Characters / Skyrim: The Dovahkiin

Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes....

"And the fiercest foes rout when they hear triumph's shout..."

The Dovahkiin is The Chosen One of prophecy, foretold to be the one to defeat Alduin, who is poised to destroy all of Nirn. They turn out to be a penniless prisoner waking up in the back of a cart and about to be executed.

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Tropes A to F

• Abusive Parents: As part of the Dragonborn's Multiple-Choice Past, the Dragonborn can tell Serana in "Dawnguard" that they had a poor relationship with their parents, who are now absent from their life, and they are glad for it.
• The Ace: It's rare for an NPC to have 100 in any skill, but the Dragonborn can grow every skill to level 100.
• Action Survivor: After surviving almost being executed by beheading and burnt alive by a dragon, you proceed to become The Chosen One to prevent the end of the world.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: Somewhat justified, as many Word Walls are located deep within trap-filled and Draugr-infested tombs built by the Ancient Nords. Some quests involve exploring Dwemer ruins for ancient, forgotten knowledge, and many College of Winterhold quests involve exploring old ruins for artifacts of power.
• Always a Bigger Fish: According to lore, Akatosh used his own blood to create the first Dragonborn, who would serve as guardians for mankind and natural predators for Dragons.
• Alternate Character Reading: Most translate "Dovahkiin" as just "Dragonborn," but in Dragon tongue, "Dovah" also means "Dragon Hunter" as well as "Dragon" itself. This means they can also be called "Dragon Hunter Born" or "Born Hunter of Dragonkind."
• And the Adventure Continues: The game doesn't end when you complete the main storyline, and random Radiant Quests ensure you have something to do afterwards.
  • Both Tsun and Paarthurnax doubt your purpose has been completely fulfilled and several plot-threads are left unresolved, such as the calling of a Moot to elect a new High King. Similarly, whoever wins at the end of the Civil War questline will imply that they expect to call on you in the future, since a second war with the Thalmor seems to be all but inevitable.
  • The end of Dragonborn adds another plot hook into the mix, as Hermaeus Mora declares you will replace Miraak as his right-hand man, despite any objections you might have in the matter.
• Anti-Hero: There is no karma meter, but the Grey-and-Gray Morality of the two main questlines can put you anywhere on the index of subtropes unless you actively chose to be an outright hero or a Villain Protagonist. Possible membership in factions like the Companions, Thieves' Guild, and/or the Dark Brotherhood add to this.
• The Archmage: Specialize in magic, and the Dragonborn will become this quite quickly overall. You also become this literally at the end of the College of Winterhold questline.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership:
  • Your actions in the various holds can lead to the Jarls declaring you Thane, which is a courtesy title of recognition and prestige.
  • If you're scouted out to join a group like the Thieves' Guild, the Companions, or the College of Winterhold, by the time their questline is over, you'll have been made their leader in recognition of your skill.
  • In Dragonborn, you can become Tribe-Kin to a tribe of Rieklings, and eventually their chief after Challenging the Chief.
• The Atoner:
  • You can invoke this by completing the Dark Brotherhood main quest which ends with you killing the Emperor. Afterwards, join the Imperial Legion and help them win the civil war as way of making amends for the crimes you committed against the Empire. See Face–Heel Turn if you do the opposite.
  • The game itself will invoke this trope with you. If you steal from your fellows in the Thieves' Guild or kill a colleague in the Dark Brotherhood, you must make restitution (though the latter is a subversion as a fine of 500 gold is all that is assessed for murder). You can also pay off your bounties for crimes committed in various communities. If your skill in Illusion is high enough to pacify a guard long enough to accept the bounty, you can make restitution for any and all crimes.
  • Smaller sidequests occasionally allow you to do a favor for someone you wronged in another quest. For example, you can beat up the bartender at the Bee and the Barb in Riften as part of a racketeering job for the Thieves' Guild, then retrieve the gemstones her lover needs to prepare a wedding band so he can propose to her.
• Ax-Crazy: The Dovahkiin tends to show shades of this in everyday conversation, but if you actually choose to play them that way, they take the cake and then robs the entire bakery.
  NPC: [Is Markarth] Bloody enough for you, outsider?
  Dovahkiin: More blood is always good.
• Badass Bookworm: Via reading skill books or specializing in magic.
• Badass Bystander: Later in the game dragon attacks become more a nuisance than a threat—you fast travel to a town to conduct some business, but a dragon is attacking. You step in to help the guard kill it (likely doing most of the work yourself) and absorb its soul, then go back to whatever you came here to do while the townsfolk gather around the beast's skeleton and whisper in awe about you.
• Badass Preacher: If you join a temple to the Divines.
• Bald of Evil: If the Dragonborn is bald, and if they resort to evil, such as murder and theft.
• Barbarian Hero: Although you can play your Dragonborn as whatever kind of character you like, the "official" Dragonborn seen in the promotional art and trailers is one of these. It comes naturally to Nords. In general, the theme of Skyrim is Barbarian Hero to Oblivion's Knight In Shining Armour.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: A Dragonborn can use nothing but their fists to get ahead. After taking some basic steps, the Dovahkin can kill anything one could think of unarmed. Khajiit and Argonians get a damage bonus since they have claws, and the skill "Fists of Steel" in the Heavy Armor tree is integral to this playstyle.
• Beast Man: The Dragonborn can be a Khajiit (Cat Folk) or an Argonian (Lizard Folk).
• The Berserker:
  • According to the game, specializing in two-handed weapons qualifies you. Potions that increase two-handed skills are rendered with "of the Berserker."
  • Playing as an Orc will give you the option of triggering a berserker rage that will temporarily double melee damage output while halving damage received.
• Beware the Nice Ones: You can play as a polite, kind and all-round Nice Guy or Nice Girl, who nonetheless is perfectly capable of bending reality itself to tear enemies apart and not afraid of doing so!
• Blood Knight: You can choose to be one. Given that you're in the land of blood knights, it comes naturally. Paarthurnax also mentions that, as you have the soul of a dragon, you have an innate desire for destruction. Even if you don't play as one, this tendency can still come through. After all, what sane person would willingly accept a bounty that requires them to charge headfirst into a dragon's lair, because their real goal was the Word Wall that dragon was guarding?!
• Boomerang Bigot: You can have a "Skyrim for the Nords" attitude when talking to Brunwulf Free-Winter, who holds disdain for such an attitude... while not being a Nord yourself.
  Brunwulf: You one of those "Skyrim for the Nords!" types?
  Non-Nord Dragonborn: Yes. Outsiders like me have no place here.
• Born Lucky: Playing as an Imperial will allow you to randomly find more gold when looting containers. Additionally, an optional quest for members of the thieves guild will cause you to randomly find gems in most of the game's containers, and the lockpicking skill tree has perks that cause you to find more gold and magic items.
• Bounty Hunter: One way to make money is to ask around for bounty decrees (the target is usually a dragon, a group of bandits, or a troublesome giant), kill the target, then collect your bounty from the local Jarl.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Manages to pull this on dragonslaying of all things. Each dragon just serves as a minor annoyance in the end. Miraak calls them out on this at one point.
  Miraak: "Do you think it hurts to have their souls ripped out?"
• Call to Agriculture: The Farming Creation Club Mod allows the Dragonborn to run Goldenhill Plantation, basically a large farm they can run as they see fit.
• The Champion:
  • Serves as one for Serana in Dawnguard. It could also be said that the Dovahkiin is this for all of Skyrim, with regards to the main quest.
  • Becoming a Thane of any hold is essentially about formalizing this relationship with the local Jarl.
  • Completing Daedric quests generally results in the Daedra in question declaring you their chosen champion, regardless of how you might feel about it.
• Chick Magnet: They are very much this with a number of potential spouses, tons of ship tease with NPCs, and others who flirt with them - even when it makes no sense, like Elisif the Fair (to be fair, this is due to the limits of the randomized stock voice types and dialogue).
