!The Eternal Champion / Talin
The PlayerCharacter of ''Arena''. A member of the Emperor's court -- and General Warhaft's ward -- who was imprisoned by Jagar Tharn's demons at the beginning of the Imperial Simulacrum. He's freed by the spirit of Ria Silmane with the objective of finding the pieces of the Staff of Chaos to defeat Tharn and free the Emperor and General Warhaft from the realm of Oblivion.
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* FeaturelessProtagonist: Apart from his name being mentioned in the manual, not much else is set in stone about him.
* PlayerCharacter: The guy you play as in ''Arena'', and the first in the ''Elder Scrolls'' franchise.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: A reverse of this trope, as this applies to the monsters perspective if the hero is a Dark Elf.
* TheUnchosenOne: Like the [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Imperial Agent]], the Eternal Champion wasn't a hero of prophecy. They were only chosen in the sense that everyone else in the Imperial Court was either dead, brainwashed or in another dimension.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Nothing is known about the fate of the Eternal Champion after the Simulacrum ended, with his fate never being mentioned in future games.

!Ria Silmane
A mage under the command of Jagar Tharn who discovered his betrayal and usurpation of the throne which led to her being assasinated by him. However, due to strange circumstances, her spirit was still bound to the mortal world which allowed her to free the political prisoner who would eventually became the Eternal Champion.
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* GameOverMan: She shows up whenever you die in ''Arena'' before collecting a single piece of the Staff of Chaos.
* HaveANiceDeath:
-->''"With you died our last hope for justice. Tharn is now free to do as he will. It saddens me to see the beautiful land of Tamriel rotting from within. Goodbye, [player]. I wish you peace in the afterworld..."''
* MagicalGuide: She guides Talin from beyond the grave.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Ria appears to be played by a digitized actress in ''Arena'', even though the other characters in cutscenes are entirely animated.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: After death, her soul remains on Tamriel to guide Talin.
* SpiritAdvisor: Serves as one for Talin as he traverses Tamriel for pieces of the Staff of Chaos,

!Jagar Tharn
A mysterious male part-elven (Bosmer, Altmer, and Dunmer ancestry) mage and the Imperial Battlemage who betrayed and trapped Emperor Uriel Septim VII and General Warhaft in the realm of Oblivion and later killed or brainwashed the Imperial court to prevent the Elder Council from discovering the truth. With the help of illusion magics, he would go on to dominate the Empire for ten years until he was finally killed by the Eternal Champion.
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* BigBad: The main villain of ''Arena''.
* DealWithTheDevil: Made a deal with Mehrunes Dagon to destroy the Imperial Battlespire.
* EvilChancellor: He was the Emperor's second in command before betraying him.
* EvilMentor: He was Ria Silmane's master before he murdered her when she attempted to warn the Elder Council about him sealing away the Emperor.
* EvilSorcerer: It's a bit of a given when he's the renegade Imperial Battlemage.
* GameOverMan: He shows up whenever you die after you've started collecting pieces of the Staff of Chaos, but not after you defeat him ([[KilledOffForReal for obvious reasons]]).
* GreaterScopeVillain: Of ''Battlespire'', as he was the one who got Mehrunes Dagon to try destroying the Battlespire, but he doesn't appear in-game.
* HaveANiceDeath:
-->''"You were a fool to confront me, and now have paid the ultimate price. Even now my servants go to fetch your mortal husk. You will serve me well through my years as Emperor, once I have made you undead. Perhaps I will even let you retain some of your memories, so that the price of your failure has meaning to you..."''
* HeinzHybrid: It is hard to separate the truth from the lies when it comes to Tharn. The House of Tharn are mainly Men (of primarily Imperial-Nibenese ancestry to be specific), but Tharn himself has claimed have born in Valenwood to a Bosmer mother, which would, by the strictest definition of the rules of the ''Elder Scrolls'' universe, make him a Bosmer himself (though with some subtle Manish traits), but he has also claimed to be the heir of Moraelyn, a famous historical Dunmer (and his red eyes suggests that he does indeed have some Dunmer ancestry), and historians speculate that he has had at least some degree of Altmer blood somewhere in his family tree.
* LargeHam: This guy was just plain ''fun'' to listen to.
* {{Necromancer}}: If the above quote is any indication, he's quite capable of making people his undead thralls.
* ObviouslyEvil: [[http://www.imperial-library.info/sites/default/files/arena_jagar_tharn.jpg One has to wonder why the emperor trusted this guy,]] though as pointed out the red eyes looks a lot less worrisome in the context of the setting, since all Dunmer have them.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Due to his Dunmeri heritage. (Of course, it's possible for the ''player'' to have glowing red eyes if they play a Dunmer...)
* SmallRoleBigImpact: In-Universe books would later state that the Imperial Simulacrum ended up weakening the Empire's control on High Rock and the elven regions, leading to the events of ''Daggerfall'', ''Morrowind'', and the eventual rise of the Aldmeri Dominion. His imprisonment of Uriel would also give Uriel the prophetic dreams he was known for, leading to him later recognizing the future Hero of Kvatch when they met while Uriel was escaping the Mythic Dawn.
* TreacherousAdvisor: To Uriel Septim VII, as he trapped him in Oblivion.
* TheUsurper: Trapped Emperor Uriel in Oblivion for most of the game. It's mentioned that he can't just kill Uriel due to enchantments in place that would alert the Elder Council if Uriel died; ''Oblivion'' elaborates that the Dragonfires go out the instant the current emperor dies and can't be re-lit by anyone except his successor after being crowned and given the Amulet of Kings.
* VillainousLegacy: ''Online'' introduces his ancestors, revealing that he's not the first Tharn to try his hand at usurpation- and on a lighter note, the Tharns of ''Online'' are also powerful mages.
* WorthyOpponent: Uses almost these exact words to describe the PlayerCharacter.
-->''"It is obvious, whoever you are, that you are a cunning and worthy foe."''

!General Talin Warhaft
Uriel Septim VII's right-hand man and the PlayerCharacter's guardian/adoptive father. He's also trapped in the realm of Oblivion by Jagar Tharn alongside the Emperor but its rescued upon Tharn's death.
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* DemotedToExtra: He isn't shown being freed from Oblivion with Emperor Uriel Septim at the end of the CD-ROM version of ''Arena'', so he only briefly appears in the opening slideshow of the game.
* DistressedDude: He, along with the Emperor himself, is betrayed and imprisoned by Jagar Tharn at the beginning of the game.
* OutOfFocus: The only reference to him after ''Arena'' is in ''Oblivion'', where it is revealed he commissioned the two books ''Manual of Armor'' and ''Manual of Arms''.
* ParentalSubstitute: Some DummiedOut texts, which also give General Warhaft his full name, reveal that he was this to the Eternal Champion (though there are still references to the PlayerCharacter having a father named Talin in the final game during character creation, and Warhaft is referred to as Talin in the opening slideshow). Knowing this makes his congratulatory speech at the end of the floppy disk version of the game all the more meaningful.

!! Uriel Septim VII

--> See [[Characters/TheElderScrolls Reoccurring Characters]]