[spoiler:Their actual reason for heading out alone together at night is to hunt in werewolf form.]] |
| 104 | * MsFanservice: Her outfit reveals a ''lot'' of skin. |
| 105 | * NavelDeepNeckline: Her default outfit has a split that goes almost to her navel. |
| 106 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Aela ropes the Dragonborn into assisting with her RoaringRampageOfRevenge after Skjor's death, which leads to the Silver Hand retaliating, which in turn leads to Kodlak being killed when they attack Jorrvaskr.]] |
| 107 | ** Not to mention that [[spoiler:the Dragonborn, despite being told otherwise, [[ButThouMust actually has no choice but to become a werewolf]] if they wish to progress in the Companions' questline. Aela and Skjor's decision to attack a Silver Hand stronghold as the Dragonborn's RiteOfPassage is what gets Skjor killed in the first place and kickstarts the chain of events that result in Kodlak's own demise.]] |
| 108 | * OlderIsBetter: Apparently believes this, since she wears Ancient Nord Armour as her default outfit. |
| 109 | * RealMenLoveJesus: Being both a huntress [[spoiler:and an enthusiastic werewolf]], it's unsurprising that Aela seems to gravitate to the worship of Hircine, Daedric Prince of the Hunt, and the Father of Manbeasts. Aela's post-Harbinger personal quest involves her and the Dragonborn hunting down three special Totems of Hircine [[spoiler:that enhance the abilities of a werewolf, specifically, its howl.]] Once a single totem is recovered, Aela will spend much of her time praying to it if she's not the Dragonborn's companion, or spouse (and living away from Jorrvaskr). Kodlak's journal mentions that when he first broached the possibility of [[spoiler:the Circle ridding themselves of their beast blood so they might know Sovngarde after death instead of being claimed by Hircine for his Hunting Grounds, Aela apparently implied she'd prefer the Hunting Grounds to Sovngarde as her afterlife of choice.]] |
| 110 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:After the Silver Hand kills Skjor, she enlists the Dovahkiin's help in taking the fight to them.]] |
| 111 | * {{Sideboob}}: Owing to her outfit. |
| 112 | * SexyBacklessOutfit: Her armor shows a lot of her back as well, with only straps and [[VaporWear clear lack of a bra]]. |
| 113 | * {{Stripperific}}: If the two above tropes don't clue you in... |
| 114 | * UndyingLoyalty: Even if she disagrees with Kodlak about [[CursedWithAwesome certain]] [[BlessedWithSuck matters]], she respects his wishes. Any time she challenges him, or mocks him [[spoiler:for trying to find a cure to their werewolf curse, she then immediately turns around, realizes what an ass she sounds like for saying such things and apologizes, before clarifying that Kodlak should be free to pursue the afterlife he wishes, but that she prefers the thrill of the hunt in the here and now. She's also the only one who sticks with the Dragonborn all the way through the final major quest for the Companions, to free Kodlak's spirit, long after Vilkas and Farkas have tagged out and chosen to hang back at the entrance to Ysgramor's Tomb]] |
| 115 | ** [[spoiler:Applies to the Dragonborn after they become the new Harbinger as well. Regardless of the Dragonborn's stance on the curse, she accepts them as the new Harbinger, and becomes marriageable.]] |
| 116 | [[/folder]] |
| 117 | |
| 118 | [[folder:Farkas]] |
| 119 | [[quoteright:201:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/farkas_4697.JPG]] |
| 120 | [[caption-width-right:201:''"I've never been a smart one. But the Companions welcome anyone with the heart of a warrior."'']] |
| 121 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Michael "Popeye" Vogelsang (English), Viktor Bakin (Russian) |
| 122 | |
| 123 | A strong, simple man. Twin brother of Vilkas. |
| 124 | ---- |
| 125 | |
| 126 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Quite possibly the nicest of the Companions, but pose as a threat to him or his shield-brethren, and he will tear you a new one. |
| 127 | * {{BFS}}: His default weapon. However, his skills make him better with one-handed. |
| 128 | * BuffySpeak: In keeping with his DumbMuscle image, he's not terribly articulate, such as calling Frostbite Spiders "the big crawly ones" and referring to the Silver Hand as "bad people who don't like werewolves". [[spoiler:After the Dragonborn becomes the next Harbinger, he refers to you as "The New Kodlak". (However, if the Dragonborn marries him, he stops using this particular terminology, as it gets replaced by the more affectionate spouse dialogue.)]] |
| 129 | ** On the other hand, he becomes quite verbose when swearing you in as a Companion; whether he actually has a bigger vocabulary than he lets on or if he just memorized a traditional speech, it indicates that he's smarter than he lets on, backed by his maxed-out Speech stat. |
| 130 | * ChewToy: To Aela and Skjor. |
| 131 | * DumbIsGood: Although not very smart, he's the nicest and friendliest Companion, aside from Kodlak. This is especially true when you compare him to his brother Vilkas, who is more clever and knowledgeable, but rather abrasive most of the time. |
| 132 | * DumbMuscle: He's aware that he is, though it doesn't faze him much. He's not ''quite'' as dumb as everyone (including him) would have you believe, though; see HiddenDepths, below. |
| 133 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Likely the first time you'll see him is when Aela and Skjor, who have been giving you a bit of a frosty welcome, summon him to show the new recruit to their sleeping quarters. Aela calls him "ice brain," but he shrugs it off as friendly teasing and offers the Dovahkiin some reassurance, adding, "I hope we keep you." |
| 134 | * FiveFingerDiscount: Believe it or not, he has the ''highest'' pickpocket stat of any potential follower. |
| 135 | * [[BestFriendsInLaw Follower-in-Law]]: Can become this if the Dragonborn marries Vilkas. |
| 136 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: Has gained a little fandom notoriety for his completely misallocated statpoints that absolutely don't fit with his image or even his ambient conversations. This is mostly due to the fact that his class isn't Warrior, as is the case with most of the other Companions, but ''Blacksmith''. |
| 137 | ** Despite constantly proclaiming the superiority of large swords over smaller ones, he's much more proficient with one-handed weapons than with two-handed ones. |
| 138 | ** Despite wearing a full suit of heavy steel armor and being the Master trainer for Heavy Armor, he has an abysmal Heavy Armor stat (and is, in fact, slightly better with Light armor). |
| 139 | ** Despite insisting that his brother is better at talking than he is, and Eorlund remarking that none of the Companions know how to operate the Skyforge, he has extremely high Speech and Smithing stats; he also has extremely high Sneak and Pickpocket stats that aren't even remotely hinted at in-game. |
| 140 | *** The Smithing, at least, bears out a little if the Dragonborn marries him, as he can often be found using the anvil if living in a player home which has one. Since he (like the majority of spouses) becomes a merchant to amuse himself while his beloved is away, it could be inferred that he makes a lot of his own merchandise. |
| 141 | * GentleGiant: A bear of a man, but he's also one of the friendliest Companions, and one of the friendliest [=NPCs=] the Dovahkiin encounters in the entire game. He's quick to accept you into the group (especially compared to his brother, who isn't convinced you're good enough) and is in fact the only Companion, apart from Kodlak, to be nice to you from your first meeting. |
| 142 | * HiddenDepths: Everyone, including Farkas himself, talks about how dumb the man is, but there's implied evidence against this if you examine his skills. Although you can't make use of either talent, he's been trained as a blacksmith and actually has a ''maxed-out'' Speech level of 100. He's also the Master trainer for the Heavy Armor skill, and the placement of a lute in his Jorrvaskr bedroom suggests that he's musically inclined. |
| 143 | ** If he becomes the Dragonborn's spouse and moves into a player home, he'll keep himself busy with pursuits you wouldn't expect. You will frequently come home to find him reading books in your library, using your smithing equipment, cooking, or mixing potions in your alchemy lab. |
| 144 | * {{Hunk}}: He's got most of the physical attributes of the trope, particularly the build. |
| 145 | * InformedFlaw: He's supposedly become terrified of Frostbite Spiders after your first mission with him and [[spoiler:can't make it through Ysgramor's tomb]] because of it, but after that one quest, it's never brought up again and he has no problem fighting them. |
| 146 | ** ''However,'' should you return with him to the tomb later [[spoiler:and help Farkas cure his lycanthropy]], he mentions that he was too ashamed to enter the tomb the last time he was there, but now he wanted to take some time to explore it, indicating that he might have been lying about fearing spiders the entire time. |
| 147 | * MadeOfIron: All of the Companions are flagged as essential until the end of the guild's questline; but Farkas, for some reason, retains the essential flag permanently. His inability to be killed makes him a popular choice for follower. |
| 148 | ** It's possible for him to be killed [[spoiler:after he's been cured]], at least in the Playstation 3 version of the game, so you may want to keep a close eye on that. |
| 149 | * MeaningfulName: Hungarian for [[spoiler:"wolf".]] |
| 150 | * MrFanservice: Has his share of fangirls among the community. |
| 151 | * NiceGuy: One of the friendliest Companions, and among the few to give you a warm welcome after joining. Similarly, the first thing he says to the Dragonborn after they witness him [[spoiler:transforming into a werewolf and]] proceeding to slaughter his way through the Silver Hand mercenaries is indicative of his kind nature. |
| 152 | -->'''Farkas''': I hope I didn't scare you. |
| 153 | * NoodleIncident: Aela mentions that [[spoiler:his first transformation gave them a ''lot'' of trouble, something only topped when the Dragonborn's first transformation ended with them running through the streets of Whiterun]]. |
| 154 | * OneManArmy: The Dragonborn's first exposure to [[spoiler:lycanthropy is Farkas hulking out when surrounded by eight members of the Silver Hand and ripping them to shreds, all by himself]]. Otherwise, he's powerful and can't die due to an oversight, but he can be downed by sufficient numbers. |
| 155 | * OrphansOrdeal: He and Vilkas were brought to Jorrvaskr as young children by Jergen, a member of the Companions. They have no memory of their mother, and aren't entirely certain whether or not Jergen was actually their father, but he more or less [[HappilyAdopted filled that role]] until he left to fight in the Great War, from which he never returned. |
| 156 | * PermaStubble: He doesn't have a full beard like many Nords, but neither is he ever clean-shaven. |
| 157 | * PolarOppositeTwins: He's less eloquent but very friendly to the Dragonborn in comparison to his much more cynical and dismissive brother. He's also the stronger of the twins, even regarding his [[spoiler:lycanthropy; he can withstand the bloody urges of his bestial nature better than his brother.]] |
| 158 | * TheQuietOne: When taken along as a follower, his remarks on your surroundings are few and far between, and usually rather short and to the point. |
| 159 | -->'''Farkas''': That's... that's... wow. |
| 160 | ** BewareTheQuietOnes: He doesn't talk much, but the man can fight. |
| 161 | * RedOniBlueOni: Compared to his brother, he appears to be the red, but he's actually the blue. |
| 162 | * TheReveal: The Dragonborn first learns that members of the Companions are also werewolves during the quest ''Proving Honor'' while retrieving fragments of Wuuthrad from Dustman’s Cairn, when they become trapped Farkas will transform in front of them to fend off a gang of The Silver Hand. |
| 163 | * StoneWall: Although he may appear to be a MightyGlacier, he is actually this; his weapons skills are not that impressive, with his one-handed being average and his two-handed being actually somewhat low. On the other hand, he is - as noted above - the Master trainer for the Heavy Armor skill and the only Companion who remains flagged as essential after the guild's questline is complete, making him a wonderful meat shield. |
| 164 | * ThemeTwinNaming: Both Farkas and Vilkas mean the same thing, although in different languages. |
| 165 | * WalkingTheEarth: In a different vein from Vilkas. According to the ''Elder Scrolls'' wiki, Farkas can, for no explained reason, wander into and out of the orc strongholds with perfect impunity. He has no reason to be there; he just opens the gate and strolls through the hold. The orcs don't mind. |
| 166 | * WeaksauceWeakness: His above fear of spiders; if he could just get past the psychological block he has regarding them, he can obviously tear them up (as seen in the above-referenced first mission together). In fact, he never mentions this WeaksauceWeakness again after it forms that small plot point, and if you bring him along as a follower, he ''will'' attack the spiders without complaint. [[spoiler:If you cure his lycanthropy, he admits that the ''real'' reason he stayed behind was out of shame over not being a "true" Nord due to his werewolf curse, and now that he's free of it, he's quite eager to see the tomb for himself.]] |
| 167 | * [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Why Does It Have To Be Spiders?]]: He becomes afraid of Frostbite Spiders after your first mission together, to the point that [[spoiler:he doesn't accompany you into the spider-nest at Ysgramor's Tomb during "Glory of the Dead". This later turns out to be a subversion: during "Purity" he mentions that it was shame that kept him from accompanying you any further into the tomb]]. |
| 168 | [[/folder]] |
| 169 | |
| 170 | [[folder:Vilkas]] |
| 171 | [[quoteright:195:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vilkas_8800.JPG]] |
| 172 | [[caption-width-right:195:''" There's been a group called the Companions for over 4000 years. It's been many different things in that time. A conquering army. Ruthless mercenaries. A band of drunken louts. And the esteemed company you see before you. But there's always been a kind of honor to it."'']] |
| 173 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Michael Gough (English), Denis Shvedov (Russian) |
| 174 | |
| 175 | Twin brother to Farkas, a more contemplative, thoughtful, and (paradoxically) hot-blooded counterpart to his twin. |
| 176 | ---- |
| 177 | * TheBerserker: Doesn't look like it at first, but when [[spoiler:Kodlak is killed by the Silver Hand]], [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge you'll witness it for the first time]]. Kodlak's journal also indicates as much. Additionally, he's the Master trainer for Two-Handed weapons, the buffing potions of which are tagged as "of the Berserker." |
| 178 | * {{BFS}}: His default weapon, like his brother. He's the Master trainer for the Two-Handed Weapon skill. He's also seen lecturing other Companions on the finer points of two-handed weapons. |
| 179 | * TheCynic: He will openly admit that while most others in the guild will mention honour or glory when asked why they joined, he works as a Companion for the coin. |
| 180 | * CynicalMentor: Unlike his brother, he doesn't think you're Companion material, and says as much outright to Kodlak when you first join. However, if you perform especially well against him (i.e., deal a lot of damage), he compliments your combat prowess greatly. And at the end of the Companions questline, he accepts you as Harbinger, with the knowledge that you're an especially good fighter. |
| 181 | ** During your proving fight, he'll restart the bout if you use an enchanted blade, mocking you for resorting to ''magic''. |
| 182 | * [[BestFriendsInLaw Follower-in-Law]]: Can become this if the Dragonborn marries Farkas. |
| 183 | * GeniusBruiser: He's said to have the intellect of Ysgramor. |
| 184 | * HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:After his RoaringRampageOfRevenge ends, he realizes that it isn't what Kodlak would have wanted, and is so overwhelmed by his guilt and sadness that he can't follow the Dragonborn, Farkas, and Aela into Ysgramor's tomb.]] |
| 185 | * {{Hunk}}: Like his brother, he has many of the attributes. |
| 186 | * InsufferableGenius: Has shades of this. [[spoiler:It goes away when the Dragonborn becomes Harbinger.]] |
| 187 | -->'''Vilkas:''' I know our history almost as well as Vignar by now. Except I can remember it. |
| 188 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: A bit rough around the edges, but he's a good man at the end of the day. If you marry him, he actually turns out to be one of the more affectionate male options. He also loves his brother and will say as much if you ask him about something Farkas says to you. |
| 189 | * TheLancer: For you should you join the Companions. |
| 190 | * MeaningfulName: Lithuanian for "[[spoiler:wolf]]". Also Finnish for "lively", ironically. |
| 191 | * TheMentor: Not to you, but to Ria. Ambient dialogue has her frequently conferring with him about her training. |
| 192 | * NumberTwo: [[spoiler:He seems to become your second-in-command when you become Harbinger, since your other responsibilities don't let you stay in Jorrvaskr on any sort of permanent basis.]] |
| 193 | * OrphansOrdeal: He and Farkas were brought to Jorrvaskr as young children by Jergen, a member of the Companions. They have no memory of their mother, and aren't entirely certain whether or not Jergen was actually their father, but he more or less [[HappilyAdopted filled that role]] until he left to fight in the Great War, from which he never returned. |
| 194 | * PermaStubble: He hasn't grown it out enough to have a beard ''per se'', but it's quite noticeable. |
| 195 | * PolarOppositeTwins: The smarter and less friendly of the twins, but also more prone to and fearful of [[spoiler:succumbing to the more savage urges of lycanthropy.]] |
| 196 | * RedOniBlueOni: He initially appears to be the blue in contrast to his brother, but he's actually the red. |
| 197 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:After Kodlak is killed by the Silver Hand, he and the Dragonborn set off to their encampment, both to recover the guild's stolen artifacts and to ''completely wipe out'' the Silver Hand.]] |
| 198 | * ThemeTwinNaming: Both Farkas and Vilkas mean the same thing, although in different languages. |
| 199 | * WalkingTheEarth: He seems to do a lot of this. Once the Companions questline is completed, unless he marries the Dragonborn, it's quite common to find him wandering around Skyrim on various errands, often accompanied by Ria. |
| 200 | * WhatTheHellHero: He will deliver a line of this nature to the Dragonborn when they arrive LateToTheTragedy after [[spoiler:the Silver Hand invade Jorrvaskr and kill Kodlak]], demanding to know why you weren't there to help. He doesn't really blame the Dragonborn for what happened, though; it's just the grief talking. |
| 201 | [[/folder]] |
| 202 | |
| 203 | [[folder:Skjor]] |
| 204 | [[quoteright:209:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skjor_3617.JPG]] |
| 205 | [[caption-width-right:209:''"I would trust anyone here with my life, which is more than I'd say for the milk-drinkers who raised me."'']] |
| 206 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Brandon Ellison (English), Alexander Barinov (Russian) |
| 207 | |
| 208 | One of the members of the inner Circle of Companions. |
| 209 | ---- |
| 210 | * AllThereInTheManual: The official strategy guide lists him with the full title "Skjor the Scarred". |
| 211 | * BackToBackBadasses: Not seen, but apparently he and Kodlak once defeated 101 orc berserkers in battle together, according to Ria. He claims it was more like 40, though it's still a good achievement. |
| 212 | * CursedWithAwesome: [[spoiler:Like Aela, he embraces his lycanthropy despite Kodlak's concerns, and is looking forward to spending an eternity in Hircine's [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame Hunting Grounds]].]] |
| 213 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Kind of inevitable if you run into enemy territory, heavily outnumbered.]] |
| 214 | * HandicappedBadass: He's blind in one eye. |
| 215 | * InnocentBigot: He once assured Athis, the only elf in the Companions, that his race wasn't an issue because "even an elf can be born with the heart of a Nord". Athis is clearly well aware of the mildly racist connotations of this, but claims that he knows it was meant to be a compliment and so elected to take it as one. The aforementioned compliment is in fact [[SmallReferencePools the same line]] that was uttered in the first era by a dying Harbinger who named an elf, Henantier, as his successor. Henantier became known as the first Elven Harbinger. |
| 216 | * {{Jerkass}}: He'll constantly deride your accomplishments even when you've been inducted - at ''his'' invitation - into the Inner Circle of Companions. |
| 217 | --> '''Skjor''': You still need to prove yourself, whelp. |
| 218 | ** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: However, when he leads you to the Underforge, he says he's glad you've joined them, that the Companions have rarely had such a fierce warrior amongst them, and that you are due more honor for your valor than simple feasting. |
| 219 | * LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:He dies after charging into a Silver Hand encampment and getting in over his head.]] |
| 220 | * MeaningfulName: Skjor is Norwegian for 'fragile'. [[spoiler:Guess how long he lasts in this quest chain.]] |
| 221 | * NumberTwo: Through ambient conversations with Kodlak, it becomes clear that he is not only the Companion with the second-most authority, but that Kodlak is in fact grooming him to become his successor as Harbinger. [[spoiler:Unsurprisingly, his death leads promptly to a SuccessionCrisis.]] |
| 222 | * PlotTriggeringDeath: [[spoiler:His murder by the Silver Hand is the point where the Companions questline turns into a much more serious arc.]] |
| 223 | * UndyingLoyalty: The strategy guide notes that he's the Companion with the greatest sense of duty and honor, and that he doesn't really have any ambitions other than to be a steadfast friend to those who have earned his loyalty. |
| 224 | * UnexplainedRecovery: [[spoiler:Due to an amusing bug, he may eventually reappear alive and well in Jorrvaskr.]] |
| 225 | [[/folder]] |
| 226 | |
| 227 | [[folder:Njada Stonearm]] |
| 228 | [[quoteright:179:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/njada_7756.JPG]] |
| 229 | [[caption-width-right:179:''"Fight well, don't be a lout, and you'll be fine. You don't need my help."'']] |
| 230 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AprilStewart (English), Inna Koroleva (Russian) |
| 231 | |
| 232 | * CondescendingCompassion: Regards you as having this if you heal her. |
| 233 | -->'''Njada:''' I suppose you think that makes you better than me. |
| 234 | * DefrostingIceQueen: She becomes much nicer toward you once you complete the questline, even going so far as to be a marriage option. |
| 235 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While not every Companion is thrilled about you joining their ranks, Njada is the only one that's openly hostile, and nearly everything she says to you is some sort of insult. If you listen in on the ambient conversations, though, she's almost always respectful towards members of the Circle, and that extends to you [[spoiler:after you become Harbinger]]... mostly. |
| 236 | * LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Favors a sword and shield combo, and trains in the Block skill. |
| 237 | --> '''Skjor:''' I'm imagining you just standing your ground and letting them tire themselves out.\ |
| 238 | '''Njada:''' I'm telling you, it works. Let them ring their own ears on my shield, then scoop them up off the ground. |
| 239 | * MeaningfulName: "Stonearm." She's a trainer for the Block skill. |
| 240 | * NavelDeepNeckline: Courtesy of her hide armor, she shows ''a lot'' of cleavage via a neckline that plunges to her stomach. |
| 241 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: Apparently, she and Athis just don't like each other. When you first enter Jorrvaskr, they start to brawl and she ends up beating the hell out of him. By the comments made by some of the other Companions who are watching, this is a fairly regular occurrence. |
| 242 | * {{Tsundere}}: Type A. Her usual reactions to you aren't all that friendly, but every now and then you can spot the nice. This is especially true if you marry her, in which case pretty much all the jerk in her dissolves - for you, at least. She is also always respectful of you [[spoiler:once you become Harbinger.]] |
| 243 | * UnexplainedRecovery: Less famous than Skjor, but if she's killed, she can also randomly be found alive again. |
| 244 | [[/folder]] |
| 245 | |
| 246 | [[folder:Ria]] |
| 247 | [[quoteright:177:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ria_59.JPG]] |
| 248 | [[caption-width-right:177:''"This group... this family... this band... this is the best thing I've ever been a part of."'']] |