• The Chosen One:
  • A slightly unusual case in that there's sometimes more than one Chosen One running around; but the Player Character is implied, in The Book of the Dragonborn as well as a very accurate ancient prophecy, to be the last Dragonborn.
  • The Dragonborn DLC confirms that you are the Last and must deal with the return of the First.
  • The Dragonborn is also the chosen one of every other circumstance and guild they run across. Whether it's restoring ancient guilds to power, ending a civil war, averting a vampire apocalypse, or a random alchemist needs to find a magical phial. The Dragonborn's presence changes everything.
  • Exaggerated when you reach Sovngarde and are challenged by the guardian of Shor's Hall, Tsun. He wants to know by what right you should be allowed to enter, and you can say that you're the Dovahkiin... But if you've completed all the other Faction Quests, you can also say that you're Harbinger of the Companions, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Nightingale of the Thieves' Guild, or Listener for the Dark Brotherhood.
  • Zig-zagged in some of the Daedric quests. Some of the Daedric Princes will allow the player to invoke Refusal of the Call with no consequences, but know that the player will accept anyway because they offer powerful trinkets and weapons as a reward, and if the player says no, they'll find someone else to reward instead.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Being Elder Scrolls game, you can backstab basically everyone. Notable example: You kill the Emperor at the end of the Dark Brotherhood questline. Bonus points if you've previously joined the Legion and sworn allegiance to the Emperor. Then you can accept the Emperor's last request to murder the man who ordered his assassination. Less notable example: Help Madanach and the Forsworn escape Cidhna Mine, accept his reward and thanks, then stick a knife in his back when he turns to leave.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Can be played as such. It's hard not to qualify when you've helped out literally half the population of Skyrim in some way or another.
• Colonel Badass: The Dragonborn's rank at the end of the Civil War. An Imperial-aligned Dragonborn is specifically a Legate Badass.
• Combat Pragmatist: If it gets the job done, no tactic is too underhanded for you. The kill animations are often quite brutal in this regard—some of them including using the shaft of a warhammer or battle axe to break the neck of the foe, headbutting them to death, Shield Bashing them to death, decapitations, and occasionally you just kick them. And let's not forget the Dragon Shouts, which let you freeze enemies solid, rip out their souls, drain their health, or, most famously, toss them through the air and off cliffs to die on impact.
• Co-Dragons: By the final mission in the Civil War questline, you've become the Co-Dragon to either Tullius or Ulfric, alongside Rikke or Galmar, respectively.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: The default Dragonborn featured in Marketing contrasts nicely with the default Hero of Oblivion. While the Hero of Kvatch is portrayed as an Imperial Knight in Shining Armor complete with Knightly Sword and Shield, the Dragonborn is a Nord Barbarian Hero with Pelts of the Barbarian.
• Cool Helmet: Always depicted as wearing a horned helmet with a face mask in promotional art (the readily available iron helmet, for those interested). In the game, you can wear a variety, including that one, or none at all.
• Crazy-Prepared: Potentially. A Dovahkiin focused on smithing, enchanting, speech, and alchemy (at the expense of perk-placement in other skills directly related to combat or magic) can have custom-made weapons, potions, and enchanted gear for any eventuality. You essentially sacrifice the ability to be the perfect warrior to instead be the high-fantasy equivalent of Batman.
• Create Your Own Villain: A Stormcloak-aligned Dragonborn is this to The Empire, an unnamed captain decided to have the Dragonborn executed for being at the wrong place at the wrong time when they tried to cross the border when the Stormcloaks were captured. For this, the Dragonborn joined the Stormcloaks and tipped the balance that would allow the Stormcloaks to regain Skyrim from the Imperial Legion.
• Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Dragonborn is essentially The Elder Scrolls' version of Christ, a god in a mortal's body destined to save the world. You even go to the afterlife and then return to the mortal realm.. Some of the songs about the Dragonborn declare that once they've defeated Alduin, they will usher in a new Age and (depending on your interpretation) give the gift of the Voice to the races of Man on a large scale.
• Cursed with Awesome:
  • You can become a werewolf, making you passively immune to disease and contracting vampirism. Oh, and the whole transforming into a werewolf and tearing people limb from limb with your bare hands part is kinda cool as well. The only real downside is that you don't get the experience bonus from resting.
  • Becoming a Vampire Lord with Dawnguard removes or negates many of the drawbacks of common vampirism, making becoming one incredibly worth it, despite the stat-penalty during daylight hours.
• Dad the Veteran: With Hearthfire, the Dragonborn can adopt children, and this trope applies for one who joined either side of the Civil War.
• Dare to Be Badass: Invoked by the Greybeards during the ceremony where they formally recognise the Dragonborn:
  Greybeards: Meyz nu Ysmir, Dovahsebrom. Dahmaan daar rok! ^Translation:You are Ysmir now, the Dragon of the North. Hearken to it!
• Deadpan Snarker: There are plenty of sarcastic dialogue options.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: As part of the Dragonborn's Multiple-Choice Past, the Dragonborn can tell Serana in the Dawnguard DLC that their parents were good people, but have since passed on.
• Defector from Decadence: If the Dragonborn is an Altmer and loyal to the Empire, one of the possibilities for why they arrived in Skyrim is that they are one of the many Altmer fleeing the expanding influence of the Aldmeri Dominion. Due to the White-Gold Concordat being signed between the Thalmor and the Empire, the Thalmor were effectively granted free reign to come and go throughout the Empire and the jurisdiction to arrest anyone they wish. One suspects that Altmer not loyal to the Dominion are on the top of their list...
• Determinator: Slaying dragons, ending Civil Wars and saving the world? Numerous characters comment on the Dragonborn's tenacity.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: The Dragonborn always has the option of telling the Daedric Princes, in no uncertain terms, to go to hell.
• Did You Just Have Sex?: If you get married and go to sleep with your spouse (either because you're at the house or you're traveling with them), you get the "Lover's Comfort" buff, where the Dragonborn is in such a good mood that skill-building becomes a lot easier for a while. The buff is unavailable if your Dragonborn is a werewolf, but the possibility of it implies this trope regardless.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: You eventually end up defeating Alduin, firstborn of Akatosh, god of Time itself, whose purpose is to bring about the end of the world and who has done it many times before.
• Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?:
  • The Dragonborn can do this to several Daedric Princes during their personal quests. They can also pledge their soul to more than one Daedric Prince...which, since the Dragons-blood is a gift bestowed by Akatosh, might not actually be their soul to sell!
  • Can be all the more apparent at the end of the main quest, as Tsun, after the Dragonborn defeats Alduin, will tell the Dovahkiin that their afterlife is guaranteed to be spent in Sovngarde. Tsun says this even after the Dovhakiin tells him that they are a Nightingale to Nocturnal, suggesting that not even a Daedric Prince can prevent the Dragonborn from going to the Nord race's Warrior Heaven for their afterlife, even if they aren't a Nord.
• Disability Superpower: Compared to dragons, the Dragonborn is mortal due to being embodied in a mortal coil. Compared to other mortals, the Dragonborn has the Thu'um of a dragon. This confluence enables the Dragonborn to understand and use Dragonrend (dragon soul, but mortal mind), but give the power of a dragon's Thu'um behind the Shout. This is what enables the Dragonborn to succeed against Alduin where the first mortal Thu'um Masters failed.
• Disproportionate Retribution: If you join the Stormcloaks and the Dark Brotherhood, you can bring about the secession of Skyrim from the Empire and even kill the Emperor, as part of a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the Empire for that petty Imperial captain ordering your execution at Helgen, even after it was brought to her attention that you weren't on the list.