| 249 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Colleen Delaney (English), Maria Ovchinnikova (Russian) |
| 250 | |
| 251 | The newest member of the Companions, before the Dragonborn comes along. |
| 252 | ---- |
| 253 | * BloodKnight: Downplayed, and almost comes across like she's ''pretending'' to be this because she thinks it will help her fit better in the group. One of the lines she may say to the player is, "I killed a bear yesterday, did you kill anything?" |
| 254 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: One of her recurring lines is that she doesn't mind not being the newest member of the guild anymore because she "can show you the ropes". It's actually not possible for her to teach you ''anything'' - unlike most of the other Companions, she isn't a trainer of any kind. |
| 255 | * NaiveNewcomer: Also a WideEyedIdealist. She has quite an idealistic view about the Companions, mostly because she grew up hearing legendary tales about them. She's also the newest member of the group (other than you). |
| 256 | * NiceGirl: If you encounter the group fighting the giant outside of Whiterun, and speak to Ria, she actively encourages you to come and join them. |
| 257 | * PluckyGirl: She doesn't have a whole lot of experience, and is one of the only Companions who can't train you in anything, but she's determined to be part of what's going on around her. |
| 258 | * TokenMinority: The only Imperial in the group, unless the Dovahkiin is one. |
| 259 | * WalkingTheEarth: After the end of the quest chain, she can sometimes be found accompanying Vilkas out in the Skyrim wilderness. |
| 260 | [[/folder]] |
| 261 | |
| 262 | [[folder:Athis]] |
| 263 | [[quoteright:174:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/athis_9618.JPG]] |
| 264 | [[caption-width-right:174:''"Fortune and glory, friend. Fortune and glory."'']] |
| 265 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KeithSzarabajka (English), Vladislav Kopp (Russian) |
| 266 | |
| 267 | A Dunmeri bladesman, making him an oddity in the almost entirely Nordic ranks of the Companions. |
| 268 | ---- |
| 269 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: Fairly subtle about it, but when discussing weapon preferences with Torvar, he claims that with his One-Handed weapon, he could strike the Nord several times before he finished his swing. |
| 270 | * ForeignCultureFetish: He may seem to be one at a glance, as an elf who joined a mainly-Nord/all-human guild of warriors, but if you talk to him enough you'll realize it's averted. His pride as a Dunmer and son of Morrowind is unwavering. He has respect for the old Nord ways because they ''align'' with his culture and traditions, not because they differ. He's praised for having the "heart of a Nord", but he seems more amused by the compliment than anything. |
| 271 | * FragileSpeedster: Favors this fighting style. [[spoiler:He's notably the only Companion who gets incapacitated during the Silver Hand attack.]] |
| 272 | * GlorySeeker: The reason why he joined up, as detailed in his quote above. |
| 273 | * HiddenDepths: Despite being a bit of an ArrogantKungFuGuy, he chides Torvar for thinking the Circle is lording over them, and says that young warriors should listen to the older ones, because they lived. |
| 274 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he can be quite passive-aggressive, even [[spoiler:to the Dragonborn after they become Harbinger]], he's a loyal Companion at the end of the day and never voices any real complaints. |
| 275 | * PetTheDog: Players accustomed to his standoffish arrogance may be surprised to find he gives fellow Dunmer a warm welcome into the family. |
| 276 | * ProudWarriorRaceGuy: He takes great pride in being a Dunmer, and commends the Companions for honoring their warrior traditions. He may be an elf, but he was drawn to Jorrvaskr by their shared love of glory and combat. |
| 277 | * StealthInsult: One of his [[WelcomeToCorneria default remarks]] when you are near him is how he hadn't expected the Companions to accept him, but now it seems "they'll let ''anyone'' in these days." |
| 278 | * ThoseTwoGuys: He and Torvar are rarely seen apart. |
| 279 | * TokenMinority: The only elf currently in the group, unless the Dovahkiin is one. In a bit of irony, the Companions were founded by Ysgramor to ''fight'' elves. Athis being a Companion isn't without precedent, however, as there have been Elven members before and some of them even became Harbingers. |
| 280 | * YouAreACreditToYourRace: Getting into a conversation with him will reveal that Athis was once assured by Skjor that his being an elf wasn't an issue - not because all races are equal, but because "anyone can be born with the heart of a Nord". Thankfully, Athis seems more amused by this comment than anything and is well aware that Skjor meant it as a compliment. |
| 281 | [[/folder]] |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[folder:Torvar]] |
| 284 | [[quoteright:189:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/torvar_2791.JPG]] |
| 285 | [[caption-width-right:189:''"...when I'm in trouble, I always have someone on my side. We have Shield-Siblings to keep our backs as dangerous as our fronts. I think."'']] |
| 286 | ->'''Voiced by:''' William Salyers (English), Dmitry Tarnover (Russian) |
| 287 | |
| 288 | A junior member of the Companions who is in it more for the mead-drinking than the fighting. |
| 289 | ---- |
| 290 | * TheAlcoholic: The man loves his mead. If the Dovahkiin heals him, he'll comment, "My hangover's gone!" |
| 291 | * BloodKnight: Despite joining up for no other reason than to pay off his debts, he does enjoy the combat aspect of his provision as much as the next Nord. |
| 292 | * DisorganizedOutlineSpeech: The booze probably has a lot to do with it. |
| 293 | * LetsGetDangerous: He has only one stone-cold serious line in the game, and it's spoken while [[spoiler:standing over a dead Silver Hand]] - "[[BloodKnight Don't leave any of them alive!"]] |
| 294 | %%* MightyGlacier: Is accused of being this by Athis. |
| 295 | * ProperlyParanoid: The strategy guide claims that he's not taking well to the training and is becoming increasingly weary and anxious, because he's afraid of dying in battle. Considering what happens to [[spoiler:Skjor and Kodlak]] during the questline, you can't blame him. |
| 296 | * TheSlacker: Conversations show that Torvar hates training and would rather just fight, only to be told by Farkas that fighting isn't enough. |
| 297 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Almost always seen in the company of Athis. |
| 298 | [[/folder]] |
| 299 | |
| 300 | [[folder:Vignar Gray-Mane]] |
| 301 | See [[Characters/SkyrimCivilWar Skyrim Civil War Characters]]. |
| 302 | [[/folder]] |
| 303 | |
| 304 | [[folder:Brill]] |
| 305 | [[quoteright:159:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brill_215.png]] |
| 306 | [[caption-width-right:159:''"I'd be dead if not for Vignar."'']] |
| 307 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Thor Edgell (English), Yaroslav Agikyan (Russian) |
| 308 | |
| 309 | A Nord who dwells within Jorrvaskr, but is not actually a member of the Companions. He lives there because he feels he owes a life debt to Vignar Gray-Mane. |
| 310 | ---- |
| 311 | * TheAlcoholic: He was this when Vignar found him, helped him clean up, and got him a job. |
| 312 | * IOweYouMyLife: How he feels about Vignar. |
| 313 | * NumberTwo: If the Stormcloaks win the Civil War, Vignar becomes Jarl of Whiterun, and Brill becomes his steward. (If he is killed prior, however, Proventus Avenicci keeps the job.) |
| 314 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Vignar. |
| 315 | [[/folder]] |
| 316 | |
| 317 | [[folder:Tilma the Haggard]] |
| 318 | [[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tilma_4252.JPG]] |
| 319 | [[caption-width-right:160:''"Oh, I'm just a servant, dear. You'll want one of the Companions, I'm sure."'']] |
| 320 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Alice Hirson (English), Lyudmila Ilyina (Russian) |
| 321 | |
| 322 | The housekeeper for Jorrvaskr for as long as anyone can remember, herself included. Not ''officially'' a member of the Companions, but still a close confidante. |
| 323 | ---- |
| 324 | * CoolOldLady: Quite old - the Companions can be heard to joke that they built the mead hall around her - and quite respected and trusted. |
| 325 | * {{Maid}}: She keeps Jorrvaskr clean. |
| 326 | * ParentalSubstitute: Said to be the closest thing Vilkas and Farkas have ever had to a mother. |
| 327 | * SecretKeeper: "I see everything, hear everything, and ''know'' everything." [[spoiler:Meaning she knows the Circle are werewolves.]] |
| 328 | * WelcomeToCorneria: Unlike the other residents of Jorrvaskr, it's impossible to have any dialogue with her. And since she never leaves Jorrvaskr (which is a rather cramped building to begin with, meaning you'll be walking past her a ''lot'' if your character lives there), expect to hear "I've been tending to the warriors of Jorrvaskr for as long as I can remember" very, ''very'' often. |
| 329 | [[/folder]] |
| 330 | |
| 331 | [[folder:Eorlund Gray-Mane]] |
| 332 | [[quoteright:186:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eorlund_3008.JPG]] |
| 333 | [[caption-width-right:186:''"And dragons were once a myth, and elves ruled over all of Skyrim. Just because something is, doesn't mean it must be."'']] |
| 334 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Paul Ganus (English), Artyom Kretov (Russian) |
| 335 | |
| 336 | The master blacksmith who works the legendary Skyforge, which is capable of creating steel of exquisite quality. Like Tilma and unlike his brother Vignar, he's not an actual member, but a supporter. |
| 337 | ---- |
| 338 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: A few other smiths throughout Skyrim will note that they've heard that Eorlund is the greatest blacksmith in the land, and they intend to challenge that title with their own work. By contrast, the other Whiterun smith, Adrianne Avenicci, says she has no intention to try and outdo him; she just asks a fair price for her own modest work. |
| 339 | ** On the other hand, [[UnknownRival Oengul War-Anvil]] offers [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation the theory]] that Eorlund's legendary skill is actually the work of [[ForgedByTheGods the Skyforge]] itself and could be replicated by ''anyone'' working the forge. Of course, as a rival blacksmith, Oengul is obviously [[GreenEyedMonster somewhat biased]]. |
| 340 | ** Eorlund actually is ''the'' best smith in Skyrim (he's the only one in the base game with the ability to train the Dragonborn to 90), although there is one master smith who can match him - Gunmar, who smiths for the Dawnguard. Gunmar doesn't have access to the Skyforge, though. |
| 341 | ** And then, of course, there is the possibility of a Dragonborn who reaches level 100 in smithing ''and'' has access to the Skyforge. Only Eorlund can craft Skyforge Steel weapons, though; the player can improve them, but not craft them themselves. |
| 342 | * TheBlacksmith: Considered by most to be the finest in Skyrim, and by some to be the finest in Tamriel. As noted above, at least one of his competitors mentions that while Eorlund is exceptionally skilled, working the Skyforge gives him an unfair advantage. Aside from weapons, he also does some work as a jeweler, with his wife selling various necklaces made by him. |
| 343 | * CoolOldGuy: |
| 344 | ** Offers the player advice on how to handle themselves in the Companions, telling them not do whatever they're told just because they're the new meat. He then asks you to do a small favor for him. You have the option to point out the {{irony}}. He'll immediately rebuke you, pointing out that he didn't order you to help him and is only asking as a favor to an old man. [[ButThouMust You have to do the favor either way]]. |
| 345 | ** He won't hesitate to help you take out a dragon if it attacks, and he'll even fight the city guards if they're after you. |
| 346 | * HappilyMarried: It's not overly apparent, but he really is. The Skyforge is closed every night so Eorlund can go home to his wife, Fralia, the mother of his three children. Fralia sells Eorlund's crafts by day as a merchant in Whiterun's marketplace. If you speak to her and ask who is the best smith in Skyrim, she will proudly inform you that it's her husband. |
| 347 | * HatesSmallTalk: Judging by his grouchiness when you attempt to engage him in conversation, it's rather clear he'd prefer to continue working the forge in peace rather than engage in idle chit-chat with people. When you finally ask to buy something from his store: |
| 348 | --> '''Eorlund''': ''[[DeadpanSnarker Gods be praised]]''. |
| 349 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Can come off as a bit of a jerk at times when responding to questions he finds obvious. Though when that's said and done, he encourages the player to be independent if they can, and appears to genuinely care for the other Companions, [[spoiler:even leading Kodlak's funeral and saying some kind words]]. He also insists that you're the one worthy of carrying Wuuthrad. |
| 350 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: He points this out about the Stormcloaks and Imperials, saying that both sides presume to think that they can tell people how to live their lives. However, he'd rather hear it from a real Nord than some Emperor who doesn't know anything about him. |
| 351 | * SecretKeeper: Like Tilma, he's entirely aware [[spoiler:that many of the Companions are werewolves]]. |
| 352 | * SixthRanger: While not an ''official'' member of Companions, Eorlund nonetheless serves as their resident UltimateBlacksmith and is heavily entrusted to carry out matters relating to the guild, such as the reforging of Wuuthrad. |
| 353 | * UltimateBlacksmith: He fashions a weapon made of Skyforge steel (Elven-tier damage, Steel-tier everything else) of your choosing when you are accepted into the Companions. After [[spoiler:Kodlak's funeral]], he reforges Wuuthrad, the fabled axe of Ysgramor, founder of the Companions. He's also the Master Smithing trainer. |
| 354 | ** Also runs the Ultimate Forge, the Skyforge -- something about that forge just makes the coals burn hotter and the steel forged in it stronger, which is why the steel Skyforge weapons are just as good as Elven weapons (three tiers higher in quality). After the final Companions quest, the Skyforge can forge a unique set of equipment and weapons, with Eorlund stating his belief that [[spoiler:Kodlak's ashes]] have somehow [[MidSeasonUpgrade revitalised]] the Skyforge. |
| 355 | [[/folder]] |
| 356 | |
| 357 | !The College of Winterhold |
| 358 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1485_3.jpeg]] |
| 359 | [[caption-width-right:1000:Main courtyard]] |
| 360 | |
| 361 | The only major facility in all of Skyrim where significant amounts of magical study and practice occur. It used to be a major center of study, but hard times since the Fourth Era started have led to a drop in student body size. |
| 362 | |
| 363 | [[folder:The College in General]] |
| 364 | * AmbiguouslyEvil: The faculty come across as this, at least in regards to how they operate the College. While they will throw people out for going too far, as long as students don't kill anyone in pursuit of magical experimentation or can provide at least a reasonable explanation for what they are doing, the faculty are willing to look the other way. |
| 365 | * AncientTomb: Sarthaal is an Ancient Nordic Tomb located southwest of Winterhold, you can visit it during the collage of Winterhold quest-line ''"Under Saarthal"'' while on a research expedition of the ruins with Tolfdir and three other mage-apprentices. |
| 366 | * AntiHero: For the most part they're decent enough folk, some more than others. Still, they excavate Nord burial sites without regard for disturbing the dead, and they fully tolerate necromancy and daedra summoning, so long as it doesn't ''intentionally'' kill another member of the college. They're also willing to look the other way if you conduct unsavory experiments, as long as you're careful not to get the locals riled up. On the other hand, they will also be very quick to send mages down to Winterhold to deal with [[spoiler:the out-of-control anomalies spawned by Ancano's attempt to destroy the world]]. |
| 367 | * ForScience: Only Tolfdir has any actual desire to teach. Most of the rest of the faculty seems too wrapped up in their research. |
| 368 | * HeroicNeutral: While they will move quickly to defend Winterhold and act against Ancano's plot, for the most part, the College just want to be left alone to do their research. It's to the point that they refuse to acknowledge communications from the Synod and College of Whispers in Cyrodiil, because they know that doing so will just be used by either side for political gain. |
| 369 | * HeroWithBadPublicity: Though 'hero' is pushing it. The fact is when push comes to shove the college ''is'' willing to protect the locals, yet even afterward it seems the people of Skyrim have nothing but contempt for them - thinking they set-up the attack on Winterhold in the first place. |
| 370 | * HighTurnoverRate: So high in fact that you can find almost as many mages in the game that were formerly members of the college as such that currently are. |
| 371 | * HostileWeather: The area is so prone to blizzards that you might find yourself using that "Clear Skies" shout after a while. |
| 372 | * KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Magic is stigmatised in Skyrim, and while it's never confirmed or denied, there's a widely held belief that it was some magical experiment at the College that's to blame for much of Winterhold collapsing into the sea. Many people are also heard to criticize the mages for, if not actively causing it, failing to use their magic to prevent the collapse. |
| 373 | * MageTower: While the College was not built as one, it has been left with this appearance due to the collapse of most of Winterhold into the Sea of Ghosts, leaving it perched precariously on top of a large rock formation. |
| 374 | * MagicalLibrary: Many visitors come to Winterhold to visit the College's Library, containing some of the oldest documents and records in Skyrim. |
| 375 | * NoOSHACompliance: Apparently, students getting killed by mishaps isn't exactly unusual. And they have an entire underworks beneath the College filled with more than a few things of a dangerous nature... all in the hands of a blithe student. |
| 376 | ** Simply entering the College requires crossing a crumbling stone bridge, which is suspended haphazardly a hundred feet above the ocean below, covered in snow and ice, and frequently battered by gale-force winds. The bridge itself appears to have been damaged in the Great Collapse, suggesting that either no one has bothered ([[ThePrecariousLedge or been able]]) to fix it in over ''eighty'' years or that magic is the only thing keeping it still standing. |
| 377 | * NoodleIncident: [[https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:College_of_Winterhold_(place)#Phinis_Gestor:_College_Policy Phinis Gestor's lecture on College policy]] is filled with these, including: |
| 378 | ** Warning students to not enter the Midden even though "the outbreak" was contained, as the area is still hazardous.[[note]]However, when you venture down there yourself, there isn't anything remotely dangerous aside from maybe a handful of minor enemies.[[/note]] |
| 379 | ** That ''[[OhNoNotAgain once again]]'' they need to stop summoning Atronachs within sight of Winterhold. And Undead. |
| 380 | ** That some students have been using invisibility to play pranks in Winterhold, and [[{{Pun}} no one has seen any sign of the perpetrators.]] |
| 381 | ** That "While Drevis appreciates the spellcasting skill that went into [[HammerSpace somehow cramming several hundred apples into his pillow...]] He would ask that it please not happen again." |
| 382 | * OnlyShopInTown: While there are other sources, most of Winterhold's economy comes from travelers heading to the College. |
| 383 | * ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: At-least two magi there openly worship Talos, Tolfdir and Onmund, despite the Thalmor ban on Talos worship, with a Thalmor Inquisitor on campus! But Skyrim law seems to end at the college steps, guards won’t go there and even the treaty the Dragonborn can officiate stipulates the college is a neutral entity and is not affected by the accord. Fact is lawmakers know better than to even pretend a group of magic welders often bad-mouthed by the locals are subject to any outside authority. |
| 384 | * WizardsLiveLonger: One of the possible benefits to Necromancy and/or Restoration is to become ageless - immortal unless killed. At-least one of the staff has achieved this. |
| 385 | * WizardingSchool: Naturally. |
| 386 | [[/folder]] |
| 387 | |
| 388 | [[folder:Savos Aren]] |
| 389 | [[quoteright:206:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/savos_1622.JPG]] |
| 390 | [[quoteright:206:''"What you learn here will last you a lifetime. Several, if you're talented."'']] |
| 391 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KeithSilverstein (English), Alexander Kovrizhnykh (Russian) |
| 392 | |
| 393 | TheArchmage (leader) of the College of Winterhold. |
| 394 | |
| 395 | * ALighterShadeOfGrey: Savos is a substantially less moral archmage than the likes of Hannibal Traven but far less amoral than the likes of Trebonius Artorius. He is no prude when it comes to dangerous experiments but demands at-least basic safety measures. |
| 396 | * TheArchmage: His position at the College. |
| 397 | * TheAtoner: His final act as Arch-Mage is to send the player to Labyrinthian, not merely to retrieve the Staff of Magnus, but to defeat Morokei and free the souls imprisoned holding him there, [[spoiler:the souls of his friends ''he'' enthralled to keep Morokei in place.]] |
| 398 | * BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Savos was initially very eager and energetic to explore the Labyrinthian; by the end, not so much.]] |
| 399 | * DarkSecret: [[spoiler:When he was a young mage, he and several other students of the College ventured into Labyrinthian seeking the Staff of Magnus. They found it... in the hands of an ancient, powerful, undead [[OurLichesAreDifferent Dragon Priest]] named Morokei, whom they awakened with their presence. Savos ended up having to sacrifice his two surviving colleagues - the others having died along the way - and raise them as thralls to keep Morokei down there, before escaping the dungeon empty-handed and alone. When the Dovahkiin follows in his footsteps, Morokei first assumes they must be Savos.]] No one at the College seems to know that Savos ever did such a thing. |
| 400 | * FantasticallyIndifferent: Finding a legendary artifact of extreme power barely gets him to look up from his book. Also he has zero respect for the Thalmor, the so-called self-appointed "Elven Masters of the Empire", much to Ancano's frustration. |
| 401 | * KilledOffForReal: Killed when [[spoiler:Ancano starts harnessing the power of the Eye of Magnus. He's hit so hard, he's blown out of the Chamber of Elements and into the courtyard.]] |
| 402 | * LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: His policy toward the Augur of Dunlain. |
| 403 | * MentorOccupationalHazard: [[spoiler:He continues the trend of groups that the Dragonborn joins abruptly losing their leaders.]] |
| 404 | * MyGreatestFailure: Despite the player never hearing him talk about it [[spoiler:in life, it's clear through flashback scenes in Labyrinthian that he views his past ill-fated expedition there as this. He got his fellow students to accompany him into what turned out to be a dangerous crypt, egged his fellow students to press onward despite being part of a DwindlingParty, and ended up having to sacrifice the last two to keep [[SealedEvilInACan Morokei]] sealed away. He is left as a very distraught [[SurvivorGuilt sole survivor]]. It can be inferred, though it's never outright confirmed, that a potential reason for his observed lackadaisical approach in running the college is because he doesn't view himself as worthy enough of the position, on account of how he helped lead several fellow mages to their deaths. Additionally, in hidden dialogue within the game files, he explicitly refers to the entire incident using the trope name]]. |
| 405 | * MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Despite the Thalmor supposedly representing elven superiority over the races of man and the fact Savos is an elf, he has no intention of even slightly humoring their representative, Ancano, as anything other than a guest. |
| 406 | * StoppedCaring: At this point the prospect of more students accidently getting injured is a best an irritation to him. |
| 407 | * TakeUpMySword: [[spoiler:Left instructions that in the event of his death, Mirabelle should pass on the ''Torc of Labyrinthian'' when the time was right. It seems that, after his initial attempts to dissuade the Dragonborn from their goal of finding the Staff of Magnus failed, he decided to subtly prepare the Dragonborn to finish what he started long ago.]] |
| 408 | * TheFarmerAndTheViper: The farmer to Ancano’s viper. He welcomes Ancano as little more than not wishing to snub the Thalmor, but feels no obligation to give him special treatment; [[spoiler:Turns out giving Ancano even that much benefit of the doubt was a fatal mistake.]] |
| 409 | * WizardsLiveLonger: He has been alive for over an age, even for a Dunmer that is obscenely old, and yet his hair hasn’t even gone white yet. |
| 410 | [[/folder]] |
| 411 | |
| 412 | [[folder:Mirabelle Ervine]] |
| 413 | [[quoteright:207:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mirabelle_3157.JPG]] |
| 414 | [[quoteright:207:''"Please don't bother the Arch-Mage unless it's absolutely necessary."'']] |
| 415 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Mozhan Marnò (English), Larisa Brochman (Russian) |
| 416 | |
| 417 | She's the Master Wizard - second-highest-ranking member - of the College of Winterhold. |
| 418 | ---- |
| 419 | * HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Faces Ancano alone, knowing it'll result in her death, in order to give her colleagues time to escape.]] |
| 420 | * HypercompetentSidekick: A lot more active in the administration of the College than Savos. |
| 421 | * KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler:After she sends you to Labyrinthian to retrieve the Staff of Magnus, Mirabelle dies protecting her colleagues from Ancano.]] |
| 422 | * NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: Subverted and downplayed. [[spoiler:After her death, some of the staff members may occasionally express surprise that they haven't heard from her. They seem to think that Mirabelle wouldn't let a little thing like being dead get in the way of her correspondence.]] |
| 423 | * NumberTwo: Second-in-command at the College of Winterhold. |
| 424 | * OnlySaneMan: She's about the only mage in the College who is down-to-earth and cares about running the place efficiently. At least, she tries. |
| 425 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Mirabelle is much more willing to listen to you and give advice during the main quest for the College than Savos, even if she remains somewhat skeptical on the whole business surrounding the Eye of Magnus and the Staff of Magnus. |
| 426 | * SternTeacher: Though not unreasonable. |
| 427 | [[/folder]] |
| 428 | |
| 429 | [[folder:Tolfdir]] |
| 430 | [[quoteright:199:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tolfdir_6499.JPG]] |
| 431 | [[caption-width-right:199:''"It's always encouraging to see the younger generations embracing education."'']] |
| 432 | ->'''Voiced by:''' George Coe (English), Alexey Mikhailov (Russian) |
| 433 | |
| 434 | The Alteration specialist in the college's faculty. |
| 435 | ---- |
| 436 | * AbsentMindedProfessor: He tends to lose his alembic a lot. The Dovahkiin gets a very small gold reward and a Soul Gem for returning it to him, but it's really just a tip on top of the warm fuzzy feeling. |
| 437 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: A mild-mannered mage, [[LetsGetDangerous until he takes out the fire...]] |
| 438 | * CoolOldGuy: Quite possibly the nicest member of the Winterhold faculty. |
| 439 | * CoolTeacher: He's the only member of the faculty still concerned with teaching. |
| 440 | * CulturalRebel: Judging by his name and appearance, he's a Nord, and as as one of the senior mages of the College, he obviously doesn't care about the Nords' usual bias against magic. |
| 441 | * DissonantSerenity: In Saarthal, he'll marvel at the Nordic architecture while torching Draugr left and right. |
| 442 | * HypercompetentSidekick: [[spoiler:Even after becoming Arch-Mage, there's nothing you can actually do to control or influence the operations of the college, and you still have to answer to him if you break the rules, so he's effectively the one in charge once the questline is finished.]] |
| 443 | * IllegalReligion: He references the "Nine Divine" meaning Tolfdir openly worships the now illegeal ninth divine, Talos. However since the College of Winterhold doesn't observe local government, he is free to do so on college grounds. |
| 444 | * NiceGuy: He's nothing but kind, respectful, and caring, especially toward his students. |
| 445 | * NumberTwo: [[spoiler:He takes over as Master Wizard, replacing Mirabelle, once you become Archmage.]] |
| 446 | * OldMaster: He's an old man and a specialist in his field who isn't afraid to torch the opposition with fire spells. |
| 447 | * OnlySaneMan: Believes caution must be used when practising magic, unlike the more ''laissez-faire'' attitude of his colleagues. |
| 448 | * PlayingWithFire: When he decides [[LetsGetDangerous to get dangerous]], he throws fire spells. |
| 449 | * RealityWarper: His field of expertise, Alteration magic, is a low-impact form of this (according to texts like ''[[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Reality_%26_Other_Falsehoods Reality and Other Falsehoods]]''). |
| 450 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He evidently cares about the well-being of his students and the college. [[spoiler:It's only appropriate that he replaces Mirabelle as Master Wizard.]] |
| 451 | * WizardBeard: He's a Nord and a wizard, so this shouldn't be surprising. |
| 452 | [[/folder]] |
| 453 | |
| 454 | [[folder:J'Zargo]] |
| 455 | [[quoteright:194:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jzargo_1325.JPG]] |
| 456 | [[quoteright:194:''"Khajiit are not known as mages, so J'zargo has much to prove."'']] |
| 457 | ->'''Voiced by:''' André Sogliuzzo (English), Alexander Dzyuba (Russian) |
| 458 | |
| 459 | A Khajiit apprentice in the same class as you in the College of Winterhold. He's also the only base game companion who won't level cap and can keep up with the Dragonborn even during the late game. |
| 460 | ---- |
| 461 | * AntiHero: [[Analysis/AntiHero Pragmatic Anti-Hero]]. |
| 462 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: J'Zargo is sizing up his classmates as potential rivals when you first meet him. Your first potential dialogue with him consists of basic pleasantries before he [[EstablishingCharacterMoment asks if you've mastered Expert-level Destruction yet.]] Which leads into... |
| 463 | * BreakTheHaughty: If you ''have'' mastered Expert Destruction (i.e. taken the perk) when he springs the question on you, he'll be rather taken aback, clearly [[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder not expecting]] an affirmative answer. He'll sound disheartened for a moment before quickly bouncing back to admit that he has much to learn, and happy that there is some actual competition. |
| 464 | * FiveFingerDiscount: He seeks anything that will help him become a better mage. Preferably things that are small enough to fit in pockets and will not be missed. |
| 465 | * GeniusDitz: If it doesn't involve magically induced carnage, he doesn't have an opinion on it. |
| 466 | * HiddenHeartOfGold: His [[ArrogantKungFuGuy kung-fu arrogance]] appears mostly in jest, and he warms up after you earn his friendship. |
| 467 | * InsufferableGenius: He's skilled and competent, sure, but also feels the need of being a walking billboard about it. |
| 468 | * JackOfAllStats: He has decent stats in several areas, along with mastery of others, which helps him avoid being a MasterOfNone. |
| 469 | * KungFuWizard: Like almost everybody else at the college, he doesn't actually carry any weapons, so if he ever runs out of Magicka (almost impossible at higher levels) he'll start going to town with his bare hands. Unlike his colleagues, though, he's a Khajiit and gets the full benefit of his claws. |
| 470 | * MagicKnight: Skilled in heavy armor and one-handed weapons, he can take damage as well as he can dish it out. |
| 471 | * MasterOfIllusion: The highest Illusion stat of any follower in the game. |
| 472 | * TheNotLoveInterest: Despite having arguably the most developed and distinct character out of your classmates in the College, he's the only one of the three that isn't a marriage option due to him being a Khajiit. |
| 473 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: It's impossible to tell if he's an impulsive idiot, or cleverly exploiting the reputation Khajiit have for being a bit dim. |
| 474 | * PlayingWithFire: His quest involves testing out some flame cloak spells he devised, on the undead. Spells that take off a significant chunk of the ''user's'' health in the process, by way of [[StuffBlowingUp explosion]]. |
| 475 | -->'''J'Zargo:''' Did you try them? Were they ''magnificent?''\ |
| 476 | '''Dovahkiin:''' Were they supposed to explode? Because they exploded. |
| 477 | * TheRival: To everyone he meets. |
| 478 | * ShockAndAwe: Lightining spells are his primary offense in battle. |
| 479 | * SquishyWizard: Averted strongly. Heavy Armor is one of his best skills. |
| 480 | * StuffBlowingUp: His entire reason for being, so far as he's concerned. |
| 481 | * ThirdPersonPerson: A common trait with Khajiit. J'Zargo sure likes to speak about J'Zargo whenever J'Zargo has the opportunity. |
| 482 | ** Special mention should go to one of his "Follow" responses, where he talks about his ''race'' in third person. |
| 483 | --> '''J'Zargo:''' Khajiit will follow. |
| 484 | ** Averted if you make him a Blade; the stock Blade responses override the Khajiit ones. |
| 485 | * ToBeAMaster: J'Zargo wants to become the best in the world at destruction magic. |
| 486 | * VitriolicBestBuds: Once you earn his friendship. |
| 487 | * WorthyOpponent: Sees the Dragonborn as one, particularly if they become Archmage. |
| 488 | --> '''J'zargo:''' J'zargo had expected to be named Archmage... but there is still time. |
| 489 | [[/folder]] |
| 490 | |
| 491 | [[folder:Brelyna Maryon]] |
| 492 | [[quoteright:201:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brelyna_2707.JPG]] |
| 493 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Corri English (English), Daria Frolova (Russian) |
| 494 | |
| 495 | A fellow apprentice you meet in your first class at the College Of Winterhold. |
| 496 | ---- |
| 497 | * BadassBookworm: She's both bookish and a powerful mage, though she's somewhat nervous about using her abilities. |
| 498 | * BumblingSidekick: When you offer to be her test subject for spells, she'll first turn you green (you'll see everything through a green filter, too). You have to wait for it to wear off. In her next experiment, she accidentally turns you into a cow. And then a horse. And a dog. Then she fixes it and apologises profusely. |
| 499 | * CombatPragmatist: Avoids rushing into combat in favour of using summons, subterfuge and defensive magic. |
| 500 | * CuteBookworm: Often is shown to begin reading whenever she stands idle. |
| 501 | * CuteClumsyGirl: Even when she's completely botching the spells she casts on you is she [[ApologizesALot utterly adorable]]. |
| 502 | * CuteWitch: In contrast to the rather dour, world-weary attitude of most dark elf [=NPCs=], she has an innocent and sunny demeanour. |
| 503 | * DeadpanSnarker: Not usually, but she does get a few light barbs here and there. The most notable and pointed instance is when she first meets the Dragonborn, [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore assuming that they're about to unload on her with questions that she's sick and tired of answering]]. |
| 504 | --> '''Tolfdir:''' So, as I was saying, the first thing to understand is that magic is, by its very nature, volatile and dangerous. Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you.\ |
| 505 | '''Brelyna:''' Sir, I think we all understand that fairly well. We wouldn't be here if we couldn't control magic. |
| 506 | * ForcedTransformation: If you agree to be her test subject, in her second experiment she accidentally turns you into a cow. Her attempts to fix this turn you into a horse and a dog before they finally succeed. |
| 507 | * GirlishPigtails: Though they're often hidden by her hood. |
| 508 | * HeroWorshipper: Is the most enthusiastic and congratulatory if the Dragonborn becomes Archmage. |
| 509 | * ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: If you try to open her inventory as a follower, she quips, "I'm a mage, not a pawnbroker, you know". |
| 510 | * {{Irony}}: Can cause this unintentionally, given how glitchy ''Skyrim'' can be. While you're helping her with her assorted experiments, your Miscellaneous quests list will include a line about waiting for the effects of the current experiment to wear off. It's possible for this waiting to become stuck there, preventing you from moving on to the next one or from ever having any further dialogue with her. The irony comes in when you consider how buggy her experiments are in the first place - it's almost like the game glitches on purpose as a joke. |
| 511 | * LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: One of the Dovahkiin's possible reactions to the spell-testing ordeal. |
| 512 | * MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Possibly. The official strategy guide states that she isn't actually from mainland Morrowind or Vvardenfell, but from Solstheim. When you travel there as part of the ''Dragonborn'' expansion, there is only one Telvanni wizard there, and he fits [[JerkAss every description]] [[EducationMama she gives of]] [[TheProudElite her family]]. Given [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld his age]] and [[TheArchmage abilities]] she needn't necessarily be his daughter; she could just as easily be his granddaughter, great-granddaughter, niece, or opposite-sex-clone. |
| 513 | * NiceGirl: She's one of the kindest and friendliest faces at the College. |
| 514 | * NothingPersonal: She even comments that her ancestors and Onmund's ancestors tried to kill each other over Saarthal while walking through it. She considers such conflicts sensely, and has nothing against Onmund for it. |
| 515 | * RoyalBlood: She's a descendant of House Telvanni, one of the Great Houses of Morrowind. She mentions that at home, her lineage causes others to put a great deal of pressure on her to excel, and she prefers the more relaxed, study-focused atmosphere of the college.[[note]]Unfortunately, if you are made an honorary member of House Telvanni yourself in the ''Dragonborn'' expansion, this doesn't give any additional dialogue.[[/note]] |
| 516 | * SquishyWizard: Brelyna has a fairly low health pool and level cap, and unlike her fellows does not specialize in Heavy Armor, meaning that she doesn't hold up well under fire. |
| 517 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: She will often summon two powerful atronachs ''and'' use her own destruction magic against weak enemies like wolves, or even when you try to hunt a peaceful wilderness creature. |
| 518 | * WellDoneSonGuy: Her reason for being at the college. |
| 519 | ** Can lead to a very heartwarming moment if you marry her after completing the college quest line, giving her something to help herself meet her family's high expectations - [[spoiler:marrying the Archmage themself]]. |
| 520 | [[/folder]] |
| 521 | |
| 522 | [[folder:Onmund]] |
| 523 | [[quoteright:174:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/onmund_2901.JPG]] |
| 524 | [[caption-width-right:174:''"I was hoping I wouldn't be the only Nord here, but I guess I should have thought better."'']] |
| 525 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JasonMarsden (English), Anton Kolesnikov (Russian) |
| 526 | |
| 527 | Another fellow apprentice at the College of Winterhold. |
| 528 | ---- |
| 529 | * BarrierWarrior: He is prone to putting up wards, and given the chance will gladly put himself between you and a mage when spells start getting flung at you. |
| 530 | * CombatMedic: Of the three college followers he is the most prone to healing himself and you, but in-between that is usually lobbing Thunderbolts at enemies. |
| 531 | * TheConscience: Tries to act as this to rest of the expedition into Saarthal, but no one else seems concerned with entering his ancestors' crypt. |
| 532 | * CulturalRebel: Notable for being one of the few Nords who actually puts faith in magic. |
| 533 | * DreamingOfThingsToCome: The Psijic monks send him one of these visions, so he leaves the college to find you, just before it gets sealed behind him due to the Eye of Magnus. |
| 534 | * DueToTheDead: He may be interested in magic, but he's still a Nord, and believes that the dead of Saarthal deserve to rest in peace instead of the College conducting an excavation. |
| 535 | * HealingHands: The only apprentice who starts out with, and frequently uses this when he sees you in trouble. |
| 536 | * IllegalReligion: He will exclaim "By the Nine!", when he is shocked - indicating he believes in the now, illegal ninth Divine, Talos. Luckly for him Arch-Mage Aren doesn't even pretend to observe the ban on college grounds. |
| 537 | * MagicKnight: Has specs in One/two-handed, Destruction, Illusion, and heavy armor. |
| 538 | * MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Strongly resents the ProudWarriorRace status of his people. |
| 539 | * [[KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect Nord Wizards Get No Respect]]: Lampshades this during his initial conversation. If the Dragonborn is a Nord, he's rather happy to discover that he's not the ''only'' one who sees the benefit of studying magic. |
| 540 | * NiceGuy: Easily one of the most friendly personable members of the college. |
| 541 | * NothingPersonal: Despite Brelyna's ancestors and his ancestors trying to kill each-other over Saarthal, he really doesn't seems to mind working with her. Likewise, despite his aversion to disturbing the dead, there is no indication he and the school necromancer have any animosity. |
| 542 | * ThePollyanna: The official strategy guide says that he's puzzled as to why nobody around him seems to be as happy as he is, and that while his attempts to make friends and engage in social activities often don't work out, it hasn't dampened his enthusiasm. |
| 543 | [[/folder]] |
| 544 | |
| 545 | [[folder:Arniel Gane]] |
| 546 | [[quoteright:206:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arniel_7612.JPG]] |
| 547 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RichardEpcar (English), Alexander Komlev (Russian) |
| 548 | |
| 549 | A member of the College of Winterhold who is working on a personal research project involving the long-lost Dwemer. |
| 550 | ---- |
| 551 | * BareFistedMonk: His A.I. is bugged, so if he finds himself in combat [[spoiler:before his transformation into a Shade]], he tends to forget that he has access to Destruction spells and tries to punch his opponents to death instead. |
| 552 | * ButtMonkey: Seems to be this to most members of the College. It was made more obvious in some dialogue that doesn't appear in the game due to a bug, but it's still implied, since nobody seems to care about his work or [[spoiler:even acknowledge his disappearance.]] |
| 553 | * CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:Seems to have lost his mind or is in pain as a Shade, with his only lines of dialogue being groans and a desire to end life.]] |
| 554 | * FreakLabAccident: [[spoiler:The conclusion of his questline sees him smacking at a Warped Soul Gem with [[CallBack Keening]] and subsequently vanishing in a small explosion... only to turn up in the player's spell inventory as a summon.]] |
| 555 | * GoneHorriblyRight: His questline involves [[spoiler:re-creating the Disappearance of the Dwemer. In the end, he finally performs an approximation of the spell... and winks out of existence much like the Dwemer did. Success???]] |
| 556 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Even when Winterhold and the entire world are endangered by Ancano, [[SkewedPriorities his first concern is whether his research is okay]]. |
| 557 | * OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[spoiler:He turns into a Shade after death, which the player can summon through their spell inventory. Unfortunately, it's possible for the game to glitch in such a way that he's completely useless as a summon, and won't even converse with you properly.]] |
| 558 | * ShockAndAwe: Prefers to dual-cast electric spells [[spoiler:as a Shade]], though he also [[KillItWithFire throws fireballs]] on occasion. |
| 559 | * TooDumbToLive: He's planning to [[spoiler:recreate the events that led to the Dwemer vanishing]], without telling anyone what he's doing or allowing anyone to provide oversight or feedback on his methods. Moreover, he's trying it in the middle of the college with weak counterparts of the proper items that were involved. Everyone is fortunate that [[spoiler:turning himself into a Shade]] is ''all'' he does. |
| 560 | [[/folder]] |
| 561 | |
| 562 | [[folder:Enthir]] |
| 563 | [[quoteright:212:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/enthir_8740.JPG]] |
| 564 | [[caption-width-right:212:''"Nothing illicit going on here, Arch-Mage. You can be sure of that."'']] |
| 565 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/StephenRussell (English), Eugene Waltz (Russian) |
| 566 | |
| 567 | A shady black-market dealer on the campus. |
| 568 | ---- |
| 569 | * AmbiguouslyEvil: Speaking to him it is obviously he is up to something. Turns out he has all manner of taboo magical components for sale. |
| 570 | ** While he barters with rogue mages, he's also willing to have them taken care of if they're reckless or indiscreet with things he sells them. He deals and is interested in a wide variety of strange goods outside of his obvious contraband (such as the black soul gems and daedra hearts), from Arniel's unusual custom implements, to Onmund's expensive but otherwise ordinary family heirloom, to dragon teeth. And yet, despite his willingness to undergo risky trades and his constant figuring of the best way to profit off of a situation, he strongly objects to the notion that he's in it for coin, leaving the question of what he ''is'' getting out of his business a complete mystery. |
| 571 | ** [[spoiler:He also has connections to the Thieves Guild; ironically, that's one of his more positive traits, as he deals with them more out of respect for his genuine scholarly friendship with their old guildmaster, Gallus, than he does out of interest in making money]]. |
| 572 | * BlatantLies: If you talk with him after [[spoiler:becoming Archmage]], he always begins the conversation by saying that there's nothing underhanded happening. [[spoiler:Even if you've completed the Thieves Guild quest and ''know'' that isn't the case]]. |
| 573 | * ChainOfDeals: In a small way, since he has a personal rule about never, ever going back on a deal. As in, if you traded something to him and now you want it back, tough. You should have thought of that before you made the deal. However, if someone ''else'' makes a trade for the object and then gives it back to you, he doesn't mind... which leads to the Dovahkiin running around doing favours for Enthir to get things he's traded to others so they can give them back to their owners. |
| 574 | * ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:If you do the College of Winterhold questline first, you can get the vibe that something's up with this guy. Then, if you do the Thieves' Guild questline...]] |
| 575 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: To a degree. He'll sometimes regret selling powerful magical items to dangerous individuals like rogue mages and vampires. See {{Hypocrite}} below for more details. |
| 576 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He genuinely respected [[spoiler:Gallus, the former Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild]] as a friend and fellow scholar, and helps you during that questline out of a desire to see the killer brought to justice. That also seems to extend to [[spoiler:Karliah]], whom he treats far more kindly and amicably than anyone else he ever talks to. |
| 577 | * FriendInTheBlackMarket: [[spoiler:He has connections with the Thieves' Guild and will even act as a fence for stolen goods once the player gets far enough along in the Thieves' Guild questline. He also sells the highly illegal and unethical Black Soul Gems.]] |
| 578 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Will never issue refunds, but has a habit of giving powerful objects to nasty people (like ''vampires'') and then realising that was probably a bad idea, which leads him to send the Dovahkiin to, typically, murder the nasty people and steal back the objects to cover his own ass. If you call him on this, he claims it's ''far'' too economically complex and subtle for ''you'' to understand. |
| 579 | * PetTheDog: If your Persuasion is good enough, Enthir can be convinced to make an exception for Onmund, and he returns Onmund's family heirloom free of charge. He will also help Karliah decode Gallus' journal for free to uncover the truth behind his departed friend's murder, and reminisce fondly and sadly about how he and [[GentlemanThief Gallus]] met. |
| 580 | * SecretKeeper: Seems to have been this for [[spoiler: Gallus and Karliah]], knowing the truth about the Nightingales and later [[spoiler:Mercer's betrayal and Karliah's innocence and revenge plan]] long before the rest of the guild did. |
| 581 | [[/folder]] |
| 582 | |
| 583 | [[folder:Faralda]] |
| 584 | [[quoteright:159:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faralda_8492.JPG]] |
| 585 | [[caption-width-right:159:''"The College is an asset to Skyrim, even if it goes unnoticed or unappreciated."'']] |
| 586 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Susan Eisenberg (English), Olga Kuznetsova (Russian) |
| 587 | |
| 588 | The go-to elf for everything Destruction. |