• Doom Magnet: Everywhere the Dragonborn goes, expect trouble to follow. Some characters refer to you as "doom-driven", emphasizing this nature of the Dovahkiin. The mere act of the Dragonborn showing up in an area can lead to the collapse of ages-long plots by villains and bringing about the (often violent) resurgence, collapse, or changing of any number of guilds and organizations. Not to mention that both dragon attacks and the Dawnguard DLC's random vampire attacks will only happen when the Dragonborn shows up. The best way to prevent either from happening to someone you like is to stay the Oblivion away from them.
• The Dragon: Unrelated to being Dragonborn, this crops up in a few places when the Dovahkiin...
  • Becomes one to General Tullius or Ulfric Stormcloak at the end of the Civil War questline.
  • Becomes one to Hermaeus Mora at the end of the Dragonborn DLC. It's made clear that, according to Mora, the Dragonborn doesn't have much choice about it. But the Chieftain of the Skaal points out that Akatosh deliberately created them for a higher purpose, so there may still be wriggle-room.
  • Becomes one to the Night Mother as her Listener during the Dark Brotherhood questline.
• Dragon Knight: Alhough not technically a knight, the Dovahkiin (literally "Dragonborn") can have elements of this depending on player build. The Dragonborn can also create dragon scale or dragon plate armor, and use fire-based shouts and magic to complete their dragon personage effectively and accurately. The Dragonborn gets extra dragon points if they're an Argonian.
• Dragon Rider:
  • Near the end of the main quest, the Dragonborn does this after releasing Odahviing.
  • In Dragonborn, they learn the Bend Will shout that allows them to command dragons into their service and use them as mounts.
• Dragon Tamer:
  • After being tricked into being captured by the Dragonborn, Odahviing pledges himself to their service in exchange for his freedom, and from then on works as an ally in combat whenever they Shout his name.
  • After defeating him in combat, the Dracolich Durnehviir from the Dawnguard DLC allows the Dragonborn to summon him by Shouting his name to serve as a combat summon so that he can be freed from his duty in the Soul Cairn for brief moments.
  • The full Bend Will Shout introduced in the Dragonborn DLC allows the Dragonborn to bend even dragons to their will in a more direct application of the trope, which they mainly use to ride them around.
• The Dragonslayer: A natural part of being Dragonborn. The Dragonborn is described as being the ultimate dragonslayer, because they don't just kill the dragon's body; they also absorb the dragon's soul upon its death, thus preventing it from being resurrected.
• The Dreaded: Dragonborn, being the only mortals capable of truly killing a dragon, are actually mentioned as being something the dragons fear above all else. Case in point, the music that plays during your fights with dragons is titled on the soundtrack as "One They Fear." As your reputation grows and your skills increase, you become this to the general populace as well, with even hardened mercenaries, killers and even giants and dremora cowering before you should you challenge them, and intimidation checks become much easier to pass.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Often.
  • Playing any race other than Nord tends to lead to this, but Khajiit, Argonian, Altmer, and Dunmer Dragonborn in particular will still get talked down to by guards and some NPCs, even after defeating Alduin.
  • The Blades, despite supposedly being sworn to serve the Dragonborn, often treat them as an indentured servant and demand they perform tasks for them.
  • Due to ambient dialogue being randomized, guards will often mock and talk down to you regardless of your titles and status, such as "So you can cast a few spells, am I supposed to be impressed?" even if you're the Archmage of the College, and "Now I remember, you're that new member of the Companions... so, you do what? Fetch the mead?" after you've eradicated the Silver Hand and been named Harbinger.
  • Averted in a few rare circumstances. For example, when entering the College of Winterhold, you're normally expected to make a show of magical aptitude, but if you simply tell Faralda that you're the Dragonborn and fire off a Shout, she'll enthusiastically let you through. And in Hearthfire, it turns out that yes, simply being the Dragonborn is all the cred you need to adopt children at Honorhall.
  • Played straight to some degree in the Dragonborn DLC by Telvanni Master Wizard Neloth, who doesn't think much of the Dragonborn even if they're the Archmage of the College of Winterhold and/or saved Solstheim from First Dragonborn Miraak, and is especially unimpressed if the Dragonborn shows off Shouts in his presence. Subverted later on when he becomes grudgingly respectful of the Dragonborn once they claim the Staff of Magnus, recovers the Oghma Infinium and the Black Books, defeats Miraak and earns the patronage of Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora, and if the Dragonborn has done enough favours for him to be recognized as a member of House Telvanni.
• Establishing Character Moment: In Bethesda's official live-action trailer, as the citizens of a city are shown fleeing in terror from a dragon attack, the Dragonborn's reaction is to merely clench his fist for a moment, draw his sword and calmly proceed to march through the fray, before staring down the dragon without flinching. While the race and class are left up to the player in-game, this is overall a rather fitting depiction since upon seeing a dragon, the Dragonborn will (likely) end up running towards the danger.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": In the Legion campaign, you're primarily addressed by your rank, starting at Auxiliary and working your way up to Legate.
• Evil Versus Oblivion: If played as evil, you are this by default since you’re fighting Alduin, who seeks to destroy the world.
• Extra Parent Conception: Akatosh is the father of all Dragonkind, including the Dragonborn. However, the Dragonborn's case is much different as, while their soul is that of a Dragon, their body was born to mortals. The Dragonborn can confirm having more than one mortal parent to Serana.
• Extreme Omnivore:
  • With the Dawnguard DLC, a perk allows you to devour any living creature in werewolf form to sustain the transformation, including bears, spiders, Falmer, giants, mudcrabs, etc.
  • Eating alchemy ingredients is the most obvious way to learn their traits. Said ingredients include stuff like various teeth, claws, antlers, pearls, barnacles, elemental salts, and human hearts and flesh.
• Fantastic Racism: If you meet up with Brunwulf Free-Winter, you have the option of saying that Skyrim is for Nords alone. Strangely enough, you get this option even if you're not a Nord.
• Featureless Protagonist: As in every Elder Scrolls game.
• Femme Fatale: Very possible for a female Dragonborn of any non-beast race.
• Fight Magnet: Bandits, wild animals, vampires, dragons... Whenever the Dragonborn tries to get from point A to point B, someone or something will want a piece of them. There's a reason why Nords became a Proud Warrior Race.
• Folk Hero: In-Universe. The bards even composed a song called "The Dragonborn Comes," foretelling your arrival. You may occasionally encounter wandering minstrels who will sing it at your request.
• Food Chain of Evil:
  • Though not necessarily evil themselves, the Dragonborn does sit at the top of one of these, being the only natural predator of dragons.
  • This can be taken further by becoming a Vampire Lord, as you essentially become The Ageless predator of mortal and immortal beings of all kinds.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Some optional dialogue can have the Dragonborn potentially express this opinion on The Forsworn, believing whether or not they unjustly lost their lands became irrelevant when they retaliated by killing people indiscrimiately without even caring enough to check if their victims have anything to do with their grievances.
• Friend to All Children:
  • The Dragonborn can be played this way, even joining in a game of hide and seek or tag. You can also subvert this trope, using magic and shouts to cheat at the games.
  • In Hearthfire, they can offer to adopt orphaned children, after hearing how they've been forced to live in abject poverty. Sadly, the number of children is limited to two, even though there are a lot more than that in need of homes.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: As a vampire, it's perfectly possible to only drink blood from bandits and other enemies, and even feeding on NPCs does not seem to cause them any real harm. You can even become a Vampire Lord without siding with the evil Volkihar vampires.
• Fur Against Fang: Played straight if the Dragonborn is a werewolf and sides with the Dawnguard against Lord Harkon.

Tropes G to N

• Genius Bruiser: Potentially; you can easily wear heavy armors, use insanely powerful weapons and be really good in hand-to-hand combat, yet also be a skilled mage, alchemist and/or enchanter.
• Genius Ditz:
  • Can invoke this with the Greybeards, saying you have no idea how you can learn new Thu'um quickly, you just do it.
  • If you join the College of Winterhold but haven't specialized in magic thus far, you essentially are acknowledged as being the least skilled with magic, but potentially one of the most powerful.
• Gentleman Adventurer: Or Lady of Adventure depending on the player's gender. The Dragonborn is frequently referred to as an adventurer, despite potentially being rich enough to not need to continue to explore Draugr-infested crypts or Dwemer ruins for anything other than fun.
• Gentleman Thief: The Thieves' Guild questline actually encourages you to be one, with penalties for murdering people during robberies; the desired outcome being to simply break in, get the goods and get back out again without anyone the wiser. The gentleman aspect comes even more into play considering you might be at the point where you have several thousand Septims sitting comfortably in your back pocket, meaning you honestly don't need to steal to make a living.
• Gentleman Wizard: Becoming the Archmage of the College and Thane of numerous Holds means you are essentially not only a respected member of the magical community in Tamriel, but also part of Skyrim's elite society.
• Good Is Not Nice: It's entirely possible to be a genuinely heroic figure who wants to help as many people as you can, while being a total asshole to all of them.
• Good Is Not Soft: Can be played like this. And probably will be, given that the usual means of dealing with people that think it's a good idea to mess with you and/or Skyrim's civilian population involves destructive magic and/or remorseless pieces of metal.
• Good Parents: As part of their Multiple-Choice Past, the Dragonborn can tell Serana in the Dawnguard DLC that they have a very close and healthy relationship with their parents, who are still alive, and are eager to see them again. Serana, who does not have such a thing, admires this and responds by telling the Dragonborn that they are a good son/daughter.
  • It's also very easy to play as one with the Hearthfire DLC. The Dragonborn can often play games with their children, come back from their travels with gifts, and just show them strong love in general.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: If you wish, the Dragonborn can have a plethora of manly scars.
• Glamour Failure:
  • After becoming a werewolf, city guards will comment that the Dragonborn appears to have fur growing out of their ears and a wolfish grin. This happens even if you are an Argonian, whose ears and facial expressions shouldn't be readily apparent in the first place, or if you're a Khajiit, and have furry ears anyway. Oddly, a glitch can cause them to make comments of this nature even if you cure your lycanthropy as part of the Companions questline.
  • If you're a vampire, people start commenting on your pale skin and hungry eyes.
• Growling Gut: During Namira's Daedric quest, Eola claims to hear the Dragonborn's stomach growling in response to all the corpses kept in Markarth's Hall of the Dead. Depending on if you want to play as a cannibal or not, this is either a fellow cannibal being privy to your secret desires, or a disgusting psychopath messing with your head.
• Half-Human Hybrid: The Dragonborn isn't one, but some people unfamiliar with the specific lore surrounding the Dragonborn think they are one. They are this trope in a spiritual sense since they have the body of a mortal but the soul of a dragon.
  Hadvar: Dragonborn, huh? So was it your ma or your pa that was the dragon?
• Handicapped Badass: Your Dragonborn can appear to be missing an eye or be completely blind if you wish, though this doesn't affect gameplay in any way.
• Happily Married: Entirely possible to invoke this, although some potential spouses are rather sour.
• Harbinger of Impending Doom: Alduin's Wall shows that "The Prophecy of the Dragonborn" foretold all of the events of the previous games, which were signs that would herald the coming of the Last Dragonborn.
• Hellish Horse: The Dragonborn can gain possession of Shadowmere if they decide to join the Dark Brotherhood. In Dawnguard, they can also learn to summon a purple-flaming skeletal horse named Arvak after finding its skull in the Soul Cairn.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Played with; regardless of the name you pick, you're usually addressed or mentioned as "the Dragonborn" or "Dovahkiin," but your name will frequently appear written in notes and journals.
• The Hero: What kind of hero is up to you.
• Heroic Willpower: Neloth expresses surprise when the Dragonborn manages to overcome the Miraak enthrallment should you opt to touch the All-Maker stone near Raven Rock that he was observing. It's likely because the Dragonborn is no ordinary mortal.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Even if you're the nicest, most heroic guy imaginable, you'll still get a bounty on par with murder if you're exposed as a werewolf or vampire lord. One wonders why...
• Hired Guns: Various NPCs will occasionally refer to the Dragonborn as a travelling sellsword.
• Homosexual Reproduction: A mystical variant. Each Dragon is the child of Akatosh, so unless the Dragonborn was the result of a Mystical Pregnancy, it's likely they have a mortal father alongside Akatosh.
• Horny Vikings: A Nordic Dragonborn will find themselves embracing many beloved Viking clichés.
• Horrifying Hero: Potentially. You can perfectly rely on things such as Necromancy or weapons and artifacts you got from Daedric Princes, dress in black armors with Spikes of Villainy, and/or become a vampire or a werewolf, and still be a genuinely heroic character. This is even more present in Dawnguard, where you can become a Vampire Lord even if you side with the unambiguously good, vampire-hunting Dawnguard. (You will have to cure yourself whenever you need to complete their quests, but you can turn yourself back into one after it's done.)
• Humanoid Abomination:
  • Is viewed as one by the dragons, being a mortal who somehow possesses the soul of a dragon and is able to permanently kill them, then proceed to use their souls as fuel.
  • Technically could be considered one even outside of the dragons' perspective. After progressing far enough in the game, the Dragonborn essentially has a multitude of dragon souls inside their body, which are used to fuel their Reality Warping ability. And a Vampire Lord Dragonborn adds to this the bonus of being an immortal undead with a One-Winged Angel form. They also skirt around Animalistic Abomination if they're a Khajiit or an Argonian.
• Hunter of His Own Kind:
  • Given how the Dragonborn is of the same kith as dragons, this is to be expected.
  • Most vampires you encounter are hostile, so being one yourself invokes this trope. Being a werewolf can result in this too (mostly in the Sinding/Hircine quest).
  • Thalmor can invoke this in both directions if you're an Altmer. Once you hit the Thalmor Embassy, they'll start sending execution squads after you, which will only happen to a Dragonborn who has the patience to not brutally murder Thalmor they encounter beforehand.
  • Literally occurs in Dragonborn, where you hunt down Miraak, the very first Dragonborn.
  • This even reflects in their name; while most translate "Dovahkiin" to "Dragonborn," since "ah" means "hunter" a more literal translation is "Dragon Hunter Born," or "Born Hunter of Dragonkind."
• I Am Your Opponent: The Dragonborn towards dragonkind.
• I Hate You, Vampire Dad: In Dawnguard, if the Dovahkiin accepts Lord Harkon's offer of Vampire Lordship and ends up killing him.
• I Have Many Names:
  • Aside from the name you give your character, you have the title "Dragonborn" (obviously), "Dovahkiin" (Dragonborn in dragon language), the title "Stormcrown" and "Ysmir, the Dragon of The North" by the Greybeards, and "Qahnaarin" ("Vanquisher"), given by Durnehviir in the Dawnguard DLC. The Stormcloaks and Empire will also give you titles that effectively serve as your name while working for them, and once you become the leader of some of the various factions, most members of that faction will address you by your title there.
  • If you side with the Stormcloaks in the Civil War questline, you're given several names as you progress: Ice-Veins, Bone-Breaker, Snow-Hammer, and finally, Stormblade.
• Iconic Outfit: As shown above, publicity images commonly depict the Dragonborn as a Barbarian Hero wearing a horned Iron Helmet, Studded Armour and Iron Gloves and Boots, with the Iron Helmet alone often being used to represent the character.
• I'm a Humanitarian:
  • Eola claims you're a cannibal before the game, though whether or not that's actually true depends on how you determine the Dragonborn's Multiple-Choice Past; you can confirm her suspicions or reject them (in which case she claims you repressed the memory).
  • One of the Daedric quests allows you to become a cannibal.
  • "Human Flesh" is also an alchemical ingredient, and the most obvious method of discovering an ingredient's first trait is eating it.
  • Furthermore, the most effective method of healing oneself in werewolf form is to take a bite out of some dead human enemies.
  • You can choose to play as a Bosmer, an elf race which is believed to practice ritual cannibalism.