| 589 | ---- |
| 590 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: When she asks why you're at the college, one possible response is "I just wanted to see what it looks like inside." She knows that's probably ''not'' the reason you're actually there, but gets a laugh out of it anyway and admits that people with a sense of humor are in short supply at the college. |
| 591 | * TheBigGuy: Tall like all Altmer, but what makes her this trope is the fact that she's pretty much the gate guard for the College and is a strong magical fighter. [[spoiler:She's also the first of the mages to [[MamaBear charge into the fray]] when Ancano summons wisps to attack Winterhold.]] |
| 592 | * BigSisterMentor: While she comes across as indifferent toward the Dragonborn at first, she quickly warms up to them once they prove worthy of entering the college, and is the only College trainer aside from Tolfdir that expresses particular fondness toward the Dragonborn when they interact. Her concern for the Dragonborn is to the extent that, when Dragonborn asks her about Ancano, her immediate reaction is to warn them to keep their guard up around the Thalmor Mage. |
| 593 | * CoolTeacher: Not as active in teaching as Tolfdir, but she's still one of the more reasonable faculty members. If you get her to teach you about Destruction magic, she'll happily hand out advice in a patient, respectful, and humble manner to make sure that you don't blow yourself up. |
| 594 | * GirlyBruiser: [[GirlishPigtails The pigtails]] and dainty walk only accentuate her ability to nuke everything in sight. |
| 595 | * TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Revealing to her that you're the Dragonborn and demonstrating your mastery of the Thu'um is enough for her to let you into the College without performing a normal magical demonstration, and she's rather excited about being able to see an ancient and near-forgotten form of magic in action. |
| 596 | * MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: She's an Altmer, but ''not'' a Thalmor, and will warn you about Ancano. |
| 597 | * TheRival: According to the Prima strategy guide, she and Nirya have a rivalry going on, spawning from the fact that both of them have their eye on the Master Wizard position. Sergius Turrianus, aware of the rivalry, attempts to instigate conflict between the two in the hopes that Faralda will go running to him for comfort when she's upset. |
| 598 | ** UnknownRival: Most of the above doesn't actually appear in-game; instead, she seems to be on the receiving end of an unknown rivalry. Nirya complains to the Dragonborn about Faralda, but Faralda appears to barely spare her a thought. |
| 599 | * ShockAndAwe: Her preferred form of Destruction magic is thunder magic. |
| 600 | * StatuesqueStunner: Being a Altmer, she's taller than almost everyone, and is better looking than most Altmer women, with her pronounced cheekbones, animesque eyes and that smiles a lot. |
| 601 | * ThresholdGuardian: One of her duties in the College seems to be to guard the bridge to the College, requiring a demonstration of magical potential before she will allow anyone admission into the College. |
| 602 | * TokenEnemyMinority: |
| 603 | ** For an organization working for the benefit of her whole race, she ''really'' doesn't seem to have much respect for the Thalmor. |
| 604 | ** Like many of residents of the college she also subverts the common stereotype of her race, showing at least the barest humility in the face of other races and showing the Dragonborn due respect after being welcomed by the college. |
| 605 | [[/folder]] |
| 606 | |
| 607 | [[folder:Nirya]] |
| 608 | [[quoteright:161:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nirya_8627.JPG]] |
| 609 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Julianne Buescher (English), Bella Co (Russian) |
| 610 | |
| 611 | A self-confident elf student looking to make a name for herself. |
| 612 | ---- |
| 613 | * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Fancies [[ObviouslyEvil Ancano]] despite not trusting him at all. |
| 614 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Even she knows not to trust Ancano. |
| 615 | * InferioritySuperiorityComplex: She spends far too much time brooding over Faralda's relative success, and obviously feels stuck in her shadow. |
| 616 | * {{Jerkass}}: Big time. If you kill her, you're liable to get a letter from Faralda saying she knows it was you, but she's not planning to rat you out for it. |
| 617 | * TheRival: According to the official strategy guide, she and Faralda have a rivalry going on, spawning from the fact that both of them have their eye on the Master Wizard position. |
| 618 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Very arrogant and confident, but she has only Apprentice level spells, and won't serve as a trainer. |
| 619 | * TeachersPet: [[spoiler:Attempts to invoke this to the Dragonborn when they become Archmage]]. "I do hope you'll remember who has been the most helpful during your time here, Archmage." It's a strange thing for her to say, considering she is literally the only member of the College (barring, of course, Ancano) who doesn't ever actually do anything even remotely helpful. |
| 620 | * UnknownRival: While the strategy guide makes it clear that both she and Faralda are involved in the rivalry for the position of Master Wizard, in-game, Nirya seems to be the only one that feels this way: to her, Faralda is an obstacle to overcome. Every hint of advice is a ploy to weaken her self-confidence, and Nirya is initially hostile to the Dragonborn because she suspects they might be sent by Faralda. Given the trope this entry is about, you can tell who's the unknown one in this rivalry. |
| 621 | * UnwittingPawn: The strategy guide notes that Sergius Turrianus gives Nirya hints on how to sabotage Faralda; as mentioned above, he's trying to make Faralda upset so that he can comfort her and make her like him. Nirya does suspect he's using her, but can't figure out why, so she just goes with it without worrying too much about it. |
| 622 | [[/folder]] |
| 623 | |
| 624 | [[folder:Phinis Gestor]] |
| 625 | [[quoteright:149:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phinis_3941.JPG]] |
| 626 | [[caption-width-right:149:''"There are few places where one can pursue my type of work without fear of persecution."'']] |
| 627 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KeithSilverstein (English), Alexander Kovrizhnykh (Russian) |
| 628 | |
| 629 | The college's Conjuration-specialized faculty member. |
| 630 | ---- |
| 631 | * BadPowersGoodPeople: Friendly and wise, however his main area of expertise is raising the dead, and binding Daedra. |
| 632 | * CreepyGood: With a pleasant tone and a helpful smile, he assures you that, should you die, he will see to it your remains are put to good use. |
| 633 | * DarkIsNotEvil: He is quite insistent that necromancy is a tool like any other magic school. |
| 634 | * FairWeatherMentor: He lost no less than four previous conjuration students who went off to do dangerous experiments. He wonders where they ended up, but it is an idle curiosity, not actual concern. [[RiverOfInsanity None of them are coming back]]. |
| 635 | * {{Necromancer}}: Almost certainly. He's the master of the Conjuration school, which includes necromancy spells, and promises you that if you die on college grounds, he'll make sure your remains are put to good use. Furthermore, he openly claims that necromancy is a tool to be used and policies against it are "archaic." |
| 636 | * NoodleIncident: One in Morthal, which he insists was a misunderstanding, despite what the guards claim. |
| 637 | * NothingPersonal: Most of the rest of Skyrim fears magic and even quite a few other mages have hang-ups about necromancy. He is quite aware of this, but as long as the school provides him a safe place to practice his craft he really doesn't bear any ill will to the fearful masses. |
| 638 | * SinkOrSwimMentor: Becoming a Conjuration Master under him requires summoning an unbound Daedra (meaning that unlike regular summons, it is '''not''' magically forced to do your will) and somehow force it to get a sigil stone for you, instead of simply hitting you in the face with a [[{{BFS}} massive]] FlamingSword. Of course, he has no intention of doing that for you. If you want to toy with the forces of Oblivion, that's on you! |
| 639 | * SummonMagic: He specializes in the school of Conjuration, and he is the one who sells you Master-level Conjuration spells after you do the necessary quest. |
| 640 | * TokenEvilTeammate: A very mild example, depending on how you feel about necromancy. |
| 641 | [[/folder]] |
| 642 | |
| 643 | [[folder:Colette Marence]] |
| 644 | [[quoteright:166:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/colettemarence_8557.JPG]] |
| 645 | [[caption-width-right:166:''"Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"'']] |
| 646 | |
| 647 | Resident Restoration expert at the college. |
| 648 | ---- |
| 649 | * HeartIsAnAwesomePower: She's incredibly paranoid that her colleagues don't respect her [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway mastery of the Restoration school]], which is why she'll frequently try to remind you of its many practical applications. If you ask for training, she immediately approves, happily declaring that "I'll gladly share my knowledge with you." |
| 650 | * HippieTeacher: According to the Prima strategy guide, the others at the college view her as one (a "peace-loving star-gazing Spriggan-hugger," to be exact). She tried to break out of that image but found that she was treated even worse, so she stopped trying to change their view of her. |
| 651 | * {{Irony}}: She gets a lot of disrespect at the college for being the Restoration School's expert. Out in the rest of the world, however, Restoration is the one school of magic that even the ''Nords'' consider valuable. Guards [[WelcomeToCorneria frequently]] note their respect for the Restoration School and that Skyrim needs more healers, although that may be at least partly based on [[CivilWar current events]]. |
| 652 | * SignatureLine: "Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic!" |
| 653 | [[/folder]] |
| 654 | |
| 655 | [[folder:Urag gro-Shub]] |
| 656 | [[quoteright:179:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/urag_2824.JPG]] |
| 657 | [[caption-width-right:179:''"I don't want to see you treating any of these books poorly. Are we clear?"'']] |
| 658 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Noah Nelson (English), Sergey Lavygin (Russian) |
| 659 | |
| 660 | The librarian of the College. |
| 661 | ---- |
| 662 | * BadassBookworm: Being an orc usually means being badass, and the bookworm part is implied by his love of books, so its only natural that they put him in charge of guarding and maintaining the library[[note]] A wizard library, which houses contents that can, at times, be considered weapons of mass destruction [[/note]], arguably the most important piece of the College. |
| 663 | * BerserkButton: Never ''ever'' disrespect his library or its contents. |
| 664 | * CulturalRebel: Orcs are mainly {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s who are really into fighting, so Urag's love of books and spells is unusual for his people. That said, it's still implied he channels his natural aggression onto anyone who messes with his beloved library. |
| 665 | * CulturedBadass: He's probably the single most well-read Orc in the game, if not the series. |
| 666 | * DramaticIrony: He claims not even the greatest of thieves could lay their hands on an Elder Scroll if he had it. The final quest of [[spoiler:the Thieves Guild in ''Oblivion'']] involves doing exactly that by stealing an Elder Scroll from under the noses of its guardians. |
| 667 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: His first greeting to the Dragonborn involves him threatening to have them torn apart by angry Atronachs if they disrupt the library, before calmly asking them if they require help learning anything. |
| 668 | * {{Jerkass}}: If you deliver a book from a dangerous cave to him, he'll be more concerned about the book's condition and he only pays like [[ComicallySmallBribe 30 septims]]. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold At least he thanks you for finding the book.]] |
| 669 | * JerkassHasAPoint: He's a librarian tasked with protecting valuable information, plenty of it centuries old, so it's understandable if he comes off as a bit harsh. |
| 670 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Though he's fairly abrasive and just a tad book-obsessed, Urag will legitimately thank you for fnding him a book. Giving him [[spoiler:the Elder Scroll (Dragon)]] will result in a moment of utter shock on his part, before he sincerely thanks you for it and admits he's "beyond honoured" to receive it. |
| 671 | * KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: |
| 672 | ** He's still an Orc despite his chosen occupation, and it shows: |
| 673 | ---> '''Urag''': You are now in the Arcanaeum, of which I am in charge. It might as well be my own little plane of Oblivion. Disrupt my Arcanaeum, and I will have you torn apart by angry Atronachs. Now, do you require assistance? |
| 674 | ** Despite being a librarian in distant Winterhold, Urag still maintains contact with the various Orc strongholds, and his word is enough to gain you entry should you help him find books. |
| 675 | * MagicLibrarian: He's in charge of the Arcanaeum, and he's every bit the mage the other members are. |
| 676 | * MrExposition: He's the go-to guy when it comes to finding an Elder Scroll, and will point you in the right direction. |
| 677 | * OlderThanTheyLook: He looks to be in his 70s. His dialogue implies he's been in the College since the Second Era, more than 600 years ago. |
| 678 | * ScaryLibrarian: Most librarians in normal libraries will fine you if you damage their books. Urag gro-Shub is not most librarians, and the Arcanum is [[MagicalLibrary most definetly not a normal library]][[note]]given a lot of its contents can be used as weapons, of the Mass Destruction variety[[/note]]. So, understandably, upon laying down the rules of the place, he promptly threatens to sic ''Atronachs'' on you if you step out of line. |
| 679 | * SeriousBusiness: Is fiercely devoted to his duties tending to books and threatens to have you torn apart by Atronachs if you damage them. According to one of Phinis's lectures, he threatened to take a "blood price" from anyone who damaged a book and didn't return or recompense for it. |
| 680 | * SquareRaceRoundClass: Even if [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Elder Scrolls orcs are Blizzardian-type]], you still wouldn't expect to see one as the librarian at a magical college. Notably he's also one of only two of male Orc mages in Skyrim (the other being the MagicKnight Bashnag), the others being females such as the wise women in ther Strongholds. |
| 681 | * {{Squee}}: After the main questline, you can [[spoiler:give him the Elder Scroll you retrieved in order to learn Dragonrend]], and his response is basically this.[[note]]He's not too happy if you have to buy it back in order to complete the ''Dawnguard'' questline, however, as many of those who installed the DLC after completing the main game discovered. You can return it to him later, though; there's really not much else you ''can'' do with it.[[/note]] |
| 682 | * WizardsLiveLonger: Orcs normally live about 65 years, making them shortest-lived races of elves by a long-shot. Urag is implied to over 600, making him older than even the oldest of other elves. |
| 683 | [[/folder]] |
| 684 | |
| 685 | [[folder:The Augur of Dunlain]] |
| 686 | [[quoteright:176:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/augur_3864.JPG]] |
| 687 | |
| 688 | A former member of the College, now some sort of... thing living in the caves beneath the College. |
| 689 | ---- |
| 690 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: As a result of an experiment gone awry. |
| 691 | * EnergyBeing: It doesn't really seem to have a proper body. |
| 692 | * TrainingFromHell: His method of teaching [[spoiler:advanced Restoration magic]] is to make you fend off a pack of ghosts that can't be harmed. Without using ''anything'' other than your wits - including the clothes on your back. |
| 693 | * WasOnceAMan: He was a student at the College until an unapproved experiment went badly. |
| 694 | [[/folder]] |
| 695 | |
| 696 | [[folder:Drevis Neloren]] |
| 697 | [[quoteright:106:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/drevis_6794.png]] |
| 698 | [[caption-width-right:106:''"Confound it all! I was sure I was invisible, or at least transparent..."'']] |
| 699 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Jon Curry (English), Alexander Matrosov (Russian) |
| 700 | |
| 701 | The resident Illusionist at the college. |
| 702 | ---- |
| 703 | * AbsentMindedProfessor: When you first talk to him, he's under the impression that he has an invisibility effect on himself. You can string him along or you can tell him up front that it's not working. |
| 704 | * MasterOfIllusion: Don't let the invisibility incident fool you; he's the Master level Illusion trainer. |
| 705 | * YouCanSeeMe: Yes, yes we can. Or wait... [[BlatantLies No, no we can't.]] |
| 706 | [[/folder]] |
| 707 | |
| 708 | [[folder:Sergius Turrianus]] |
| 709 | [[quoteright:97:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sergius_7057.png]] |
| 710 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/{{Jim Cummings|1952}} (English), Alexey Kuznetsov (Russian) |
| 711 | |
| 712 | The faculty enchanter. |
| 713 | ---- |
| 714 | * KavorkaMan: In the construction set, he is listed as a lover to both Faralda and Nirya. |
| 715 | * ScrewPolitenessImASenior: As per Jim Cummings' "[=MaleOldGrumpy=]" voice type. |
| 716 | [[/folder]] |
| 717 | |
| 718 | [[folder:Quaranir]] |
| 719 | [[quoteright:170:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quaranir_5831.png]] |
| 720 | [[caption-width-right:170:''"A great many things obscured to you are quite clear to us. We have long believed you would prevail."'']] |
| 721 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Neil Dickson (English), Andrey Finyagin (Russian) |
| 722 | |
| 723 | A member of the secretive Psijic Order, an ancient order of Mages, who is the first to warn you about the looming threat you will face in the College questline. |
| 724 | ---- |
| 725 | * BigGood: Of the College questline. He's the one that steers you down the path to thwarting [[spoiler:Ancano, who plans to use the Eye of Magnus to apocalyptic ends.]] |
| 726 | * TheChooserOfTheOne: At the conclusion of the questline, [[spoiler:he shows up and, as part of his monologuing, declares you to be the new Archmage of the college]]. Tolfdir agrees, which is apparently all that's needed to make it official. |
| 727 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: Does this to annoy Ancano and slip out of the college after conversing with you. |
| 728 | ** Exaggerated by the fact that [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou even certain]] ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou console commands]]'' [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou don't work on him]]. |
| 729 | * ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: He states that some in the Order would view his contacting you directly by traveling to the College as overstepping his bounds. He does it anyway, since reality itself is at stake. |
| 730 | * TimeMaster: Apparently he can bring time to a standstill to converse with someone while right in front of the (time-frozen) people whom he doesn't want to overhear the conversation. As revealed by ''Online'', the Psijics are masters of temporal manipulation. The spell Quaranir used is called "Stop Time". |
| 731 | [[/folder]] |
| 732 | |
| 733 | [[folder:Ancano]] |
| 734 | [[quoteright:182:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ancano_4213.JPG]] |
| 735 | [[caption-width-right:182:''"I have many important things on my mind. Your concerns are not among them."'']] |
| 736 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Alexander Brandon (English), Diomid Vinogradov (Russian) |
| 737 | |
| 738 | A high-ranking Thalmor wizard who works in the College of Winterhold as an adviser to Arch-Mage Savos Aren. |
| 739 | ---- |
| 740 | * ArcVillain: Of the Winterhold College questline. |
| 741 | * BlatantLies: The only Thalmor who tries to claim that with the war over, the Thalmor are interested in maintaining peace with Skyrim and the Empire. The rest are more honest about their intentions. |
| 742 | * DrunkOnTheDarkSide: [[spoiler:He goes off the deep end very quickly after tapping into the Eye of Magnus.]] |
| 743 | * EvilChancellor: Is evidently an adviser of Savos Aren, though you never actually see him do any actual advising. And given how ObviouslyEvil he is, it's unlikely Aren would listen to him if he ''did'' give any advice. |
| 744 | * EvilGenius: Seems to be his role, given his plan. |
| 745 | * EvilSorcerer: [[spoiler:What he turns out to be. It's known from the start that he's a sorcerer; his ''ambitions'', on the other hand, are not until it's almost too late.]] |
| 746 | * FauxAffablyEvil: Behold, the only Thalmor NPC with any understanding of tact. He will state without irony that the Thalmor only seek to enrich the lives of the people of Skyrim and help lead them to a new glorious age of happiness, while emphasizing equality. He is, of course, lying and everyone else at the College says not to trust him, but he's a good enough liar to make it ''almost'' sound sincere. |
| 747 | * FlunkyBoss: [[spoiler:On top of his PuzzleBoss nature, you also have to deal with the Arcane Anomalies that periodically spawn while you're fighting him, which can make him '''really''' frustrating to take down. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Thankfully, these Anomalies will also attack]] '''[[HoistByHisOwnPetard him]]''' on occasion.]] |
| 748 | * GenericDoomsdayVillain: Played with. A player with only surface-level understanding of the Thalmor will very likely be confused as to [[ForTheEvulz what benefit Ancano even gets]] from trying to [[spoiler:[[ApocalypseHow tear the world apart]] with the [[ArtifactOfDoom Eye of Magnus]].]] However, [[AllThereInTheManual once you begin to delve into the Thalmor's beliefs]], it starts making a lot more sense. It also explains why the Thalmor '''will''' want your head for killing him - his actions, despite seeming insane and suicidal to the average person, are actually just expediting what they're been trying to do for years. |
| 749 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: During his boss fight, it's entirely possible for him to be killed by the very Magic Anomalies he ended up summoning while trying to use the Eye of Magnus. |
| 750 | * HypercompetentSidekick: [[spoiler:His aim to destroy Mundus is something he's pursuing a lot quicker than most of colleagues, even Elenwen, and he comes pretty damn close to achieving it too. To put it in perspective, Elenwen's idea of delaying them and causing Mundus to fall apart is to start a civil war, which has ultimately led to a revival in Talos worship and has taken several years to engineer. In the span of merely a few weeks, Ancano nearly destroys the world single-handedly.]] |
| 751 | * {{Jerkass}}: Goes without saying; it's the natural state of mind for Thalmor lackeys. That said, he's a lot better about keeping his ruder side in check than most of his colleagues. |
| 752 | * KickTheDog: Just in case you didn't get that he's the bad guy, he ends up [[spoiler:killing Savos Aren, then Mirabelle Ervine.]] |
| 753 | * LongHairedPrettyBoy: Ancano is male, has long white hair, and is an elf. The rest follows naturally from that. |
| 754 | * ANaziByAnyOtherName: All Thalmor are this, to a man. |
| 755 | * ObviouslyEvil: Even in-game, ''nobody'' trusts him. Even the two Altmer ladies on campus don't like much him hanging around to "observe" (though one of them does think he's rather attractive). |
| 756 | ** He does try and make some effort of hiding it, at least at first. He claims he's simply there to foster relations, because that now that the Great War is over, the Thalmor only want to co-exist with the Empire and help Skyrim. Compared to other Thalmor, who openly say that "the Empire exists because we allow it to exist" and "we're totally getting ready for another attack on you guys", Ancano is downright subtle. |
| 757 | * OmnicidalManiac: [[spoiler:He plans to use the Eye of Magnus to destroy Mundus and return all Altmer to pre-creation divinity.]] This is the long-term goal of all Thalmor; he's just a lot more proactive about it. |
| 758 | * ProperlyParanoid: He is very concerned when a [[spoiler:member of the Psijic Order]] visits the College asking specifically for you, and suspects you're keeping things from him and Savos about everything that's going on. He's absolutely right. |
| 759 | * PuzzleBoss: [[spoiler:He's invincible while channeling the Eye of Magnus. You have to drain the Eye of its power by using the Staff of Magnus on it before you can attack Ancano. Since this only buys you seconds, and all the while Ancano is trying to blast you to smithereens and Arcane Anomalies are flooding the room, he can be quite frustrating to deal with.]] |