• Inept Mage: Evoking this trope, it is possible to become Archmage of Winterhold even if you're not specialized in magic at all. You do need to cast a couple spells during the questline, but they are all quite basic and some can be replicated with staves. The mages don't seem to care whether you're using magical or mundane ways of carving a bloody path through their enemies. Then again, you do wield an ancient form of magic only known by about five other people in all of Skyrim, and indeed one of the ways to gain entry to the College is to tell Faralda that you're Dragonborn and prove it by Shouting at her.
• Informed Attractiveness:
  • People won't be gushing over you, but you'll occasionally hear some NPC banter that paints you as good-looking regardless of your appearance, even if you're non-human, covered in dirt, brutally scarred, partially blind, and clad in dragon bones. Then again, given that Skyrim is a land of Blood Knights, these might well be sexy traits as far as the locals are concerned.
  • Some very complimentary examples from Narri of Falkreath:
    To a male Dragonborn: Shor's bones, a handsome man in Falkreath!
    To a female Dragonborn: You're going to have the men around here wrapped around your finger in no time.
  • Put on the Amulet of Mara, which indicates that you're interested in getting married, and listen to assorted NPCs comment about how someone like you should already have been snapped up. Then again, you are the Dragonborn, and potentially have quite a long list of other respectable^note (or not-so-respectable but still quite lofty) titles as well.
  • In Riverwood, Alvor the Blacksmith's wife might mention to a female Dragonborn that she's very pretty... and to stay away from her husband.
  • Inverted if you approach a male Dunmer while naked:
    You aren't as attractive as you'd like to believe.
• Instant Expert: Happens in three ways:
  • The first way is what effectively makes the Dragonborn so special. Instead of having to spend years on mastering the Thu'um, you can simply absorb a dragon's soul and use those to master a known word of power. This does have its limits; the Dragonborn does not absorb a full understanding of the Dragon Language itself, something Alduin mocks you about at one point. Similarly, Arngeir only realises this when you tell him that you had no clue what any of the Greybeards actually were saying during your initiation ceremony.
  • The second way is with the skills themselves: If you read enough skill books and possess enough money to buy training sessions, you can easily go from being a complete novice in a skill to being fairly passable in it in the course of an in-game afternoon. It's also funny when one considers the perk system; if, for example, the Dragonborn decides to take the Dragon Smithing perk, they instantly know how to forge armors from dragon scales and bones, despite the fact that no one in Tamriel knows how to do this (given that until very recently, there were no dragons around!). Though in that case it probably just means that you’re good enough at smithing to invent the armor yourself.
  • The perk tree works in a way such that you can save all of your perks and use them when you deem the skill necessary. This can result in a novice who barely knows how to aim with a bow at a deer becoming a master huntsman who can land a killshot on a elite Thalmor Justicar from several miles away.
• Interspecies Romance: Possible for any Dragonborn. If playing as a Khajiit or a Bosmer, this is the only sort of romance you will be able to have (without the assistance of console commands or mods), because there are no marriageable members of those races in the base game.
• Irony: The Dovahkiin can invoke this if they go with Ralof during the intro. Prior, an Imperial captain (over Hadvar's objection) commanded that you be beheaded despite being innocent of any crime except being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That said, guess who is one of the very first Imperials you can kill as soon as you enter Helgen Keep? And, for bonus points, the first weapon you can get your hands on is an axe.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: The Dark Brotherhood questline invokes this on your character. While your dialogue options choose how they respond to the quests to kill people, the early victims you're sent against are varying shades of unpleasant jerks who have done something to deserve their fate, with the exception of one victim who may be a Mercy Kill for how miserable his life has become. However, as the questline continues, your victims become less and less deserving, and by the time you're into the end of the questline you're killing perfectly good and innocent people who do not even have contracts on them, but killing them gets you closer to the actual target of the contract.
• Karma Houdini:
  • Depending on what you do through the game. By the end of it, you can be a cannibal, a Dark Brotherhood assassin, The Dragon for several evil Daedric Princes, master of the Thieves' Guild, and Lord of Skyrim's most powerful Vampire Clan, yet still only be known and praised as the savior of Skyrim. The only possible forms of comeuppance you can receive are sub-optimal quest results, making various enemies, and the occasional Game Over.
  • In a more in-universe case, the Dragonborn can potentially make promises to the various Daedric Princes, meaning that in death they would serve them in some way, and yet they won't live up to his end of the bargain in the end. For instance, as the Champion of Nocturnal, they would guard over the Twilight Sepulcher for some years, or as a Champion of Hircine, they would spend eternity in Hircine's hunting grounds. However, because they are Dragonborn, their soul belongs to Akatosh before all others. Even if soul trapped and not a Nord, the Dragonborn's final reward will always be Sovngarde, no matter who believes they have a claim on the Dragonborn's soul.
• Kavorka Man: Quite possibly. You can play as a butt-ugly old guy or lady and still get people wanting to marry you in all nine holds.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: Entirely possible to do, and even probable if you are playing a thief archetype. Interestingly, while hot property is limited to designated fences for proper sale, there's nothing stopping you from gifting hot property for miscellaneous "I'd love it if you could find me one of those" quests.
  • The Dragonborn's background also makes your kleptomaniac tendencies a Justified Trope. You are a Dragonborn, you see, a mortal born with the soul of a dragon. Paarthurnax explains that this not only grants you access to the dragons' Thu'um, but it also makes you prone to draconic personality flaws, like wanting to fight over anything and being driven to dominate - and, apparently, also kinda making you want to gather your own Dragon Hoard. In this case, it could be said all gamers are Dragonborn: killing every monster you come across, completing every quest you come across (including and especially ones that will give you perks like land ownership in return), and taking all the stuff you come across are practically ingrained in gamer culture from the time one can first hold a controller.
• Klingon Scientists Get No Respect:
  • Despite most Nords being wary of magic, this is actually mostly averted if you play a Dragonborn that specializes mainly (or entirely) in magic; while NPCs may often tell you to be careful with whatever spell you've equipped, they will otherwise treat you as fairly as they would a non-magic based Dragonborn.
  • Furthermore, you can use your status as The Archmage to gain entry to Sovngarde, with Tsun saying that the "clever arts" are still well respected there. That's right, skill with magic grants you access to a warrior heaven.
• Known Only by Their Nickname: In the Stormcloak campaign, you're given a series of nicknames by the men, analogous to the Legion ranks. Stormcloak troops will refer to you by these nicknames.
• The Lad-ette: A female Dovahkiin can chug mead and get into fistfights at the tavern...
• Lady of War: ... or a female Dovahkiin can effectively be one of these.
• Last of His Kind:
  • The Book of the Dragonborn heavily implies you are the Last Dragonborn. Confirmed in Dragonborn, because while you are the last natural, intended one in the line, the First Dragonborn has been biding his time in Apocrypha and seeking his return.
  • In a metaphorical sense, since the Dragonborn are said to have been created by Akatosh and you are the last one in the line, the Dragonborn could be considered the lastborn offspring of Akatosh, as opposed to Alduin who is the firstborn.
• Lightning Bruiser: In werewolf form, you can do a sprint slash; you sprint towards your foe, then do a power attack while still sprinting. Fully perked, the werewolf sprint attack maxes out at 960 damages at level 46—which is several times stronger than a hit from maxed Legendary daedric warhammer without fortify restoration abuse. If you have Dawnguard, the werewolf form also has a pretty respectable scaled armor rating that maxes out at 400 and when combined with some passive magic resistance could practically make you impervious to damages. One combination that absolutely qualifies for this trope, however, is the Elemental Fury shout combined with the orc racial power, berserker rage. Elemental Fury increases your attack speed, doubling it at max power, while berserker rage doubles your attack damage while cutting the damage you take in half. This combination renders any and all melee engagements moot; your enemies may as well be fighting an avalanche.