| 760 | * TheFarmerAndTheViper: [[spoiler:Viper to Savos’s farmer. He repays Savos’s kindness with a painful death the second he gets the chance.]] |
| 761 | * TheUnTwist: Spoiler alert, the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor agent]] distrusted by everyone at the College '''is''' indeed the ArcVillain of the questline! Who could have guessed?! |
| 762 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: He woefully underestimates the Dragonborn, despite them making their way through Labyrinthian, [[spoiler:defeating the Dragon Priest Morokei,]] and mopping the floor with the Thalmor assassin sent to eliminate them. |
| 763 | * WhiteHairBlackHeart: He's got white hair and he's a bad guy. |
| 764 | [[/folder]] |
| 765 | |
| 766 | !The Thieves' Guild |
| 767 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1489.jpeg]] |
| 768 | [[caption-width-right:1000:The Ragged Flagon]] |
| 769 | |
| 770 | The Skyrim-local organization for thieves, racketeers, and other people of ill (though not murder-level ill) repute. The guild has fallen on hard times, but for the most unexpected reason... |
| 771 | |
| 772 | [[folder:The Guild in General]] |
| 773 | * BadassCape: Standard attire for [[spoiler:the Nightingales]]. |
| 774 | * BrokenMasquerade: As noted by [[spoiler:Karliah]], after the events of the main questline and the actions of [[spoiler:Mercer Frey]], most of the Guild are now aware that the existence of [[spoiler:the Nightingales]] goes far beyond that of mere myth. [[spoiler:Karliah even admits that wearing your Nightingale armour in the Ragged Flagon isn't likely to raise any eyebrows. Because of this, the Thieves' Guild HQ will have a temple of Nocturnal to which you can pray.]] |
| 775 | * ConsummateProfessional: It's clear that many of the Thieves' Guild members consider themselves professionals at what they do, with their policy of not killing during jobs (unless absolutely necessary) being part of what elevates them beyond simple bandits. |
| 776 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: Even after the Dragonborn restores the Guild to province-wide respect and power, makes everyone in it rich, avenges the death of the previous Guildmaster, and [[spoiler:becomes Guildmaster themselves]], the only one who will treat them any differently is Delvin (and, to a lesser extent, Vex). Special mention needs to go to Vekel the Man, who continues to refer to them as "Brynjolf's protegé" and remark that they don't seem to be "anything special," and Dirge, who will still threaten to bash their skull in if they make trouble. |
| 777 | * GoKartingWithBowser: Despite their own disdain for killing, the Thieves' Guild nonetheless maintains a mutually beneficial working relationship with the Dark Brotherhood, with Delvin Mallory having spent time in service of both organizations and serving as their primary contact with each other. It's mentioned that both sides have come to an arrangement to stay out of each other's respective fields, whilst sharing any useful information on prospective jobs. It's all strictly business, of course. And of course, it's possible for the Dragonborn to be a member [[spoiler:and even leader]] of both, suggesting that the Guild's policy for killing is more or less "just don't do it in our name". |
| 778 | * HonorAmongThieves: They're outlaws, but they certainly have a code of honor and morality, especially in their own ranks. |
| 779 | ** One member, Thrynn, will tell the story of how he was a member of your standard bandit brigade, until the leader once, [[ForTheEvulz for no rational reason]], ordered his men to kill the women and children of a caravan they had knocked over. Thrynn turned on him instead. |
| 780 | ** One of their main rules is "We take care of our own." [[spoiler:When it's revealed that Mercer Frey, their own guildmaster, has been screwing them over for years and [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids thoroughly disbelieves in this trope]], the rest of the guild [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness mark him for death]].]] |
| 781 | * InTheHood: Part of the standard uniform for the guild. [[spoiler:The Nightingales wear hoods as well, but add a mask.]] |
| 782 | * KarmaHoudini: Much like Maven, there's no way to bring the Thieves' Guild to justice without the use of console commands or mods. You can kill many of the members if you like; but the higher-ranking ones, like Brynjolf, Vex, and Delvin, are marked as essential and cannot die. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted,]] however, in that at the beginning of their questline, the Daedric Prince of Luck has turned against them, which means that if you wish them not to be {{Karma Houdini}}s, then you should simply ''not'' enter the Guild and help them, leaving them to their misfortune.]] |
| 783 | * ALighterShadeOfBlack: To the Dark Brotherhood. The Thieves' Guild may be unscrupulous and amoral, but they're still thieves, not assassins. |
| 784 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Most of the members, for obvious reasons. |
| 785 | * OpenSecret: ''Everyone'' in Riften knows that they operate out of the Ratways. However, the sewers are such a warren to navigate, filled with other outcasts and generally unpleasant to trek through, that the Riften Guards simply can't be bothered to wade in and clear them out. Of course, this might simply be an excuse on their part, with a few bribes in some pockets providing the ''real'' reason. |
| 786 | * PragmaticVillainy: They allow it if it has to be done, but they prefer that no kills be done on the job - you don't want to kill someone who might be useful later, and bodies are problematic in many more ways than a ring or a goblet that's been "misplaced". They also recognize the value of doing jobs properly so as to not piss off clients and thus make things more complicated for themselves. |
| 787 | * TheRemnant: Their hideout is in shambles, their membership is waning, and their coffers are running dry. It's so bad they've resorted to selling snake oil to make cash and recruiting people (like you) off the street. |
| 788 | * StealthBasedMission: Most of their quests are set up to be this, with you evading and tricking guards and sneaking into places you aren't allowed. On the other hand, you can usually just run in sword swinging and cut your way to the objective like any other dungeon in the game (though the jobs Delvin and Vex send you on will be marked as failed if you get caught). |
| 789 | * TookALevelInJerkass: In past ''Elder Scrolls'' games, the Thieves' Guild was a Robin Hood-esque organization that protected the poor and downtrodden, policed violent and petty crime in their own ways, and some law authorities unofficially let them operate out of recognition that they helped keep the peace in their own ways. The ''Skyrim'' chapter of the guild, though, is much more ruthless -- they extort money from people who can't afford it, are comparatively lax on their "no killing" rules, and if anyone who doesn't fall in line with their demands, the Guild will blackmail them, plant stolen property in their house to frame them for the theft, or just beat them up. To make this distinction clear, the first two quests you get from them are to steal a ring from one merchant and plant it in another's pocket (both merchants are perfectly nice and have done nothing wrong), and the second is to extort money from three shopkeepers through either verbal or physical intimidation. This is explained in three ways: |
| 790 | ## The Guild has fallen on hard times and is struggling to make ends meet, hence their more brutal methods of getting funds; |
| 791 | ## They're [[spoiler:under the leadership of Mercer Frey, a selfish bastard who's only in it for his own greed and cares nothing about the Guild's traditions or well-being]]. |
| 792 | ## Both ''Oblivion'' and ''Morrowind'', the games where they are noticeably more Robin Hood-esque[[note]]''Daggerfall's'' characterisation is less clear, but some of their random quests suggest they aren't that far from ''Skyrim's'', with quests involving drug smuggling and shaking down merchants[[/note]], have their Guild chapters' behaviour explained in part by special situations or deliberate strategies that do not apply to the Skyrim chapter. |
| 793 | ::Once the first two problems are resolved by the end of their main questline, the Guild becomes a bit gentler in its dealings. |
| 794 | * WeAreEverywhere: [[spoiler:The radiant quests are specifically to get them up to this level - do small jobs around Skyrim until someone with influence in a particular hold hears of them and calls for a job, and in return you get contacts in that hold to expand the guild's power.]] |
| 795 | [[/folder]] |
| 796 | |
| 797 | [[folder:Brynjolf]] |
| 798 | [[quoteright:201:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brynjolf_205.JPG]] |
| 799 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RobinAtkinDownes (English), Vsevolod Kuznetsov (Russian) |
| 800 | |
| 801 | A higher-ranking member of the Thieves' Guild, and the first one you meet. |
| 802 | ---- |
| 803 | * AffablyEvil: He's quite friendly and personable for a thief. |
| 804 | %%zce* BigBrotherMentor |
| 805 | * TheDragon: Second in command to Mercer [[spoiler:and eventually you when you become Guildmaster]]. |
| 806 | * DragonAscendant: Discussed. [[spoiler:When you and he stop to discuss leadership of the guild once Mercer's betrayal is exposed, he rejects the idea of taking over himself, as he doesn't like being a leader and thinks you'd be a better fit.]] |
| 807 | * DragonInChief: He seems to be more concerned with the operations of the Guild and its operatives than Mercer. [[spoiler:This is entirely justified, since Mercer is planning to run out on the Guild and leave it to fall apart. Once the Guild is under your rule, you of course don't stick around long, so Brynjolf takes over active leadership in your stead, and until you do the quests to be named Guildmaster, he's the de facto leader in the meantime.]] |
| 808 | * DeadpanSnarker: Takes this trope to a higher level in some dialogue. If you ask him how you're going to steal Madesi's ring, he says, "Do you want me to hold your hand as well?". And if you insult the guild headquarters by calling it messy, he'll tell you to stop acting like a child. |
| 809 | * DualWielding: In a fight, he uses a pair of daggers, which are usually much higher quality than the normal iron and steel used by most [=NPCs=]. His essential status and perks to improve his one-handed and dual-wielding attacks mean that he's single-handedly one of the biggest reasons not to start fights in Riften if you're not in the Thieves' Guild. |
| 810 | * FriendToAllChildren: With the ''Hearthfire'' DLC, your children will mention how friendly he is. A daughter will say that he gave her an apple. On the other hand, a son will say that [[TheFagin Brynjolf offered to show him a few "tricks" when he's older]]... |
| 811 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: |
| 812 | ** Possibly. The first time you meet him, he will say that you must be the type of person who's never earned an honest day's work in your life, no matter how you've been playing so far. Alternatively, this could just be a standard routine he does to anyone he thinks could be a useful recruit; if it turns out they're not the thieving type and rebuff him, oh well, no skin off his back. |
| 813 | ** Clear-cut example, however, in that he [[spoiler:initially fully trusts Mercer and considers him as a respectable leader.]] He is not alone in this, though. |
| 814 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He comes off as just a straight-up {{Jerkass}} at first, but he's actually this with a side of PunchClockVillain. He'll sing your praises to a skeptical Mercer and the rest of the Guild, especially if you do well on the jobs he assigns. He will also [[spoiler:come looking for you after you and Mercer go missing, according to Vekel.]] He is however an unrepentant thief willing to frame a decent man (Brand-Shei) without hesitation, and the Guild's no-killing rule is more a matter of pragmatism than morals, so the "jerk" part of the trope is definitely present. |
| 815 | * LovableRogue: So much so that many players are disappointed to find [[TheNotLoveInterest he's not a marriage option]] without the use of mods or console commands. |
| 816 | * NumberTwo: To both Mercer Frey and [[spoiler:you, once you run the guild]]. He does the more day-to-day things while the Guildmaster plots big jobs and makes big decisions with the input of the rest of the Guild. |
| 817 | * PetTheDog: He is willing to give to the beggars out in Riften's market square. |
| 818 | * SinkOrSwimMentor: To even ''talk'' to him, you have to participate in a scheme of his by planting some evidence while he creates a distraction. His next test is sending you into the Ratways, Riften's filth-, crime- and pest-ridden sewers, to find the Guild hideout (and no, he won't give you directions). If you succeed, though, he's impressed and becomes much friendlier toward you. |
| 819 | * SnakeOilSalesman: His method (before your arrival) of getting funds for the Guild, peddling "genuine Falmerblood elixir" in the Riften marketplace. That's how low they've sunk. |
| 820 | * ThisIsUnforgivable: He says this during one of the late Thieves' Guild quests: |
| 821 | -->'''Brynjolf:''' Crime is one thing. ''Murder'' is another. [[spoiler:Mercer]] will answer for this. |
| 822 | * TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler:Becomes a Nightingale along with the Dovahkiin, and a pretty competent one at that.]] |
| 823 | * UnexplainedAccent: He's the only character in the game with a Scottish accent, though it might be a reference to ''Morrowind'' and ''Redguard'', in which Nords had Scottish accents (particularly in ''Redguard''). |
| 824 | [[/folder]] |
| 825 | |
| 826 | [[folder:Mercer Frey]] |
| 827 | [[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mercerfrey_608.JPG]] |
| 828 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/StephenRussell (English), Alexander Andrienko (Russian) |
| 829 | |
| 830 | Current Guildmaster, with a few insights into why the organization hasn't been doing so well lately. Witnessed the murder of the last Guildmaster, Gallus, and harbors an intense grudge toward the perpetrator, who hasn't been seen since. [[spoiler:These are, of course, lies. ''He's'' the murderer, and determined to wipe out the only witness before leaving the rest of the Guild to rot while he makes off with all their treasure.]] |
| 831 | ---- |
| 832 | * AllYourPowersCombined: [[spoiler:In the final battle against him, he can use Shadowcloak of Nocturnal to become invisible and Nightingale Subterfuge to turn Brynjolf and Karliah against each other and stop them from assisting the Dragonborn. He also has coding for a DummiedOut or glitched-out version of Nightingale Strife that deals damage over time instead of in a single shot. The player can only use one of these powers at a time, but Mercer is an exception since he has tuned himself up with the Skeleton Key.]] |
| 833 | * ArcVillain: [[spoiler:Of the Thieves' Guild questline.]] |
| 834 | * BloodKnight: Judging by his fight dialogue, he ''really'' likes killing things. He'll even be vaguely disappointed if it's over too quickly. |
| 835 | * BreadEggsMilkSquick: When you [[spoiler:search his house]], you can find a shopping list that includes "Bread, Eggs, Milk, Cauterizing Agent..." |
| 836 | * BrokenPedestal: To [[spoiler:the entire guild, once his crimes against them come to light.]] |
| 837 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Thanks to the ''true'' power of [[spoiler:Nocturnal's Skeleton Key. Most thieves just think of it as a simple unbreakable lockpick (and, indeed, this is all ''you'' can use it for), but the Key unlocks ''everything that can be unlocked'', including the limits of human potential. Mercer demonstrates this at one point when he single-handedly knocks down a multi-ton stone column to bar your path.]] |
| 838 | * CynicalMentor: He doesn't have the faith in you that Brynjolf does and is more occupied by his own business, but he'll eventually see your worth. |
| 839 | * DeadpanSnarker: |
| 840 | --> '''Mercer Frey:''' Ah, it's one of the infamous Nordic puzzle doors. How quaint. |
| 841 | * DidYouJustScamCthulhu: [[spoiler:Stole the Skeleton Key to empty the Guild vaults - and in doing so betrayed Nocturnal, Daedric Prince of shadows and patron of thieves, despite being pledged to serve her in both life and death. The Key's powers also allow Mercer to freely abuse ''all three'' of the Agent of Nocturnal powers (as seen in the final confrontation with him) in further defiance of Nocturnal's rules.]] |
| 842 | * DualWielding: A sword and a dagger. |
| 843 | * {{Expy}}: [[VideoGame/{{Thief}} Garrett]] has [[ActorAllusion certainly gotten older]]. And grumpier. And of course, he also stole a priceless artifact known as the Eye. [[spoiler:Although he wasn't ''this'' dickish.]] |
| 844 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: He opens the Snow Veil Sanctum's door (one you can't even ''attempt'' to lockpick even if you have maxed out Lockpicking) should hint at the fact he doesn't just have plain old thieving skills. [[spoiler:And indeed, as Brinjolf finds out by opening the treasury Mercer recently looted for himself he's been using the Skeleton Key ever since he stole it from Gallus.]] |
| 845 | * {{Greed}}: [[spoiler:His core character trait, and the reason for his villainy. Ultimately Mercer doesn't care about anything but lining his own pockets, and he's willing to go to any length to do so - even if it means killing his fellow Nightingales, condemning the guild to a slow destruction by stealing the Skeleton Key, and robbing everyone blind along the way.]] |
| 846 | * HonorAmongThieves: [[spoiler:{{Defied|Trope}}. Mercer mocks the idea that the Thieves' Guild is anything more than a den of thieves and ne'er-do-wells, and claims that it's a delusion to believe otherwise. [[NotSoDifferentRemark You can agree or disagree]], but you kill him anyway.]] |
| 847 | * {{Irony}}: Despite his other actions [[spoiler:to keep the truth about his murder of Gallus quiet]], the one unspoken rule regarding the Thieves Guild he ''doesn't'' break is not bringing in outside help (namely, the Dark Brotherhood) to deal with an issue such as Karliah (given that 2 members of the Thieves Guild - Cynric and Delvin - both have connections to the Dark Brotherhood[[note]]3 if the Dovahkiin joins the Brotherhood before they join Frey in hunting Karliah[[/note]], it wouldn't be that hard for him to hire them), yet because he refuses to make an exception to this rule, [[spoiler:that leads to the player becoming a SpannerInTheWorks by finding out the truth about Gallus's murder, and eventually taking him down]]. |
| 848 | * {{Jerkass}}: Snappish, condescending, and dismissive of the Dovahkiin even if they've proven their worth repeatedly. You may also notice he always sounds like he's speaking through gritted teeth, as if he's barely holding back the urge to lay a beatdown on you regardless of whether you've actually done anything wrong. He makes it clear that he'd prefer not to have to deal with them at all outside necessity, and the other thieves comment on his temper with the implication that the Guild's decline is taking its toll on him. [[spoiler:This is true, in a sense, since he caused it and has spent two decades fruitlessly pursuing the only obstacle to his getting away with it.]] |
| 849 | * KickTheDog: [[spoiler:When he corners Karliah in Snow Veil Sanctum, he kills her horse to make sure she's got no means of escape.]] |
| 850 | * KingOfThieves: He is the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild. |
| 851 | * MasterOfUnlocking: He can unlock Nordic puzzle doors without the relevant keys or knowing the solution to the puzzles, and offers to teach you his trick for doing so (though there's no way to take him up on the offer). As it turns out, the trick is to [[spoiler:use an artifact stolen from a Daedric Prince]]. |
| 852 | * MasterSwordsman: His skill with the blade are held in awe and he certainly shows it off in the Snow Veil Sanctum, where he disposes of any draugr almost effortlessly. Being armed with an enchanted blade also helps a lot. |
| 853 | * MoleInCharge: In the sense that [[spoiler:he wants to destroy the Thieves' Guild for his own benefit.]] |
| 854 | * MuggingTheMonster: The final phase of his plan consists of luring [[spoiler:Karliah, Brynjolf, and the Dragonborn to Irkngthand, where he believes his Nightingale abilities and the FullPotentialUpgrade provided by the Skeleton Key will allow him to kill all of them in a straight-up fight. This plan does actually make sense against other thieves like Karliah and Brynjolf, whose skill sets are more geared towards infiltration. But against someone like the Dragonborn, who's already used to fighting the likes of bandits, werewolves, ancient vampires, and ''dragons'', that's just not enough.]] |
| 855 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: [[spoiler:When you confront him in the last mission, he'll claim that both you and he are opportunists that willfully lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want.]] |
| 856 | * PerpetualFrowner: His face seems locked in a permanent scowl. Understandable, given recent events. |
| 857 | * SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: [[spoiler:Tries to psyche out the Dovahkiin with a speech along these lines - they're all thieves, after all, and there's no honour among thieves. You can dismiss his argument or even agree, but whatever your answer, you end up throwing down with Mercer.]] |
| 858 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Granted, he had 25 years to do so, but unless he managed to [[spoiler:spend every single last coin either on himself or in trying to track down Karliah, what happened to the rest of the treasure he'd stolen from the Guild's vaults? The implication is that he had it somehow spirited away under the guild members' collective noses, but no real explanation is ever given. Given that you don't get to question him on the location of the gold before his death, odds are that gold will forever be left to gather dust in some cleverly hidden stash known only to him.]] |
| 859 | [[/folder]] |
| 860 | |
| 861 | [[folder:Karliah]] |
| 862 | [[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karliah_4713.JPG]] |
| 863 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Moira Quirk (English), Polina Shcherbakova (Russian) |
| 864 | |
| 865 | Murderer, traitor to the Guild, and the reason for its decline. Whereabouts unknown. [[spoiler:Until you find her and get her side of the story, anyway.]] |
| 866 | ---- |
| 867 | * AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:After the end of the storyline, she resumes her Nightingale duties in addition to going back to being a thief.]] |
| 868 | * ClassyCatBurglar: Definitely has this vibe. |
| 869 | * DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:She explains ''very explicitly'' that this is the relationship the Nightingales have with Nocturnal, ''not'' worship. Most thieves aren't good at religion, but they understand contracts.]] |
| 870 | * FallGuy: [[spoiler:For Mercer. ''He'' was the one that did Gallus in, then blamed his murder on Karliah before she had a chance to get a word in edgeways.]] |
| 871 | * FamousAncestor: Being Barenziah's granddaughter is pretty distinctive in its own right, regardless of her exact lineage. Additionally, being part of the Indoril line means that she is likely a distant relative of Saint Indoril Nerevar, [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind with whose reincarnation the player may be familiar]]. |
| 872 | * HerHeartWillGoOn: [[spoiler:After she and the spirit of Gallus say their goodbyes and he moves on to serve Nocturnal, she returns to her old profession to honor him. (And also because money's nice. She ''is'' a thief, and regaining her powers as a Nightingale has just made the job a whole lot more lucrative.)]] |
| 873 | * HoneyTrap: Mercer theorizes this was how she got close enough to Gallus to kill him. [[spoiler:He's lying. She loved him.]] |
| 874 | * InterspeciesRomance: She's a Dunmer, Gallus was an Imperial, and they were lovers. |
| 875 | * TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Behind the rise of Honningbrew Meadery and the sale of Goldenglow Estate, both of which were done in order to discredit the Guild]]. |
| 876 | * MyGreatestFailure: Mercer believes his was letting her escape after Gallus' murder. [[spoiler:She believes falling in love with Gallus was hers. It distracted them both and allowed Mercer to get the drop on Gallus.]] |
| 877 | * RoyalBlood: She's the granddaughter of Tiber Septim and Queen Barenziah, ''if'' Gallus's books are to be trusted. While most accepted lore says that it is a very slim chance at best that she is actually descended from Tiber Septim, her lineage from Barenziah is indisputable, as the Queen was her maternal grandmother.[[note]]Dralsi Indoril, mother of Karliah and daughter of Barenziah, claims that her father is Drayven Indoril, and since Barenziah's pregnancies by Septim and Drayven were about 300 years apart, Dralsi would no doubt know if Drayven was her father or not judging by her own age. Further, according the in-game book ''The Real Barenziah'', Septim had Barenziah's pregnancy by him forcibly aborted.[[/note]] |