• Like Brother and Sister: The Dragonborn and Serana can easily end up as this, especially if the Dragonborn becomes a Vampire Lord.
• Living Legend:
  • The Dragonborn is revered by the Nords as a legendary figure and hero. Esbern and Paarthurnax later reveal that the player actually is the Dragonborn who was prophesied in the Elder Scrolls to defeat Alduin.
  • As the player rises through the ranks, they can become this to the side chosen in the Civil War storyline.
• Magic Knight:
  • No matter what race the Dragonborn is, they can use at least some form of basic magic. The Thu'um Shouts further solidify this; even a Dragonborn who never expends any magicka will still be blasting enemies with their Voice.
  • Should the Dragonborn decide to focus solely on magic, smithing and enchanting, they can end up as a Mage decked out in heavily enchanted armour that reduces the magicka cost to nearly zero, allowing them to constantly fling fireballs at their enemies.
  • Bound Weapons are perhaps the most literal example, allowing you to summon either a sword, dagger, bow or warhammer with magicka and then use it to fight your enemies.
• Magnetic Hero: Although you can only have one follower with you at a time, there are 46 available in the base game and 59 with all DLC, and you can potentially recruit them almost all of them (Faendal and Sven are mutually exclusive).
• Mama Bear: If the Dragonborn adopts children in the Hearthfire DLC and lives in one of the custom-built houses, one of their duties is to protect them from invaders and other dangerous enemies.
• Manly Facial Hair: Todd Howard really wasn't kidding when he said that Skyrim would have truly epic beards...
• Master Archer: By bringing the Archery skill up to level 100, they can perform trick shots, zoom in on targets, and achieve other unusual abilities that no other character in the game is seen to do.
• Master of All: Any Dovahkiin will be The Ace by the time the main story quests are finished. But because you can improve any skill you practice, it is possible to max out every single skill by level 81. And with the addition of Legendary Skills, you can reset any skill you raise to 100 and refund the perks, which you can then redistribute. Truly insane level grinders can max out not only skill levels, but perks. You'll be a better fighter than the Ebony Warrior, a better thief than Karliah, a better spellcaster than the Archmage of Winterhold, and a better smith than Eorlund Gray-Mane, while being able to out-Shout Miraak.
• Master Poisoner: The Alchemy skill revolves around this, although you can also use it to make potions to buff your own skills.
• Match Maker Quest:
  • You get to help a few couples get together in the quest "The Book of Love".
  • While the above one is easy to miss, likely one of the first quests you'll do in the game is help either Sven or Faendal court Camilla by framing the rival suitor. But you also have the option of outing the suitor who asked you to do the framing... and/or marrying Camilla yourself if you've done other things beforehand.
• Meaningful Name: While most refer to you as "Dragonborn", the name Dovahkiin can be broken down into "Dov Ah Kiin", fitting with the dragon naming conventions of three words joined to form their names. This alternate spelling produces the translation "Dragonkind Hunter Born" or "Born Hunter of Dragonkind", a very apt description.
• Memetic Badass: In-universe, the Dragonborn is a legendary figure and a paragon of what it means to be a Nord (even if they're not a Nord). As you complete questlines and gain authority and rank in various factions, city guards and some other NPCs will comment they've heard about your exploits.
• Military Mage: Partake in the Civil War with a magic-themed playstyle allows you to fill that role. Even if you don't, using Shouts during Civil War battles offers some shades of this trope.
• More Powered Protégé: In comparison to the Greybeards, who master Thu'um through meditation on the dragon language, the Dragonborn unlocks new Thu'um by devouring the soul of slain dragons, and can quickly learn a wide variety of shouts that it would take a typical Greybeard several lifetime to master.
• Multi-Melee Master: Swords, daggers, maces, hammers, axes, staves, pickaxes, all of varying designs and variably one or two-handed.
• Mugging the Monster: It's remarkable how many people think attacking you is a good idea.
  • You can actually get ambushed by a thief in a random instance and have the option to dismiss them entirely:
    Dragonborn: I don't have time for this.
    Thief: Don't you walk away from me!
  • Hilariously enough, if you're a member of the Thieves' Guild you can chastise random muggers for targeting their coworkers, and if you've completed the questline and are the leader of the guild, then you can shake the robber down for having the gall to try to steal from his boss.
• Multiple-Choice Past:
  • Although it's left blank for the player to make up, you can make a couple of in-game suggestions about it. In Cidhna Mine, you can claim your family is still alive but in another part of Tamriel, and in another quest you might tell Eola you've already indulged in cannibalism. However, since this is optional dialogue and can also be refuted in the same conversations, it's not set in stone.
  • In Dawnguard, Serana will ask you about your family. As noted elsewhere in this folder, you have a few options for what to tell her about your parents.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much:
  • By no means required, but entirely possible. Listing the ways to invoke it for each race would be a page unto itself. Particularly ironic examples include a Nord joining the Legion or an Imperial joining the Stormcloaks.
  • The Altmer, Bosmer and Khajiit are the most extreme cases, as for them, it is effectively required — the main storyline involves direct action against the Thalmor who rule over their respective homelands.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Dragonborn, of course. But Stormblade/Legate, Harbinger of the Companions, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Guildmaster of the Thieves' Guild, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood and Ysmir, Dragon of the North also count.
• Nazi Protagonist: Due to the creative freedom of the Dragonborn's backstory, they can be a fantasy variant of this.
  • A high elf Dragonborn wound up in Skyrim after trying to escape Thalmor-occupied Summerset Isle. They may support the Thalmor by joining the Empire to strengthen their hold on Skyrim or they can assist them by making decisions that benefit the Thalmor (such as helping Ondolemar investigate Ogmund). However, the Thalmor are indifferent to them, as they will still send Thalmor Justicators to attack them if they believe the Dragonborn is interfering with their business. The Dragonborn can also turn traitor and join the Stormcloaks instead to fight back against the Thalmor oppression.
  • The Dragonborn can join the Stormcloaks, a lighter version of the Nazis (fair-haired nationalists led by a charismatic war veteran with a penchant for hammy speeches). The Dragonborn can be just as nationalistic as the racist members of the Stormcloaks and be xenophobic towards non-humans.
• Nice Guy:
  • You can be one by helping every helpless civilian you find on your travels, giving mercy to enemies who ask for it, donating money to beggars, and playing games with children.
  • With the Hearthfire DLC, the Dragonborn can adopt up to two orphans, giving them a loving home where they will be attended by your housecarls and stewards while you're off keeping Skyrim safe.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: As the game progresses and you complete guild questlines, main quests, civil war, and sidequests, the player will rapidly become an example of this trope. You already start off as part-dragon, which is coupled with your race of choice. Once the guild questlines are finished, you can add Viking champion/Legate, Archmage, mentor of another Viking guild, thief, assassin, priest, bard, champion of multiple deities and Daedric princes, ally of the Forsworn, Thane of all nine holds, and werewolf/vampire^note Vampirism and lycanthropy are both diseases and both bestow immunity to disease once contracted, which makes them mutually exclusive to the list.
• Nominal Hero: At the end of the day, the Dragonborn will save Skyrim and defeat Alduin, even if they pledge allegiance to the Thieves Guild, the Dark Brotherhood, and the vampire's side in the Dawnguard DLC, and all around act like a uncaring bastard. In the end, as "evil" as a Dragonborn can be they are still going against a being who is going to end the world if not stopped, after all.
• No-Sell: Bugs notwithstanding, werewolves are completely immune to disease or being infected with vampirism; conversely, vampires have that same immunity to disease and cannot contract lycanthropy.
• Noble Top Enforcer: At the end of Dragonborn, Hermaeus Mora appoints the Dragonborn as their new Dragon, although it's made very clear that the Dragonborn actually does not have much of a choice in the matter. Likewise, what Mora does to Miraak is their demonstration of why it's not clever to try and play The Starscream in your Daedric boss' realm.