| 878 | * StagedShooting: [[spoiler:A variant with a poisoned arrow. You catch it in the chest, your vision blurs, you fall over. Turns out it was just a paralytic. Then Mercer pops up and stabs you while you're paralyzed. ''Then'' it turns out that the paralytic prevented you from bleeding out from the stab wound and Karliah just blew decades of planning to save your life.]] |
| 879 | * TranquilFury: Outwardly, she's probably one of the calmest, most level-headed characters associated with the Thieves' Guild questline. She almost never raises her voice. Her hatred for Mercer Frey, however, ''seethes''. |
| 880 | * [[TurnOutLikeHisFather Turn Out Like Her Grandmother:]] Karliah's mother and grandfather were both Nightingales. Her grandmother, Barenziah, was also a member of Riften's Thieves' Guild, according to ''The Real Barenziah''. |
| 881 | * WhyDontYouJustShootHim: A great believer in this school of thought. Ideally, the victim's first clue she's there should be finding an arrow sticking out of his throat. |
| 882 | * XanatosGambit: More than likely. [[spoiler:For a master of trickery who spent a lot of time and money on her plans for Honningbrew and Goldenglow, Karliah left an obscure but definite trail of clues to her identity for any Thieves' Guild member that investigated. In other words, if Honningbrew and Goldenglow were successful, the Guild would lose favor with Maven; and if they acted to fight back, they'd find her clues, which would lead Mercer to her lair.]] |
| 883 | [[/folder]] |
| 884 | |
| 885 | [[folder:Gallus Desidenius]] |
| 886 | [[quoteright:201:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gallus_3071.JPG]] |
| 887 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Craig Sechler (English), Sergey Burunov (Russian) |
| 888 | |
| 889 | The previous Guildmaster. His death by betrayal is a big factor in the Guild's current fractured, declining state. |
| 890 | ---- |
| 891 | * GentlemanThief: As per his relationship with counterpart ClassyCatBurglar Karliah. So charming, he was more than once caught in the act of robbing someone and ''ended up becoming that person's friend''. Most of the Guild's contacts actually came from him because he had such a diverse set of acquaintances, and when he died all those contacts dried up. |
| 892 | * HeKnowsTooMuch: The reason he died. He came too close to [[spoiler:uncovering the source of all of Mercer's sudden wealth. The Dovahkiin very nearly suffers the same fate when they find out who really murdered Gallus.]] |
| 893 | * InHarmsWay: According to Enthir, Gallus had a scholarly bent, but could never take that path in life as it lacked the excitement of being a thief. |
| 894 | * InterspeciesRomance: Was an Imperial in a relationship with Karliah, a Dunmer. |
| 895 | * KingOfThieves: He was the previous Guildmaster and considered a legendary thief. |
| 896 | * LoveableRogue: Had this personality type, evidenced by being able to talk his way out of trouble when caught in the middle of a job. |
| 897 | * MeaningfulName: Possibly unintentional, but 'Gallus' is Latin for 'Rooster'. The man was [[PunnyName cocky.]] |
| 898 | * MinoredInAsskicking: A thief through and through, but also a scholar, historian, and linguist. It helped in plotting heists. He learned an entire extinct, forgotten language so he could use it to write journal entries no one would understand, and also wrote and published actual books. [[spoiler:He even discovered the existence of the Nightingales and learned how to become one more or less single-handedly, bringing Mercer and Karliah along for the ride.]] |
| 899 | * OurGhostsAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Nightingale ghosts are souls given access to the mortal realm through the Ebonmere, and they're called Spectral Guardians. Every Nightingale serves a time after death in this state before moving on to the Ebonmere proper.]] |
| 900 | * PosthumousCharacter: He died many years before the events of the game, and is only mentioned by other characters in the past tense [[spoiler:(at least until you meet him)]]. |
| 901 | * SpiritAdvisor: For the Dovahkiin in [[spoiler:the Twilight Sepulcher.]] |
| 902 | * TogetherInDeath: Though he's still dead and [[spoiler:the reopening of the Ebonmere means he has to move on and become "one with the shadows", he assures Karliah he'll be waiting for her when she passes, too.]] |
| 903 | * UnfinishedBusiness: He's the only Spectral Guardian left in the [[spoiler:Twilight Sepulcher who hasn't faded away or gone nuts.]] This trope is the main reason why. |
| 904 | [[/folder]] |
| 905 | |
| 906 | [[folder:Delvin Mallory]] |
| 907 | [[quoteright:196:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/delvin_4849.JPG]] |
| 908 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Enn Reitel (English), Nikita Prozorovsky (Russian) |
| 909 | |
| 910 | One of two members of the Guild that hands special assignments to the player. [[spoiler:Also an old friend (and former lover) of Astrid in the Dark Brotherhood and the main contact between the two factions.]] |
| 911 | ---- |
| 912 | * AffablyEvil: You don't get to be that familiar with the Dark Brotherhood without having done something nasty. Also, [[spoiler:if you ask for a Torture Chamber for the Dawnstar Sanctuary at the end of the Dark Brotherhood questline, he seems oddly pleased by that particular request.]] |
| 913 | * AllThereInTheManual: The Prima official strategy guide lists his backstory: He grew up in the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften, and was taken in by Gallus. He accidentally killed someone while on a robbery, so Gallus arranged for him to hide with the Dark Brotherhood for a year (where he became Astrid's lover), and he returned to the Guild after the death was forgotten. |
| 914 | * BigBrotherMentor: He really likes to make the player feel right at home. And when you finish your last special assignment to restore the Guild to full strength, he will admit to you that you are the best thief in the Guild. Of course, he also says that he'll deny it if you tell anybody else he said that. |
| 915 | * CovertPervert: In the most literal manner possible. Unlike most of the Thieves' Guild, Delvin doesn't particularly show a flirty attitude toward any of the women in the guild. However, a note from Vex on the table where you speak with him warns this "Master of Sneaking" in no uncertain terms that if he tries to watch her bathe again, she'll... [[FreudianThreat cut off something valuable]]. So yes, he ''is'' a "covert" pervert in every possible sense of the term. |
| 916 | ** And if the Dragonborn is in the Dark Brotherhood, Astrid will eventually send them to meet with him. He makes a few comments about their "lovely mistress" and urges them to tell her to drop by sometime and "catch up." He ''was'' her lover once, so this is only covert to anyone who doesn't know that fact. |
| 917 | * TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Everybody in the Guild thought Delvin was a little loopy for suggesting there was some sort of "curse" on the Guild that made their big jobs fail. [[spoiler:In fact, they ''are'' cursed, as Nocturnal rescinded their protection and luck when the Skeleton Key was stolen.]] When Brynjolf finds out, he outright says everyone laughed at Delvin, but he was right all along. |
| 918 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: The player doesn't have the option of asking him if [[spoiler:he knew about Glover being Sapphire's dad, although given that he never flirts with her, it's possible he does know]]. |
| 919 | * HiddenDepths: Aside from the aforementioned note, the quote after [[spoiler:Mercer betrays the Guild]] indicates that he may have been a Dark Brotherhood member at some point, but quit [[spoiler:due to a similar betrayal.]] (As it turns out, that's not quite accurate; see the entry for AllThereInTheManual for the truth about it.) |
| 920 | * ScrewDestiny: He believes that the Guild must be cursed to have that amount of bad luck. He tells the Dragonborn to "spit in that curse's face" and they will overpower the curse through hard work. |
| 921 | * StealthExpert: He's the Master trainer for the Sneak skill. |
| 922 | * StockBritishPhrases: He's a ''fountain'' of these. |
| 923 | * UnexplainedAccent: Like Brynjolf, he has a unique accent (a thick Cockney accent) for some reason. It might have something to do with him being a Breton; however, not even his brother speaks with the accent. Given his name, it might (just like Brynjolf) be a CallBack to a previous game - ''Daggerfall'', where the Bretons (while not voiced) were more English-themed than they became in later games. |
| 924 | [[/folder]] |
| 925 | |
| 926 | [[folder:Vex]] |
| 927 | [[quoteright:195:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vex_6745.JPG]] |
| 928 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KariWahlgren (English), Marina Lisovets (Russian) |
| 929 | |
| 930 | The Imperial infiltration expert of the Guild, and the second member that hands special jobs to the player. |
| 931 | ---- |
| 932 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: She once held off eight wolves by herself (killing three) until a guy showed up to help. After he did, she [[UngratefulBastard then tried to mug him for his money]]. Afterward, when they fought to a standstill, she invited him to join the Guild without a word otherwise or an apology. So more like "draw means friendship". |
| 933 | * DefrostingIceQueen: In her first conversation, she tells you in no uncertain terms that you will ''never'' surpass her as a thief. She continues to toss out insults, backhanded compliments and frigid apathy almost every time you speak to her. However, once you start shooting up the ranks she doesn't mind too much, helps you, and will eventually (and begrudgingly) congratulate you on your skill. |
| 934 | * DudeMagnet: The male members of the Guild tend to hit on her an awful lot, despite her verbally flaying them alive every single time. |
| 935 | * GenderBlenderName: Another character, who is encountered separately from the Thieves' Guild questline, believes that his fiancée left him for Vex, and similarly believes that Vex is male. |
| 936 | * IceQueen: She's not overly friendly to anyone in the guild, to say the least. However, she does eventually make an exception for the Dragonborn. |
| 937 | * InformedAttribute: She's said to be the best infiltrator in the entire Thieves' Guild. However, she never leaves the Ratway during the entirety of the game, plays an ultimately minor role in the Thieves' Guild storyline, and thus her actual infiltration skills are never seen but only talked about by various members of the Guild. |
| 938 | * KnownOnlyByTheirNickname: Somewhat of a trend in the Thieves' Guild, for obvious reasons. |
| 939 | * MasterOfUnlocking: Literally. She's the Master trainer for the Lockpicking skill. |
| 940 | * RightForTheWrongReasons: When asked about Delvin's supposition that the Guild has been cursed, she says that in her opinion, it is just plain bad luck, and that it has nothing to do with curses. [[spoiler:In fact, the Guild ''has'' been cursed... with bad luck. They're both right.]] |
| 941 | * WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Considering that Vex regularly [[FreudianThreat threatens to castrate]] any man who attempts to hits on her, the revelation that she was once in a relationship with ''[[DumbMuscle Vald]]'' is jarring to say the least. |
| 942 | [[/folder]] |
| 943 | |
| 944 | [[folder:Sapphire Mallory]] |
| 945 | [[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sapphire_3394.JPG]] |
| 946 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Susan Eisenberg (English), Inna Koroleva (Russian) |
| 947 | |
| 948 | A member of the Guild who joined after bandits murdered most of her family. In ''Dragonborn'', it's revealed that her DisappearedDad, Glover Mallory, is alive and currently resides in Solstheim, having abandoned the family before the bandit raid. Delvin Mallory is also revealed to be her uncle. |
| 949 | ---- |
| 950 | * AllThereInTheManual: The offical game guide states that she was a member of the Dark Brotherhood before leaving to join the Thieves Guild. |
| 951 | * BrokenBird: Doesn't let anyone get too close, and still has issues dealing with the tragedy of her past. |
| 952 | * DoNotCallMePaul: Even her father calls her "Sapphire" in his letter to her in ''Dragonborn'', since it was the name by which he'd known her when they first met in the Guild, long before he found out she was his daughter. |
| 953 | * DudeMagnet: Similar to Vex, a lot of the male members of the guild hit on her with similar results. The only exception is a male Dragonborn. |
| 954 | * InTheBlood: Sapphire joined the Thieves' Guild, completely unaware that [[spoiler:her father and uncle both happened to be members at the time. Lampshaded, in her father's letter, that it was clearly meant to be.]] |
| 955 | * LoanShark: Takes advantage of a Hammerfell immigrant by loaning him money to make a delivery, attacking the caravan, then bullying the immigrant to pay back the money loaned. |
| 956 | * MeaningfulName: Possibly. [[spoiler:Her birth surname, Mallory, is Norman French for "unlucky," which seems to fit her backstory. Whether this was deliberate on the developers' part is unknown.]] |
| 957 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: When asked about her real name and after she tells her story, she comments that she might tell you someday, but not today. Despite this, however, her real name is [[TheUnreveal never revealed]] to the player. |
| 958 | * ParentalAbandonment: Her father, Glover Mallory, abandoned Sapphire and her mother because he couldn't think of settling down and becoming a simple farmer. He even admits that he was a coward for doing so. Judging by his letter to her, Glover unknowingly served with her for a brief time when she first joined the Thieves' Guild, but after he discovered her identity, he couldn't bear to reveal the truth to her and left for Solstheim. |
| 959 | * RapeAsBackstory: Mention that she's never told you her name, and she will tell you the story of how she was kidnapped by bandits and raped for a fortnight before gaining their trust and slitting their throats as they slept. |
| 960 | * ShipTease: Similar to Serana; if you're nice to her, she becomes closer to the Dragonborn than anyone else and even flirts with a male Dragonborn (which says something since, like Vex, she verbally flays everyone else alive when they come on to her). You can even help her resolve her DaddyIssues. Also similarly to Serana, you can't marry her. |
| 961 | [[/folder]] |
| 962 | |
| 963 | [[folder:Vipir the Fleet]] |
| 964 | [[quoteright:196:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vipir_3332.JPG]] |
| 965 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Michael Gough (English), Denis Shvedov (Russian) |
| 966 | |
| 967 | Pickpocketing expert of the Guild. |
| 968 | ---- |
| 969 | * ButtMonkey: Because of his EmbarrassingNickname. |
| 970 | * EmbarrassingNickname: Ask him about his nickname and he will tell you the story of how he and Vex once robbed a house in Windhelm, only to walk out of it and into the waiting arms of the guards because their client had sold them out. Vex gave the guards the slip and disappeared, and Vipir ran right out of Windhelm and all the way south, on foot, to Riften... and discovered Vex had beaten him there, because she'd remembered her horse and he hadn't. After that, they started calling him Vipir the Fleet. |
| 971 | * FiveFingerDiscount: He's the Master trainer for the Pickpocketing skill. |
| 972 | * HandsomeLech: He can occasionally have a conversation with Sapphire in which he tries to coax her into having some fun with him in bed. Naturally, Sapphire finds his offer disgusting, mocking him that he's named after his [[SpeedSex bedroom prowess]]. |
| 973 | [[/folder]] |
| 974 | |
| 975 | [[folder:Cynric Endell]] |
| 976 | [[quoteright:189:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cynric_8237.JPG]] |
| 977 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/StephenRussell (English), Eugene Waltz (Russian) |
| 978 | |
| 979 | A member of the Guild who was formerly a jail breaker before joining. |
| 980 | ---- |
| 981 | * AffablyEvil: He's a very nice guy, accepting of the Dragonborn from the moment they join up, and willing to give advice freely. He also mentions that before he joined the guild, he worked as a jail breaker, getting arrested and then breaking out. He mentions that a good portion of his jobs were subcontracted by the Dark Brotherhood, and expresses no moral qualms about having killed people for a living. He also explains that the reason he joined up with the Thieves' Guild instead of the Dark Brotherhood was because it was less risk for more pay. |
| 982 | * {{Expy}}: Even more so than Mercer Frey. Wears a hood that covers half his face, while his vocal pitch and facial features (what little of them you can see past his hood) are more or less identical to [[VideoGame/{{Thief}} Garrett's]]. He's a master locksmith who became a thief rather than an assassin because the former was more lucrative, and spent most of his early career breaking people out of prisons. (On top of that, when you first walk in on him, he's standing next to a target and practicing his marksmanship.) |
| 983 | * GreatEscape: Was much sought after to plan these in the past, before one jailbreak went wrong and he spent three years rotting in a High Rock prison, convincing him to give it up. |
| 984 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: His primary motivations for his career as a jailbreaking assassin and thief. |
| 985 | * PragmaticVillainy: Admits he joined the Thieves' Guild, rather than the Dark Brotherhood, not because he dislikes murder but because the money is better and there are far fewer risks of getting caught. |
| 986 | [[/folder]] |
| 987 | |
| 988 | [[folder:Thrynn]] |
| 989 | [[quoteright:96:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thrynn3_7456.JPG]] |
| 990 | |
| 991 | A member of the Guild who was formerly a bandit. |
| 992 | ---- |
| 993 | * BestialityIsDepraved: Cynric sometimes teases him by asking him if it's true that bandits get "friendly" with Skyrim's wildlife. Thrynn calls him an idiot in response. |
| 994 | * TheBigGuy: The official strategy guide notes that he's not all that experienced in stealth, but that he's usually picked for cases where brute strength is needed. |
| 995 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: He used to be a member of a bandit clan, but had a violent disagreement with the chief when he was asked to murder some unarmed merchants for [[KickTheDog absolutely no reason]] and despite having just robbed them of everything they had. The disagreement ended with the chief's head on a pike. |
| 996 | * HeelFaceTurn: After refusing to kill the merchants, he turned on his former comrades, set the merchants free, and decided to join the Thieves' Guild, seeing it as more "honest" work. |
| 997 | [[/folder]] |
| 998 | |
| 999 | [[folder:Dirge]] |
| 1000 | [[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dirge_2584.JPG]] |
| 1001 | [[caption-width-right:200:''"Stay out of trouble, or there's gonna be trouble."'']] |
| 1002 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Popeye Vogelsang (English), Viktor Bakin (Russian) |
| 1003 | |
| 1004 | The Ragged Flagon's bouncer and Maul's brother. |
| 1005 | ---- |
| 1006 | * BullyingADragon: Even if you happen to be the ''Guildmaster'', he'll still threaten to bash your skull in. |
| 1007 | * HotBloodedSideburns: He gets quite lively, to say the least. |
| 1008 | * InsultBackfire: If you tell him you agree with the justification for his name as part of a persuasion dialogue option, he takes it as a compliment and gives you a bottle of mead. |
| 1009 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Make him angry, and he'll be [[TheLastThingYouEverSee the last thing you ever hear.]] |
| 1010 | [[/folder]] |
| 1011 | |
| 1012 | [[folder:Vald]] |
| 1013 | [[quoteright:177:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vald_1595.JPG]] |
| 1014 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Thor Edgell (English), Yaroslav Agikyan (Russian) |
| 1015 | |
| 1016 | Not technically a Guild member, but rather Mercer's loyal bodyguard. [[spoiler:So loyal that, even after Mercer's true colors are exposed, he still tries to stop the Dragonborn from tracking him down. It turns out that this is due to a rather hefty debt he owes to Maven.]] |
| 1017 | ---- |
| 1018 | * TheDragon: To Mercer. |
| 1019 | * DumbMuscle: He's not very bright, to say the least. |
| 1020 | * EpicFail: [[spoiler:The reason he owes such a hefty debt to Maven is because he dropped a priceless item into the lake beside Riften.]] |
| 1021 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:If you clear his debt to Maven by getting her a priceless item from Vald's old ship, he'll happily let you investigate Mercer's house without a fight]]. |
| 1022 | * TooDumbToLive: Alongside [[spoiler:losing that item he was fetching for Maven]], he'll happily assault the Dragonborn even though by this point the Dragonborn could be [[spoiler:Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Harbinger of the Companions, and/or Listener for the Dark Brotherhood]], and who may also be accompanied by a powerful follower. It might be that he just has nothing to lose, but even so. |
| 1023 | [[/folder]] |
| 1024 | |
| 1025 | [[folder:Etienne Rarnis]] |
| 1026 | [[quoteright:183:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/etienne_9755.png]] |
| 1027 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GideonEmery (English), Dmitry Filimonov (Russian) |
| 1028 | |
| 1029 | A Breton and MauveShirt member of the Thieves' Guild, who you will likely encounter when escaping from the Thalmor during "Diplomatic Immunity." [[spoiler:The Thalmor are trying to find Esbern, the other member of the Blades, and are thus torturing Etienne for information.]] |
| 1030 | ---- |
| 1031 | * AffablyEvil: Should you rescue him, and help him escape from the Thalmor, he will always be polite to you and is extremely grateful for you saving him, even if you've screwed up a Guild job that normally alienates everybody else. |
| 1032 | * BerserkButton: If you [[DressingAsTheEnemy dress up as the Thalmor]] and scare him when you rescue him, he gets a bit (understandably) pissed off at you, though not so much that he'll attack you. |
| 1033 | * BreakTheBadass: His aforementioned torture. He's a whimpering wreck by the time the Thalmor are done with it - not that you can blame him, of course. |
| 1034 | * ColdBloodedTorture: He's on the receiving end of this from [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Thalmor]], who are searching for [[spoiler:Esbern, the other surviving Blades member]]. What's arguably worse is that he really ''doesn't know a thing'', but they're torturing him anyway, even when he explicitly spells it out to them. |
| 1035 | * DistressedDude: Owing to the torture. |
| 1036 | * InterrogatedForNothing: No matter how much the Thalmor torture him, he doesn't actually have the information they want. |
| 1037 | * RecurringExtra: He doesn't play a huge role, but can be found in the headquarters quite often. |
| 1038 | [[/folder]] |
| 1039 | |
| 1040 | [[folder:Rune]] |
| 1041 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Christian Svensson (English), Alexander Taragin (Russian) |
| 1042 | |
| 1043 | An Imperial member of the Thieves Guild. His origins are a mystery, having been raised by a foster father after he was found near Solitude. |
| 1044 | ---- |
| 1045 | * AbortedArc: The player never gets a chance to find out his real name, despite the fact that they can tell him they'll keep an eye out for anything they could find. Whether or not a quest was planned that would let the player find this out or not is unknown. |
| 1046 | * AmbiguousSituation: He was found as an infant by a fisherman near Solitude, with a rock with strange writings. What the writings on the rock mean is unknown, given that he has stated he contacted the College of Winterhold, and they couldn't help him. It doesn't match any languages they know of either.[[note]]In the College questline, Tolfdir states that the runes on the Eye of Magnus don't match Ayleid, Dwemer, Falmer, or Daedric, so it's likely not one of those.[[/note]] |
| 1047 | * HappilyAdopted: He mentions the fisherman who found him was the one who ended up being his foster father and gave him his name, and he has nothing negative to say about said fisherman. |
| 1048 | * OnlyOneName: And likely not even his real one - unlike Sapphire or Brand-shei, there's no way to find out who his parents are or where he's from. |
| 1049 | * RecurringExtra: Much like Etienne, he's not really involved in any quests, although he's found in the headquarters frequently. |
| 1050 | [[/folder]] |
| 1051 | |
| 1052 | [[folder:Niruin]] |
| 1053 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KeithSilverstein (English), Alexander Kovrizhnykh (Russian) |
| 1054 | |
| 1055 | A Bosmer member of the Thieves Guild and master-level archery trainer. |
| 1056 | ---- |
| 1057 | * FriendlySniper: The guild's archery specialist and a pretty friendly guy, for a thief. |
| 1058 | * IHaveNoSon: He was disowned after he got caught running with the Silver Crescents. |