• Non Human Side Kick: On top of any human/mer followers, you can have a dog as a follower, or an Armored Troll (with "Dawnguard") or a Riekling, or a Dwemer Spider/Sphere (with "Dragonborn"). During Clavicus Vile's Daedric quest, you also have Barbas, a Daedra assuming the form of a dog as a temporary follower.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Paarthurnax notes that the Dragonborn has the same innate urge to kill, destroy, and conquer as all dragons do.

Tropes O to Z

• Occult Detective:
  • Various quests have the Dragonborn having to deal with witches, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, necromancers, Daedric Princes, and all manner of arcane creatures.
  • The Clairvoyance spell will direct you to your current quest target.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Potentially, between the Dragonborn and Paarthurnax.
  • The Dawnguard DLC allows you to befriend Serana, a friendly vampire, even if you are a member of the violently anti-vampire Dawnguard faction.
  • More humorously, NPCs like Rolff Stone-Fist and Uthgerd the Unbroken will also become your friends after you beat them up in a brawl, even if you oppose everything they stand for and never interact with them in any meaningful way again.
• Oh, Crap!: The reaction of various dragons when they realise who you are.
• Older Than They Look: You can customize the Dragonborn to look as young or old as you please, but most NPC's will interact with them like they're a young adult in their twenties or thirties (or their race's equivelent to that age group.)
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: All the guards will give you shit over releasing Odahviing, even though you had a perfectly good reason to do it. Even if you later used Odahviing to win the Civil War (which is the whole reason that the current guards have their jobs), or just used him then and there to kill a hostile dragon, they'll still call you out on it.
  Guard: Releasing a captured dragon. I don't think I'll ever understand that one...
• One-Man Army:
  • The Dragonborn's path is full of hundreds of enemies, including wild animals, giants, bandits, golems, undead, Thalmor, and, of course, dragons. And none of them will survive the encounter. At higher levels it is entirely possible for a player to enter a room with half a dozen enemies and casually take them all out with one attack, or even all out at once with a Thu'um or other spell. And several quests have people sending you out to forts and caves and tombs to liberate them from bandits or undead, and you'll do it with ease. This is seen most prominently in the Civil War quests, in which one quest to liberate a fort from the enemy gives you the option to to barge in alone instead of a more conventional ambush tactic.
    Dragonborn: I have a better plan. You wait here, and I'll take care of it.
  • Also of note, the song "Dragonborn" contains choice lyrics like "And the tale, boldly told, of the one / Who was kin to both wyrm and the races of man / With a power to rival the sun" and "Mighty Thu'um, like a blade, cut through enemies all / As the Dragonborn issued his roar!"
• One-Winged Angel: Werewolf and Vampire Lord forms allow the player to pull this, taking on a monstrous but powerful form to shred enemies with their bare claws and (if a Vampire Lord) dark magics.
• Only in It for the Money: Quite possible with any Dragonborn, but comes out most when playing a Thief archetype combined with the right dialogue options. Especially if you join the Thieves' Guild.
• Open Secret: Guards will occasionally mention they know that you're in the Thieves' Guild, or a member of the Dark Brotherhood (including suspecting that you killed the Emperor himself), but never confront you about it because they lack direct evidence - and also because they're terrified of you.
• Our Elves Are Different: The Dragonborn can be an elf, such as an Altmer (high elf), a Bosmer (wood elf), a Dunmer (dark elf), and an Orsimer (Orc. Yes, orcs are elves in this universe).
• Pals with Jesus: The Dragonborn can undertake quests from various Daedric Princes and eventually becomes recognised as their respective Champion. Given the Daedric Princes' rather indifferent (if not outright hostile) attitude towards most mortals in Nirn, being considered not completely useless is a pretty big accomplishment.
• Part-Time Hero: The Dragonborn can be played as such.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Averted if playing as an Altmer, which turns the infiltration of the Thalmor Embassy into a doddle. Instead of keeping a low profile, the Dragonborn can casually walk up to people, barking orders. Since everyone is so afraid of the Thalmor, they don't dare ask any questions.
• Parental Abandonment: As part of their Multiple-Choice Past, the Dragonborn can tell Serana in the Dawnguard DLC that they are an orphan, who grew up alone and never knew their parents.
• Person of Mass Destruction: You have at your command the Thu'um, the elemental forces of magic, and mastery over all types of weapons and styles of using them. Special mention must go to Storm Call. Run into a town or fort full of enemies, Shout out the words to Storm Call, and watch blasts of lightning rain down on your enemies until there's nothing left for them to strike.
• Pet the Dog: A literal example. Over the course of your travels, you can rescue stray dogs from enemies.
• Physical God: The Dragonborn is essentially The Elder Scrolls's universe's equivalent of a demigod and thus is one of, if not, the most powerful protagonist in the series' history. A weakened Clavicus Vile admits that the Dragonborn is about as strong as he is without Barbas, which is high praise coming from a Daedric Prince.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Choosing to play as a Breton, the smallest of the playable races, does nothing to lessen the Dragonborn's lethality as a fighter.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Serana. Despite all of the Ship Tease, Serana cannot be married. She will take your advice about being cured of vampirism (with the right dialogue options), follow you to the death, and even join an organization of vampire-hunters to side with you, but if you ask her to marry you, she will be flattered, but turn down any marriage proposal and still remain on incredibly-friendly terms with the PC.
• Primal Stance: Drops into this when Sneaking.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: They can have this attitude, whether they're a Nord or not.
  Jarl of Whiterun: Alduin... The World Eater? But if he has come, then surely it is the end?
  Dragonborn: Maybe, but I intend to die fighting!
  Jarl of Whiterun: Spoken like a true Nord!/No Nord could have spoken better! I stand with you, Dragonborn!
• Professional Killer: Very possible with a Dragonborn that joins the Dark Brotherhood. Can be most prevalent during your first meeting with Amaund Motierre.
  Motierre: The real reason I'm speaking with a cutthroat in the bowels of this detestable crypt. For I seek the assassination of... the Emperor.
  Dragonborn: Leaders rise and fall. Business is business.
• Psychotic Smirk: After becoming a werewolf, guards claim that the Dragonborn has a disturbing wolfish grin.
• Rags to Riches: Can become a Thane to multiple Jarls of Skyrim, and unless you're actually trying not to, you'll probably end up with gold coming out of your ears, especially if you earn the Prowler's Profit perk, which lets you discover tons of gold and precious stones in every chest and urn out there in Skyrim, and it's all yours for the taking. Appropriately, you start with rags in your inventory prior to having your restraints cut.
• Real Men Love Jesus:
  • You can wear an amulet of any god, pray at their shrines regularly, and serve any temple, should you wish.
  • You're not limited to the divines only. Completing the Sacred Trials of Kyne and selecting "I don't believe in the Nine" can make you a Real Man (or Woman) who loves the Old Nordic Gods.
  • Joining the Stormcloaks ostensibly makes you a Real Man (or Woman) who loves Talos exclusively.
  • In Hearthfire, you can build an altar with shrines to each of the Nine Divines in the cellar of your house, which is technically illegal in Tamriel under the terms of the White-Gold Concordat. Not that anyone in Skyrim seems to particularly care, as even Imperial-aligned players and characters still will worship Talos in secret.
  • Or should you choose, you can pledge yourself to one (or more) of the Daedric Princes and become their Champion.
  • You can have a conversation with a Thalmor Justiciar on the road that eventually leads to the Thalmor basically asking "You wouldn't happen to worship Talos, now would you?" All of the ensuing dialogue options have you claiming that yes, you do, with the closest to the contrary being just remaining silent (which the Justiciar interprets as a guilty silence).
• Reality Warper: As with all those capable of the Thu'um. You literally yell at the world using the power and language that shapes it, and it changes at your command.
• Really Moves Around: They can own up to five houses (eight with Hearthfire) in just as many different locations, and nothing is really forcing them to make any one of them their permanent residence. They can impose this upon their family, as well. The fact that each Hold is a different jurisdiction makes this a viable means to escape law enforcement. The Creation Club/Anniversary Edition adds several more homes that you can get, as well.