| 1059 | * MasterArcher: One of the three only master archery trainers in Skyrim. |
| 1060 | * RichesToRags: He came from a wealthy family, but now lives in the Ratways. He is quite pleased when [[spoiler:the money starts flowing through the guild again.]] |
| 1061 | * ThrillSeeker: His reason for becoming a thief in the first place. |
| 1062 | |
| 1063 | [[/folder]] |
| 1064 | |
| 1065 | !The Dark Brotherhood |
| 1066 | The AffablyEvil followers of [[ThePowerOfTheVoid Sithis]] and [[HumanoidAbomination the Night Mother]]. This once infamous [[MurderInc order of assassins]] has fallen on hard times. Only one Sanctuary remains in all of Tamriel, and the Night Mother has fallen silent since the last Listener died. Without her, Black Sacraments have gone unheard, forcing the order to physically scour for those seeking contracts. [[AllUpToYou A new Listener would turn things around]], or the wrong person can destroy the organization forever... |
| 1067 | |
| 1068 | [[folder:The Brotherhood in General]] |
| 1069 | * AffablyEvil: They're all quite friendly for a band of remorseless serial killers, though obviously some are more friendly than others. |
| 1070 | * BackFromTheBrink: At the start of the game, the Brotherhood is basically on its last legs. The entire Black Hand is dead, the Night Mother is essentially on the run and there is only ''one'' active Sanctuary in all of Tamriel. It's pretty clear that if the Dragonborn hadn't joined when they did, the Brotherhood wouldn't have lasted much longer. |
| 1071 | * BlackSpot: For intercepting a contract by taking on Aventus Aretino's request to kill Grelod the Kind, the Dark Brotherhood send you a note with nothing but a handprint and the words "We know" on it. The next time you go to sleep, Astrid kidnaps you and brings you to a shack, demanding you pick one of the three hostages before you and kill them. This actually leads to her inviting you into the Dark Brotherhood for real. |
| 1072 | * CarnivalOfKillers: The Dark Brotherhood has this vibe. Besides the authoritarian, no-nonsense leader, members include a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolf]] booted from the Companions who also happens to be her husband, a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] and legit badass [[ScaryBlackMan Scary Redguard]], an ancient [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] [[UndeadChild forever frozen in the form of a little girl]], a [[GrumpyOldMan grumpy old mage]] who favors [[StuffBlowingUp louder and flashier means of killing]], an [[LizardFolk Argonian]] who may be the last member of a line of Argonian royal spies and assassins, a [[MonsterClown murderous jester]] who is [[CloudCuckoolander completely off his rocker]], and their TeamPet, [[SpidersAreScary a Frostbite Spider]]. |
| 1073 | * DarkIsEvil: The name should be a dead giveaway. |
| 1074 | * EqualOpportunityEvil: A Redguard assassin, a nutty Imperial jester, a child vampire alchemist, a Dunmer archer, an old Imperial mage, and an Argonian Shadowscale, led by a Nord assassin and her werewolf husband. And no matter your race or fighting style of preference, you can join them all the same. Also, the generic assassins they may send to kill you can be Khajiit or Argonian. |
| 1075 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The entire group loves one another despite being an assassins' guild. That said, they're less tolerant of [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Cicero]]. |
| 1076 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Astrid notes when she kidnaps you and mentions Grelod the Kind that, contract on her aside, "the old crone had it coming". |
| 1077 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: [[spoiler:If you opt to destroy them instead of joining them, with the exceptions of Cicero and Babette (who aren't present at the sanctuary when you purge the place), killing members with the Ebony Blade will count as a charge for that weapon, given that the artifact belongs to Mephala - the patron god of the Dark Brotherhood's rivals, the Morag Tong.]] |
| 1078 | ** If you haven't joined the Dark Brotherhood, they might send random assassains after you. After you join, they will stop, and instead if the Dragonborn DLC is installed the Morag Tong will. |
| 1079 | * MurderInc: Their standard format is that somebody performs the Black Sacrament, a Speaker retrieves the contract, and another agent completes the mission, upon which they receive payment. While the Dark Brotherhood is traditionally a ReligionOfEvil, they have no speaker and the Night Mother has gone silent, so they've mostly become hired hitmen. |
| 1080 | * {{Ninja}}: Their armor has such a vibe to it this time, complete with optional face cowl. |
| 1081 | * ThePurge: [[spoiler:They are on the receiving end of this trope no matter what. If you choose to destroy the Brotherhood, you carry it out yourself. But if you side with them, they will eventually be purged by the Penitus Oculatus on Commander Maro's orders]]. |
| 1082 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The colour scheme of their uniforms. |
| 1083 | * ReligionOfEvil: They're supposed to serve [[ThePowerOfTheVoid Sithis]] and [[EldritchAbomination the Night Mother]], but with the Night Mother silent, the actual religious element has fallen by the wayside. |
| 1084 | * RedShirt: Once you complete their quests, a pair of nameless Dark Brotherhood Initiates will become available as followers. While you'd expect them to be these, they're actually ''[[SubvertedTrope not]]'', [[BadassNormal as they're essential and have no level cap]]. |
| 1085 | * TheRemnant: The loss of a Listener to commune with the Night Mother has reduced them to glorified sellswords, scoping out contracts by rumors about who's looking for their aid. |
| 1086 | * WeAreEverywhere: The point of their questline is to restore them to their former reputation and put the fear of their boundless reach back in the minds of the public. But even when they recruit you, no matter where in Skyrim you are, you're abducted from your bed to be hauled before Astrid, even if you went to sleep in your own home in the middle of Solitude surrounded by your family and comrades. |
| 1087 | ** After completing their quests, random town guards will pull you aside to let you know that they're secretly members of the Brotherhood. |
| 1088 | [[/folder]] |
| 1089 | |
| 1090 | [[folder:The Night Mother]] |
| 1091 | [[quoteright:174:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nightmother_9836.JPG]] |
| 1092 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LaniMinella (English), Olga Pletneva (Russian) |
| 1093 | |
| 1094 | The true leader of the Dark Brotherhood, but she only communicates with her chosen Listener. She is said to be the Bride of Sithis, the patron god of the Dark Brotherhood. |
| 1095 | ---- |
| 1096 | * DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: She became the Night Mother by murdering her five children, one of whom was said to hold frightening divine power. |
| 1097 | * EldritchAbomination: Whatever she is, she doesn't seem to be mortal, Aedra, ''or'' Daedra. |
| 1098 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Though only you can hear it, and her voice is slightly higher than most male examples. |
| 1099 | * GreaterScopeVillain: She's the true power behind the Brotherhood. |
| 1100 | * HumanoidAbomination: When she was alive. It's never confirmed outright, but one legend about her states that she was Dunmer. One theory is that she's the Daedric Prince Mephala, masquerading as the will of "Sithis" as some kind of bizarre scheme. Sermon 22 of the 36 Lessons, on the other hand, draws connection between her and Vivec. |
| 1101 | * OffingTheOffspring: According to one legend, she bore Sithis five children... and murdered them to gain his approval. |
| 1102 | * PosthumousCharacter: Her physical form is little more than a desiccated corpse in a fancy coffin. |
| 1103 | * SpiritAdvisor: Though only through a designated Listener. |
| 1104 | [[/folder]] |
| 1105 | |
| 1106 | [[folder:Astrid]] |
| 1107 | [[quoteright:206:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/astrid_8302.JPG]] |
| 1108 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/CindyRobinson (English), Elena Kharitonova (Russian) |
| 1109 | |
| 1110 | Nord Matron of the Falkreath Sanctuary and ''de facto'' leader of the Dark Brotherhood with the Night Mother silent. |
| 1111 | ---- |
| 1112 | * AffablyEvil: She actually comes across as quite polite, and will talk to you with respect and explain your situation calmly when you first meet her. She also genuinely loves her family. |
| 1113 | * AssholeVictim: She gets killed by the Dragonborn at the end of her questlines, either at the start of the Dark Brotherhood questline or after being burned to near death by the Commander's forces. Given that both of the instances happened after she kidnaps them and expects to murder a defenseless target or after selling them out to the Empire in an attempt to get them off her back, her death is one that no players will certainly mourn. |
| 1114 | * BullyingADragon: Kidnapping and acting smug might intimidate a normal person, but the Dragonborn? A friendly conversation to goad them into joining the Brotherhood (and make up for the kill steal) might have been a better idea, given that the Dragonborn could decide to simply kill her (and, depending on the player's choice, might). Then destroy her entire organization. |
| 1115 | * ControlFreak: She's the "Matron" of the Dark Brotherhood and dislikes the idea of a Listener usurping her authority. She also dislikes people taking kills from them, believing that the Brotherhood has a monopoly on those deaths. [[spoiler:One way or another, this ends up costing her dearly.]] |
| 1116 | * CreepyUncle: She had one who was 'inappropriate' with her when she was a teenager. It's implied that he was her first kill. |
| 1117 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Yes, she ''is'' an unrepentant murderess, but she genuinely loves her adopted family. |
| 1118 | * EvilerThanThou: Gives this impression during your first meeting with her, claiming that the Brotherhood has by right control over all assassinations and that you owe them penance for killing someone that was rightfully theirs to do so. [[OffTheRails You don't have to accept this.]] |
| 1119 | * ExactWords: If you tell her that you don't wish kill anyone, she tells you that "No one is leaving here until someone dies." Note that she never specifically says ''who'' and, if you do choose to kill Astrid, it's implied by her last words that [[{{Touche}} she's aware of this]]. |
| 1120 | * FlatEarthAtheist: She doesn't put much stock in the Night Mother, despite allegedly worshiping Sithis and living in a world full of active gods. Then again, this is mostly due to her being a ControlFreak who doesn't want to be overthrown. |
| 1121 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: At any time after level 5, the Dovahkiin can encounter a Dark Brotherhood assassin out to kill them, no matter what they had done previously, so they have a Black Sacrament contract on them from ''before the start of the game''. In the cabin, Astrid says that [[ExactWords one of the people in the cabin is wanted dead]]. In ''Oblivion'', there was a [[LoopholeAbuse loophole]], where a contract could be cancelled by killing another in the contracted's stead. |
| 1122 | * GracefulLoser: If you opt to kill her and start the "Destroy The Dark Brotherhood" questline, she tells the player "Well done" as her last words. |
| 1123 | * HazyFeelTurn: [[spoiler:She sells out the Dovahkiin to Commander Maro in order to save the Sanctuary. It doesn't work.]] |
| 1124 | * IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: She initiates the Dragonborn by forcing them to kill one of three bound and gagged individuals. The player can either do so ([[AssholeVictim not that they're particularly likable people]]) or [[TakeAThirdOption kill Astrid instead]], which will change the questline to destroying the Dark Brotherhood. |
| 1125 | * TheLeader: She acts as the de facto leader of the Dark Brotherhood in absence of a Listener. |
| 1126 | * MuggingTheMonster: Do you have any idea who you've just kidnapped, Astrid? Sitting there close up to the Dragonborn is one of the worst places to be at this point. Given that the player has the option to kill her rather than the hostages, Astrid fails to realize that she hasn't trapped you in there with her... she's trapped ''herself'' in that cabin with ''you''. And then you're entirely capable of turning your attention to her organization. |
| 1127 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Astrid makes it clear upon her arrival that she views the Night Mother as a threat to her leadership, and doesn't want anything to do with her. The red flags don't go up until just before she sends you off to assassinate [[spoiler:the Emperor, and she addresses you as Listener. She sees you as a threat and is sending you into a trap]]. This is further cemented by her mention of calling in every favor she could to ensure your clean exit, whereas before now she's expected you to find your own getaway. |
| 1128 | * PsychoForHire: Astrid's telling of her backstory implies that she used to be a serial killer before eventually joining the Brotherhood. The only real difference between that life and this one is that now she gets paid to kill. |
| 1129 | * RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: [[spoiler:Though by her own request after her HeelRealization.]] |
| 1130 | * SuicideByCop: [[spoiler:Following Commander Maro's attack and her HeelRealization, she uses her horribly burned body as a Black Sacrament to put a contract on herself.]] |
| 1131 | * TooDumbToLive: She sells out the PlayerCharacter to the Emperor's Commander so that they can leave her faction alone and somehow expects him to uphold his end of the bargain in spite of the fact that she has the Commander's son murdered and framed along with the fact that the Listener is sent to assassinate the Emperor at the time that she betrayed them. Unsurprisingly, Maro did not keep his word and has his forces attack her hideout, wiping out most of her fellow Dark Brotherhood members including herself indirectly. |
| 1132 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: Can do this to the Dragonborn when kidnapping them, and also does it to [[spoiler:Commander Maro]]. |
| 1133 | * UnholyMatrimony: She's married to Arnbjorn, though she doesn't like talking about it to avoid showing favoritism. |
| 1134 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Kidnapping the Dragonborn can lead to the destruction of the Dark Brotherhood. |
| 1135 | * UriahGambit: [[spoiler:Her attempt to save the Sanctuary from Maro's wrath involves sending the Dovahkiin into his hands. It doesn't work]]. |
| 1136 | * WorthyOpponent: If, instead of killing her hostages on first meeting her, the Dragonborn manages to kill ''her,'' she might whisper, "Well... done." Astrid did intend for them to become an assassin, after all, and what better way to do so than to off the very best? |
| 1137 | [[/folder]] |
| 1138 | |
| 1139 | [[folder:Arnbjorn]] |
| 1140 | [[quoteright:208:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arnbjorn_5258.JPG]] |
| 1141 | [[caption-width-right:208:''"You're part of a family now, hamshank. I trust you, you trust me ...got it?"'']] |
| 1142 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Popeye Vogelsang (English), Viktor Bakin (Russian) |
| 1143 | |
| 1144 | Nord Husband of Astrid and gruff werewolf assassin. |
| 1145 | ---- |
| 1146 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: |
| 1147 | -->'''Arnbjorn:''' Here's all you need to know: I'm a werewolf. I like killing things. I love Astrid. I hate annoying people. [[WeaksauceWeakness And the color blue gives me a headache.]] |
| 1148 | * BeardOfEvil: Sports a rather bushy one. |
| 1149 | * BloodKnight: To the point that his bloodlust was too much for the Companions. |
| 1150 | * CatchPhrase: Insert the phrase 'my beautiful wife' or the word 'meat' and/or any synonym to his dialogue, and you have an instant catch phrase. |
| 1151 | -->'''Arnbjorn:''' Well, well. It's raw meat. Oh, my ''beautiful wife'' has told me all about you. |
| 1152 | * TheDragon: To Astrid. |
| 1153 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: He is ''not'' impressed by the notion of murdering [[spoiler:a bride at her wedding]], sarcastically asking if the next targets will be sleeping orphans. |
| 1154 | * HappilyMarried: To his "beautiful wife" Astrid. |
| 1155 | * HiddenDepths: Despite his unfriendliness towards you, he's actually the most easygoing of the group if you've gotten suspended from the Brotherhood by attacking one of the members, reassuring you that everyone breaks the rules on occasion and saying it seems to happen with him at least once a month. |
| 1156 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:During Maro's attack on the Sanctuary, or by you if you "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!" instead of joining it.]] |
| 1157 | * {{Jerkass}}: Alongside Festus, he will be hostile to you from the get-go, though less so if you are a werewolf. |
| 1158 | * LastStand: [[spoiler:When Maro attacks the Sanctuary, he's fighting off his attacks as he's cut down. Notably, his death is scripted, so there's nothing you can do about it; if he does actually defeat the soldiers he's fighting, he will spontaneously keel over immediately afterward.]] |
| 1159 | * TheNicknamer: He tends to refer to you as food, like "Beef Roast", "Ham Hock" or "Morsel", though he states he doesn't mean anything by it since, as a werewolf, he sees everyone as food. |
| 1160 | * SquareRaceRoundClass: He's an assassin who's not only a werewolf, but also a former member of the Companions (a faction who are generally disdainful of stealth) who uses a battleaxe as his main weapon. However, he wears the Shrouded Armor of the Dark Brotherhood. However, there's some FridgeBrilliance at play: in werewolf form, he would be unrecognizable to most, potentially allowing him to murder people in plain sight and run off into the night without risking a bounty on his head. Not to mention that the authorities might simply dismiss the murder as a random attack by a feral monster, rather than a deliberate murder. |
| 1161 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Of Gogron gro-Bolmog, the orc member of ''Oblivion''[='s=] Dark Brotherhood. Like Gogron, Arnbjorn is [[SquareRaceRoundClass somewhat unsuited for stealth]], though unlike Gogron, he wears Light Armor. Arnbjorn also has shades of M'raaj-Dar, in that he just plain does ''not'' like you [[spoiler:especially after you get named Listener and become a threat to his wife's authority]] and there's really nothing you can do about that. [[spoiler:Like M'raaj-Dar, Arnbjorn also starts to warm to you right before he dies, though at least this time it's not by your hand.]] |
| 1162 | * TokenEvilTeammate: Not for the Dark Brotherhood, obviously, but he used to be this for the Companions. Eventually, they kicked him out over it. |
| 1163 | * TookALevelInKindness: After you [[spoiler:take care of Cicero]], he is much kinder towards you, to the point of calling you [[spoiler:"Tidbit."]] |
| 1164 | * UnholyMatrimony: He's married to Astrid, and [[HappilyMarried he loves]] his "beautiful wife". |
| 1165 | [[/folder]] |
| 1166 | |
| 1167 | [[folder:Nazir]] |
| 1168 | [[quoteright:206:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nazir_6832.JPG]] |
| 1169 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Erik Todd Dellums (English), Igor Tomilov (Russian) |
| 1170 | |
| 1171 | A Redguard assassin who helps manage contracts. |
| 1172 | ---- |
| 1173 | * ActorAllusion: Could reasonably be considered the EvilTwin of [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Three Dog]], with the DeadpanSnarker turned up to eleven. |
| 1174 | * BlackDudeDiesFirst: |
| 1175 | ** [[spoiler:Inverted - he's one of the only two survivors of the Penitus Oculatus raid on the Sanctuary, especially since, among those that can survive, he's the only one whom you can realistically expect to die. Cicero, at that point, is either dead by your hands or safe in the Dawnstar Sanctuary, and Babette, being ([[Really700YearsOld ostensibly]]) a child, is protected under Bethesda's policy of "no child-killing".]] |
| 1176 | ** [[spoiler:But if you decide to destroy the Dark Brotherhood instead of joining them, you ''do'' kill him, and only Babette and Cicero survive. Nazir's still not the first to die, though, since the first person you're likely to encounter upon entering the sanctuary will be either Arnbjorn or Veezara.]] |
| 1177 | * BrutalHonesty: Nazir isn't a man to keep opinions to himself, and when you first join up, he'll be fairly vocal about how little he believes in you. [[spoiler:Even during the Sanctuary raid, he admits that he had thoughts that it might have been you who sold them out, up until you saved his ass literal seconds ago.]] |
| 1178 | * TheComicallySerious: Has a lengthy list of entertainers he hates, and is rarely without a darkly humorous remark or his usual consummate tone. He'll also complain about Cicero's dancing if you spared him. |
| 1179 | * ConsummateProfessional: Compared to others, he's more concerned with getting contracts done rather than with the more religious aspects of the Dark Brotherhood. He doesn't care too much ''how'' they're done, though, just that they ''are''. |
| 1180 | * DeadpanSnarker: |
| 1181 | -->'''Nazir:''' [[SarcasmMode Congratulations. You slaughtered an emaciated beggar in cold blood. You are truly an opponent to be feared.]] |
| 1182 | * DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:When the Penitus Oculatus shows up and torches the Sanctuary, Nazir elects to go down swinging and taking as many of them down with him as he can.]] |
| 1183 | --> '''Nazir:''' If I am to die today, so be it. But you'll not soon forget the Dark Brotherhood. |
| 1184 | * DefrostingIceKing: A dark version, but he gradually warms up to you. |
| 1185 | * TheDragon: [[spoiler:He becomes your NumberTwo in the Dawnstar Sanctuary, mainly due to the lack of anyone else to take up the position.]] |
| 1186 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: After the Dragonborn assassinates a vampire, he genuinely praises you and refuses to mock you. He says that you went toe-to-toe with a vampire and won, and that's something worth praise. |
| 1187 | --> "No sarcasm this time. You faced a vampire and lived to tell the tale. Well done." |
| 1188 | * EvilSoundsDeep: He has the deepest voice of anyone in the Sanctuary. |
| 1189 | * FragileSpeedster: Subverted. He's the Master Trainer for Light Armor, but [[InformedAttribute oddly enough]], he does not wear it himself (his Redguard-themed attire is classed as plain clothing) and he's actually closer to being MadeOfIron, given that he survives the raid as noted above. |
| 1190 | * MeaningfulName: Arabic for "{{harbinger|OfImpendingDoom}}", which is appropriate enough for a guy who hands out contracts to kill people. |
| 1191 | * NoTrueScotsman: His sentiments toward a Redguard Dragonborn at their first meeting. |
| 1192 | --> "I am Redguard if you hadn't noticed, but not like you, no, not like you." |
| 1193 | * PungeonMaster: After you complete one of your first contracts. |
| 1194 | -->'''Nazir:''' Of course the miner is dead, I've heard their industry is rather... cutthroat! And those hours? Murder. I can keep this up all day. |
| 1195 | * ScaryBlackMan: He's a Redguard with a deep voice working with the Dark Brotherhood, and he's not too friendly either. |
| 1196 | * SelfMadeOrphan: After his father taught him to cook, Nazir ''killed him''. [[NoodleIncident Why he did this is never mentioned]]. |
| 1197 | * SergeantRock: While working for Nazir, count on him to take the piss out of you pretty regularly. The best you will get is a "good enough" because his standards are uncompromising. [[spoiler:As shown during the siege on the Sanctuary, he has the fortitude and skill to be well worth those standards.]] |
| 1198 | * SincerityMode: One of the contracts he offers is on a vampire; after you do the deed, Nazir says, "No sarcasm this time" and praises you for fighting a vampire and living to tell the tale. Another contract is on a maid working in an occupied fort. He decides not to quip about killing the defenseless woman and praises you for managing to infiltrate the fort and make it out alive. Lastly, he becomes genuinely impressed when you complete your final contract with him on a pirate captain, which he describes as the most challenging. |
| 1199 | * SinisterScimitar: One of the ''very'' few named [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] of any prominence to wield one in the game. This is unsurprising, as he basically looks like a red-garbed Alik'r warrior, who all wield [[NationalWeapon "curved]] [[MemeticMutation swords"]]. |
| 1200 | * SleepyHead: Due to a bug, he may be found lying in bed almost all of the time in the PC version. |
| 1201 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Astrid. [[spoiler:Later this shifts to the Dragonborn, after Astrid's death and the Falkreath sanctuary's destruction]]. |
| 1202 | -->'''Nazir:''' I'll follow you until I'm dust in the breeze. You realize that, right? |
| 1203 | * UngratefulBastard: See SelfMadeOrphan. |
| 1204 | [[/folder]] |
| 1205 | |
| 1206 | [[folder:Babette]] |
| 1207 | [[quoteright:196:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/babette_3023.JPG]] |
| 1208 | [[caption-width-right:196:''"You're only young once. Trust me, I know."'']] |
| 1209 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Harley Graham (English), Eliza Martirosova (Russian) |
| 1210 | |
| 1211 | A 300-year-old vampire who uses her childlike appearance to her advantage. |
| 1212 | ---- |
| 1213 | * BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:Her survival is possibly foreshadowed in her conversation with the Dragonborn, where she recites her [[CrazyPrepared rehearsed story]] that the Dark Brotherhood killed her parents and took her captive. With the multiple purges the Brotherhood has suffered since the Oblivion Crisis, Babette might have had to use this story before.]] |
| 1214 | * CheerfulChild: Hey, just because she's a three hundred year-old vampire doesn't mean she can't act her apparent age. Babette is overall one of the chirpier, more welcoming members of the Brotherhood. |
| 1215 | * CreepyChild: She was turned into a vampire when she was ten years old. |
| 1216 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Her default murder method is to pretend to be a naive helpless little girl, get her target alone, and then turn them into a bloody stain on the cobblestone. |
| 1217 | * DeliberatelyCuteChild: Her preferred tactic when assassinating is to pretend to be a normal innocent child. |
| 1218 | * EnfantTerrible: She may look like any other kid, but she's a vampire assassin of three hundred years. |
| 1219 | * {{Expy}}: Of Vicente Valtieri from ''Oblivion's'' Dark Brotherhood, who was also a vampire. Unlike Vicente, though, she doesn't give you any quests and never offers to turn you into a vampire like he did. |
| 1220 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: She is sad that you must kill [[spoiler:the best chef in all Tamriel, because she loves his recipes.]] |
| 1221 | * ImprobableInfantSurvival: Both literally and figuratively. [[spoiler:She doesn't even show up if you decide to take the "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!" route, and if you go through the faction questline, the Dark Brotherhood is eventually attacked by Commander Maro's troops and she ends up being one of the few survivors, along with you and Nazir (and Cicero, if you spared him)]]. |
| 1222 | * KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Due to the fact children can't be killed in the game, if you decide to wipe out the Dark Brotherhood, she doesn't appear, and presumably escapes justice. If you join the Dark Brotherhood, she's also one of the only two members present at Commander Maro's attack (the other being Nazir) who isn't killed by Imperial troops.]] |
| 1223 | * LittleMissBadass: You don't see her fight anyone, but she has a few tales of such. [[spoiler:Also, she ''has'' to be a badass to not get slaughtered by Commander Maro's troops like everyone else in the Brotherhood save Nazir, although since you meet her and Nazir after the fact, how she survived is left unclear.]] |
| 1224 | * MasterPoisoner: The master trainer for Alchemy. Given that she's a member of the Dark Brotherhood, the implications of what she uses that knowledge for should be obvious. |
| 1225 | * OurVampiresAreDifferent: The only vampire in-game who isn't an adult. |
| 1226 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: Beyond Aventus Aretino's contract and Astrid's abduction, the EstablishingCharacterMoment of the Dark Brotherhood itself has her narrating to her teammates how she took advantage of [[DeliberatelyCuteChild her appearance]] to bait and kill a child molester. |
| 1227 | * Really700YearsOld: She's over three hundred on account of her vampirism. |
| 1228 | * ShoutOut: She's possibly this to Claudia, from ''Literature/InterviewWithTheVampire''; her French name, the fact that she was made a vampire as a child, and the way she uses her appearance to bait victims would suggest as much. |
| 1229 | * UndeadChild: Cicero even calls her "the unchild." |
| 1230 | [[/folder]] |
| 1231 | |
| 1232 | [[folder:Veezara]] |
| 1233 | [[quoteright:176:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/veezara_6433.JPG]] |
| 1234 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Tim Blaney (English), Stanislav Strelkov (Russian) |
| 1235 | |
| 1236 | An Argonian assassin from the extinct Shadowscale order. |
| 1237 | ---- |
| 1238 | * AffablyEvil: He's a soft-spoken, all-around pleasant NiceGuy, except for the fact that he's also a cold-blooded murderer. |
| 1239 | * DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Before meeting the Dark Brotherhood, at least. |
| 1240 | * IOweYouMyLife: To Astrid, who gave him a reason to live again... specifically, killing people. |
| 1241 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:During Maro's attack on the Sanctuary, if you don't opt to destroy the Brotherhood yourself.]] |
| 1242 | * LastOfHisKind: He's the last known Shadowscale. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, once you finish the questline, the order has become extinct; depending on whether you destroyed the Dark Brotherhood or joined them, he's killed by either you or Commander Maro's troops.]] |
| 1243 | * TakingTheBullet: When Cicero loses his temper with Astrid for insulting the Night Mother, Veezara gets in the way and protects her from being hurt by the jester's knife. He survives. |
| 1244 | * WeNeedADistraction: Helps divert attention from you after a deliberately public assassination. |
| 1245 | [[/folder]] |
| 1246 | |
| 1247 | [[folder:Gabriella]] |
| 1248 | [[quoteright:154:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gabriella_9645.JPG]] |
| 1249 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Julianne Buescher (English), Bella Co (Russian) |
| 1250 | |
| 1251 | A Dunmer assassin of "simple, yet refined tastes." |
| 1252 | ---- |
| 1253 | * BreadEggsBreadedEggs: She likes moonlit nights, seaside strolls, unicorns, and knitting. She then recounts when she stabbed a unicorn to death with a sewing needle while on a moonlit walk on the beach. |
| 1254 | * {{Familiar}}: Lis the Frostbite Spider is her familiar, according to the official strategy guide, though it notes that Lis is treated more like a pet than anything. |
| 1255 | * ForeseeingMyDeath: Claims to have already predicted the circumstances of her death, although she doesn't discuss the details. |
| 1256 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:During Maro's attack on the Sanctuary (or yours, if you "Destroy the Dark Brotherhood!" instead of joining it).]] |
| 1257 | [[/folder]] |
| 1258 | |
| 1259 | [[folder:Festus Krex]] |
| 1260 | [[quoteright:196:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/festus_1973.JPG]] |
| 1261 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/{{Jim Cummings|1952}} (English), Alexey Kuznetsov (Russian) |
| 1262 | |
| 1263 | An elderly Imperial assassin who believes that there's a spell for every circumstance. |
| 1264 | ---- |
| 1265 | * BerserkButton: When this man says he wants his bath water tepid, he means ''tepid''. His wife found out the hard way that lukewarm is ''not'' tepid. |
| 1266 | * TheBrute: He isn't stupid, mind you, as he's an accomplished sorcerer. But unlike his comrades, he prefers brutally murdering his targets point blank with powerful spells as opposed to stealth and sneaky tactics. Despite that, he has a special ring that boosts Destruction and Sneak that he'll give the player as a bonus if they hide The Gourmet's body. |
| 1267 | * DefrostingIceKing: Towards you. |
| 1268 | * DisproportionateRetribution: Murdered his wife because she made lukewarm bathwater for him instead of tepid. |
| 1269 | * EvilOldFolks: The oldest member of the Brotherhood (physically, anyway), and he loves seeing people horrifically turn to ashes before his eyes. |
| 1270 | * EvilSorcerer: He's practically obsessed with the more gruesome applications of magic, almost to a WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer level. |
| 1271 | * ForScience: Was formerly a professor at the College of Winterhold before he decided that he wished to explore the "intricacies" of the Destruction school. Specifically, making spells that killed in more gruesome ways. |
| 1272 | * GrumpyOldMan: Describes himself as the "cranky old uncle" of the Dark Brotherhood family. |
| 1273 | * HumanPincushion: [[spoiler:When you find him dead, he's pinned to a tree by about ''twenty'' arrows.]] |
| 1274 | * KillItWithFire: All of his Destruction spells are fire-based. |
| 1275 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Either during Maro's attack on the Sanctuary, or yours.]] |
| 1276 | * LaughablyEvil: His grumpy mannerisms help in this. |
| 1277 | * SquareRaceRoundClass: There are many occupations you may associate with an assassin. [[StuffBlowingUp Destruction magic]] is probably not one of them, but here he is. |
| 1278 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: His preferred method of assassination is the liberal application of powerful Destruction spells directly to the target. If asked for advice on your current mission, he'll recommend this for you as well. Ironically, [[spoiler:when the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary is attacked by the Penitus Oculatus]], Festus is [[spoiler:found pinned to a tree by ''twenty arrows'']]. |
| 1279 | * WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: He appreciates the stealth aspect of assassination, but he prefers to simply... well, he says it himself: |
| 1280 | ->'''Festus:''' Do what I do. Walk up to your target, introduce yourself, melt their skin off, and then run like the wind. Works every time. |
| 1281 | [[/folder]] |
| 1282 | |
| 1283 | [[folder:Cicero]] |
| 1284 | [[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cicero_2990.JPG]] |
| 1285 | [[caption-width-right:210:''"The Night Mother is part of you now. You get to hear voices in your head! The rest of us should be so lucky."'']] |
| 1286 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Andrew Morris (English), Sergey Burunov (Russian) |
| 1287 | |
| 1288 | A psychotic Imperial jester and the Keeper of the Dark Brotherhood, responsible for taking care of the Night Mother. |
| 1289 | ---- |
| 1290 | * AffablyEvil: He'll only harm people if he's given enough reason to. In ''Delayed Burial'', he'll pay the Dragonborn for helping him and Loreius is rewarded or left alone. However, if Cicero is framed for a crime then he'll break out and murder Loreius and his wife for forcing him to desecrate The Night Mother's coffin to prove his innocence. Also, despite his obsession with becoming the Listener, [[spoiler:he doesn't hold it against the Dragonborn when they get the role instead and becomes [[UndyingLoyalty unwaveringly loyal]] to them if he's spared.]] |
| 1291 | * AllThereInTheManual: An in-game version. His backstory and motivations are only revealed if you read his journals. |
| 1292 | * AxCrazy: His default state of mind. If he's your follower, anyone showing any kind of hostility toward you will get knifed to death, which may lead to bounty problems if this happens in a major city. |
| 1293 | * BerserkButton: Disrespecting the Night Mother makes him even more murder-happy than usual; after all, as Keeper, it's his job to guard her. He threatens to shank the Dragonborn on the spot when he finds them inside the Night Mother's coffin ([[ItMakesSenseInContext long story]]) until they give him her TrustPassword, and later tries to murder Astrid for slandering her name. |
| 1294 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: You do not become the keeper of the Night Mother without being ''very'' dangerous. He can be encountered on the road with a broken wagon. If you convince a farmer suspicious of him to have him arrested, said farmer will end up dead. |
| 1295 | * ChekhovsGunman: It's possible to encounter him (and his "passenger") on the road long before you ever join the Dark Brotherhood, or even if you never do. |
| 1296 | * CloudCuckoolander: The only Dark Brotherhood member who still cares about the Night Mother, regularly attempting to communicate with her. His isolation, obsession, and the deaths of his fellow assassins in Cyrodiil have left him... quite unhinged. |
| 1297 | * CoffinContraband: Played with. His coffin containing "his mother" doesn't contain drugs or weapons, it contains the ''Night Mother'', so he was telling the MetaphoricallyTrue. |
| 1298 | * CreepyHighPitchedVoice: He's a psychotic jester with a very high-pitched voice for a man. |
| 1299 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He manages to incapacitate [[spoiler:Arnbjorn]] with just his knife. As a follower, he's relatively powerful. |
| 1300 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: As devoted to the Listener as he may be, Cicero will still refuse to sleep in other people's beds when ordered to. |
| 1301 | --> ''"Now wait a minute, Listener. Even Cicero has his limits! Not many, mind you... but I do have them!"'' |
| 1302 | * EvilRedhead: Has shoulder-length red hair that's mostly obscured by his hat. |
| 1303 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: No one in the Dark Brotherhood is particularly fond of him, tolerating his presence solely because he's a member of the Brotherhood. Ironically, the one that actually tolerates him the most is ''[[GrumpyOldMan Festus]]''. |
| 1304 | * GigglingVillain: Likely a mix of his jester persona and his own craziness. |
| 1305 | * GreenEyedMonster: Considering the fact that he was never named Listener despite his many prayers to the Night Mother and his years of loyal service and devotion, one might reasonably expect that the Dragonborn appearing out of nowhere and becoming Listener overnight might grate on him. [[spoiler:[[AvertedTrope It doesn't]], he's just happy that the Dark Brotherhood can finally function properly, and is satisfied with his role as Keeper. But he seems aware of how people might perceive him and uses it to pull a prank on the Dragonborn if he's spared.]] |
| 1306 | * HappyDance: Once in a while, he'll do a jig on the spot. |
| 1307 | * HappyHarlequinHat: Wears a jester's hat to complement his psychotic clown persona. |
| 1308 | %%zce* ISurrenderSuckers: See WoundedGazelleGambit. |
| 1309 | * InUniverseNickname: He calls himself "The Fool of Hearts". Everyone else just calls him a fool. |
| 1310 | * KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Along with Babette, he will not be present in the Sanctuary if you're there to wipe out the Brotherhood. Evidently, he'll never finish the trip.]] |
| 1311 | * LargeHam: What else would you expect from an AxCrazy jester? |
| 1312 | * MarriedToTheJob: He's completely devoted to the Night Mother and will fly into an absolute fury if someone disrespects her in his presence. [[spoiler:The Night Mother, in turn, is respectful towards him, regarding him as "Poor Cicero. Dear Cicero. Such a humble servant."]] |
| 1313 | * MetaphoricallyTrue: When encountered in Whiterun, he asks for your help because he's trying to bring the corpse of his mother to a new crypt but he's having trouble convincing Loreius the farmer to help him. Loreius believes he's lying and is alarmed by his behaviour. Well, if you join the Dark Brotherhood; Loreius is revealed to be half-right. The mother in the coffin isn't ''his'' mother but the ''Night Mother'' and the crypt itself is the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary in Falkreath. The sanctuary is found close to the local graveyard, which can be mistaken as a crypt at a far enough distance. Making his statements true from a certain point of view. |
| 1314 | * MonsterClown: The most openly psychotic member of the Dark Brotherhood whose devotion to the Night Mother comes off as more than a bit Oedipal in nature. The persona is partly because his last contract before becoming the Keeper was to kill a jester, which - combined with his SanitySlippage - eventually came to break him. |
| 1315 | * ObviouslyEvil: When he's stranded in the middle of the road due to a damaged wheel of his carriage, a local farmer [[ProperlyParanoid refuses to help him]] because of Cicero's incredibly suspicious behavior. Should you decide to involve yourself in the matter, the farmer will end up dead if you don't persuade him to help Cicero. |
| 1316 | * PragmaticVillainy: He prefers to focus his energies on maintaining his duties as The Night Mother's keeper. He rewards Loreius and the Dragonborn for helping fix his wagon and won't cause any trouble unless given a sufficient enough reason. |
| 1317 | * PsychoKnifeNut: One of the most obviously and violently insane people in Skyrim, and his weapon of choice is an ebony dagger. |
| 1318 | * RandomEvent: He's a walking one of these, in that Cicero is the only member of the Dark Brotherhood you might encounter even if you never commit the murder that brings you to the guild's attention. Meeting him is especially likely if you have ''Hearthfire'' installed; the farm where his wagon breaks down is the immediate neighbor of the plot of land where Heljarchen Hall (the home you can build if you become Thane of the Pale) is constructed. |
| 1319 | * RightForTheWrongReasons: The farmer that refuses to help Cicero cites his [[ObviouslyEvil very suspicious behavior]] and the fact that his coffin [[CoffinContraband probably contains drugs or weapons]]. While he's absolutely correct that Cicero is up to something, it's nothing as mundane as he thinks. |
| 1320 | * SanitySlippage: His journals reveal that years of obsessively watching over the Night Mother without ever once being named Listener or encountering a Listener while the Dark Brotherhood collapsed all around him really took their toll on his mind. Adding to this was his last contract before taking up the duty of Keeper: a jester. Cicero kept on recalling his time with the jester and eventually took up his mannerisms. |
| 1321 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To Mathieu Bellamont, being an AxCrazy member of the Brotherhood who's obsessed with his mother [[spoiler:and betrays them due to his obsession]]. Although in Cicero's case, he's obsessed with the Night Mother rather than his biological one [[spoiler:and he doesn't kill any of them for it, only wounding two of them after coming to blows with Astrid]]. |
| 1322 | * SycophanticServant: Towards the Night Mother. [[spoiler:If he's alive by the end of the Dark Brotherhood questline, he becomes this to the Dragonborn.]] |
| 1323 | * ThirdPersonPerson: He slips in and out of this rather inconsistently. It helps that he's completely mad. |
| 1324 | * {{Troll}}: If spared, [[spoiler:he shows up to the new Sanctuary in a rage, claiming that [[DrivenByEnvy he should have become Listener, not the Dragonborn]], and that [[TheFarmerAndTheViper he will make them regret letting him live]]. After a {{beat}}, he starts laughing at the Dragonborn's presumably shocked expression, reveals that he is just joking around and professes his UndyingLoyalty to the new Listener.]] |
| 1325 | * UndyingLoyalty: Cicero is completely devoted to the Night Mother and anyone who disparages her will get stabbed. Violently and multiple times. If you become the Listener, Cicero extends this loyalty to you as well and addresses you with nothing less than complete reverence. |
| 1326 | * WoundedGazelleGambit: He appears badly injured when [[spoiler:he asks you to spare his life. If you attack him but are not strong enough to kill him in one hit, he's as spry as ever.]] |
| 1327 | --> ''"Ha ha! Behold the final trick of the Fool of Hearts! You think me near death? Think again!"'' |
| 1328 | * {{Yandere}}: For the Night Mother. [[spoiler:And even starts to show shades of this towards the player if you spare him.]] |
| 1329 | * YouFool: If you spare him and head to the Dawnstar Sanctuary later in the questline, he'll greet you with a monologue about how much of a fool you were to spare him and that he'll kill you now. [[spoiler:He then reveals that he's just kidding, while laughing at the apparent look on your face.]] |
| 1330 | [[/folder]] |
| 1331 | |
| 1332 | [[folder:The Spectral Assassin]] |
| 1333 | [[quoteright:207:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spectral_9069.JPG]] |
| 1334 | ->'''Voiced by:''' [[spoiler:Wes Johnson]] (English), Peter Ivashchenko (Russian) |
| 1335 | |
| 1336 | An ancient assassin which you call forth from the Void. Actually the ghost of [[spoiler:Lucien Lachance]]. |
| 1337 | ---- |
| 1338 | * AwesomeButImpractical: The ghost of [[spoiler:Lucien Lachance]] has arguably the most badass and well-voiced combat dialogue of any character in the game. It's a shame that his sole fighting tactic is to charge headlong into the thickest of the fighting clad in only light armor and brandishing an iron dagger. Higher level-scaled enemies tend to make short work of him. That is, until you install ''Dawnguard'', craft a Dragonbone Bow enchanted with Absorb Health and Paralysis and a set of Dragonbone Arrows, and drop both beside him before combat starts. Time it right, and [[spoiler:Lucien]] will actually ignore all the fighting, pick up the set and thereafter become a permanently self-reliant, committed long-ranged killing machine who fast travels with the set until he's dispelled by another summon or killed by overwhelming force. |
| 1339 | * AxCrazy: While [[spoiler:Lucien Lachance]] could hardly be considered a man of peace, he seems to have entirely dispensed with the "stealth" aspect of his vocation after becoming one with the Void. He will not sneak when the player does and will instead draw attention to himself by eagerly charging at any nearby enemy with only a knife. |
| 1340 | -->''"Perhaps we should find... a random stranger to murder! Practice does make perfect..."'' |
| 1341 | * BelatedHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Despite his rather horrific end in ''Oblivion'', he's deemed important and loyal enough to Sithis and the Night Mother to endure beyond death, likely because the Night Mother herself vouched for his devotion to the Black Hand.]] |
| 1342 | * BloodKnight: "I grow restless... as does my blade." |
| 1343 | * CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:He's certainly less ''collected'' than he was in the last game, perhaps due in part to the details of his death (see the Nightmare Fuel page for a description).]] |
| 1344 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: He may be as cold-blooded in death as he was in life, but he is uneasy about killing Cicero, who holds the sacred title as Keeper, regardless of his lunacy. He will help you kill Cicero, but he warns you that it is not the will of Sithis. |
| 1345 | * EvilSoundsDeep: Courtesy of his VA. Highlight the spoiler to work it out. |
| 1346 | * {{Expy}}: He's essentially an evil [[Franchise/StarWars Obi-Wan Kenobi with a bit of Darth Sidious on the side]]. |
| 1347 | * FearlessUndead: "There is no pain in the Void!" |
| 1348 | * IAmWho: [[spoiler:Lucien Lachance]] |
| 1349 | * ImplacableMan: Of a sort. He will assist you until he falls, and can be summoned again if he does. |
| 1350 | * LargeHam: '''I LIVE AGAIN!''' |
| 1351 | * MotorMouth: A variant of this trope in that while [[spoiler:Lucien's]] speech is still perfectly coherent and steady, he ''never shuts up''. He'll go off on an [[EvilSoundsDeep echoing deep-voiced]] tangent about past events or enacting violence (or both) in any location to which he accompanies you without being prompted, even in the middle of a Falmer- or draugr-infested dungeon or a conversation with another NPC. This wouldn't be too much of a problem... until you've heard [[spoiler:[[WelcomeToCorneria "the tale of Mathieu Bellamont and the great treachery of Cheydinhal"]]]] ''for the millionth time''. So much for preferring the [[spoiler:"symphony of death"]]. |
| 1352 | ** It's gotten to the point where players have written guides on how to "kill" him without incurring a penalty for it. |
| 1353 | * PetTheDog: |
| 1354 | -->[[spoiler:"Shadowmere... my old and dear friend."]] |
| 1355 | [[/folder]] |
| 1356 | |
| 1357 | [[folder:Shadowmere]] |
| 1358 | [[quoteright:209:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shadowmere_5045.JPG]] |
| 1359 | |
| 1360 | The undead horse of Astrid and a few other Dark Brotherhood members before her, who is loaned out to the player character after a few missions and eventually becomes theirs. |
| 1361 | ---- |
| 1362 | * AmbiguousGender: Considered male by Astrid, [[spoiler:but Lucien calls Shadowmere a "she" in ''Oblivion'']]. It seems implied that she simply does not know the actual gender, and just guessed. |
| 1363 | * BloodKnight: If an enemy is nearby, it ''will'' feel this horse's hooves. |
| 1364 | * HellishHorse: This Brotherhood-exclusive steed is ''the'' hardiest in all of Skyrim. |
| 1365 | * NighInvulnerable: Has more health than other horses and regenerates it extremely quickly. The only things that can kill her are very long vertical drops and amplified backstabs. |
| 1366 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: Has glowing red eyes. |
| 1367 | * ResurrectiveImmortality: Even if something manages to get through its massive amount of regenerating health to kill it, it will come back to life ten days later at the point where you originally met it outside the (original) Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. |
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