• Red Baron: The Dragonborn (Dovahkiin), "The One They Fear", Stormcrown, Ysmir the Dragon of the North, Qahnaarin (Vanquisher) and for those who join the Stormcloaks, "Stormblade".
• Reluctant Warrior: Can be played as one, although it's rather hard to do much of the time considering bandits, Falmer, necromancers and the like are everywhere.
• Right Man in the Wrong Place: Hapless emigrant from the heartland province that gets caught up in a trap meant for the leader of a rebel faction against an Empire that has seen better days discovers that they are actually a demigod and essentially the divine affirmation of the continuation of existence made flesh, determinant of an entire province's future political relations, and vanquisher of a really mean dragon. Or reality's total-reset function gone awry. Or some dragon mantling the godly essence of that function and letting the power go to their head. Elder Scrolls lore metaphysics gets complicated like that...
• Rightful King Returns: In a metaphorical sense, this is how the Greybeards view the re-emergence of the Dragonborn, lamenting that that the "Storm Crown" had been forced to languish without a worthy brow to rest upon for far too long.
• Science Hero: If you specialize in alchemy, enchanting, and smithing, you can compensate for a lack of combat and magical skill by carrying around poisons and weapons that can drop giants and armor that makes you nearly invulnerable. All made by your own hands, of course.
• Self-Made Man: Hearthfire allows you to become this by building a manor and all of its furniture with your own bare hands. In addition, the Dragonborn pretty much has to earn all their money, though most often by driving a sword or lightning bolt though their foes to get said money in the first place.
• Semi-Divine: The Dragonborn is a dragon soul in the shell of a mortal mind and body. In lore terms, dragons are "Children of Akatosh", or more technically subgradient fragments of Akatosh, who is the god of time and is associated with draconic imagery. This confluence does enable or augment certain Shouts not normally usable by dragons or fully mortal Thu'um practitioners: Dragonrend is both harmful and outright unusable by full dragons-in-body, and not quite enough to weaken Alduin with just one regular mortal Shouter; with a Dragonborn, they intrinsically know it because they have a mortal mindset and only need to learn the Words of Power, and by nature of being Dragonborn, they can single-voicedly knock Alduin out of the sky and render him vulnerable. Dragon Aspect is "wearing your dragon-ness on the outside" essentially; a mortal Tongue couldn't get the shout to anything because they have no dragon nature to manifest, and for an actual dragon it'd be useless as they're already a dragon on the outside.
• Sentenced Without Trial: They somehow start the game in a cart of condemned prisoners. The Dragonborn's name isn't even on the list of prisoners, but the Imperial Legion Captain sentences them to death anyway; they're only saved by a timely dragon attack.
• Ship Tease: While the Dragonborn has the opportunity to marry a great many potential spouses, they have the most romantic subtext with Serana, who, ironically, they can't marry. During the final confrontation with Lord Harkon, there's even an option for a Dawnguard-aligned Dragonborn to tell him that they won't hurt Serana because "She means too much to me."
• Silent Protagonist: Actually averted: the Dragonborn doesn't talk normally (though they do have dialogue options), but they are actually voiced. Besides performing dragon Shouts, the Throw Voice power has you actually throw out a variety of insults at your enemies^note unless you're one of the beast or elf races. And, as in previous installments of the Elder Scrolls series, the Dragonborn can always opt to be silent throughout the Dark Brotherhood questline.
• Smarter Than You Look: Farengar Secret-Fire says this if you ask about him about his work with the Dragon Stone.
• Sociopathic Hero: With plenty of opportunities for Kick the Dog moments while still being nominally part of the 'good-aligned' factions, the Dragonborn can rival the heroes of Greek Mythology in this if the player is so inclined (or even if they aren't; killing people to get what you want is often the simplest course of action in some quests). Paarthurnax implies that this is a result of being Dragonborn, giving them an inborn drive to dominate.
• Soul Eating: The Dragonborn is a mortal gifted with the ability to consume the souls of slain dragons.
• Spanner in the Works: To several factions/people (assuming you don't discover the relevant documents in some cases).
  • Given that you really can't ally with the Thalmor without mods, you're pretty much guaranteed to be foiling their plans left and right, potentially with little to no knowledge that you're doing so.
    • They started a costly civil war to keep the Empire in turmoil and unable to consolidate its power in time for the inevitable second war between them. If you don't discover the dossier revealing their role, you either reunify the Empire, thus giving the Empire an opportunity to reconsolidate its own power and prepare for this war, or you unify Skyrim in the name of a bunch of proud warriors who have some serious beef with the Thalmor.
    • They are attempting to hunt down Talos worshipers by catching them in the act. Should you place Torygg's war horn on the Altar of Talos, you will probably kill a couple of Thalmor Inquisitors who try to kill you for doing so. You do find plans on their corpses, though.
    • They have captured one of the sons of the Gray-Mane family an are torturing him for information. You break in and free him because you're friends with that family. You might even unintentionally make this easier if you found Northwatch Keep early on before starting "Missing In Action" and killed all the Thalmor guards there for whatever reason, leaving only a small group of soldiers remaining inside.
    • And all of this is not even considering the possibility that you could simply kill a bunch of Thalmor agents on the road for no particular reason, or to take their things. And while you can't get into the Embassy grounds normally, it's possible to just break into the outer barracks of the Embassy and kill and loot the guards inside. Further, if you've won the Civil War or finished Season Unending, its possible to kill Elenwen if you can get inside her building somehow.
  • In the Dark Brotherhood, you upend Astrid's plans to be the "family don" simply by stumbling into the Night Mother's crypt when attempting to spy on Cicero. Alternately, you upend the entire guild's plans to keep existing by killing Astrid instead of one of her chosen targets during your recruitment, then following Commander Maro's instructions to wipe out the rest of them.
  • In the Thieves' Guild, you thwart Karliah's plan to kill Mercer by walking into the ambush room first. Karliah shoots you instead. However, as this particular chain of events is the Wham Episode of this questline that makes her your ally and Mercer your enemy, she uses this setback to turn right back around and orchestrate Mercer's death. Basically, by being a spanner in the works for Karliah, you become a spanner in the works for Mercer.
  • You can also potentially infuriate an NPC without even knowing you did it, leading them to send the Dark Brotherhood after you (even if you're the Listener).
  • You are also indirectly responsible for the civil war continuing. You just happened to be caught sneaking into Skyrim and were set to be executed alongside Ulfric Stormcloak, but because you're the last Dragonborn, Alduin came after you as soon as he was free from being stuck outside of time. He interrupts your execution and sets to destroying everything he sees, destroying Helgen and causing a distraction that allows Ulfric to flee to freedom and to continue the war.
• The Starscream: In Dawnguard, the Dovahkiin can become this to Lord Harkon.
• Statuesque Stunner: Have a female Altmer or Orc and make her attractive and you'll tower over almost everybody.
• The Stoic: The Dark Brotherhood questline once again gives the option of staying completely silent during most conversations.
• Super Mode: In the Dragonborn DLC, you will gain a "Dragon Aspect" power which allows you to crank your Thu'um powers up and involves some glowy ethereal spines and horns on your character model to visualize its activity.
• Superpower Lottery: Definitely the winner of this in Skyrim. Let's see, a natural-born adventurer and survivalist, a highly skilled warrior, a gifted craftsman, alchemist and architect, unrivalled mastery over the arcane forces, and above all, the ability to bend the very fabric of reality simply by shouting for it to obey.
• Super-Scream: The Thu'um is literally called a Shout and can give you several different abilities. Check the Super-Scream entry in Tropes N to T of the main pages for a full list of what the Dragonborn can potentially do with the Thu'um.
• Super-Senses: The Aura Whisper shout. The Dragonborn is also implied to be the only one who can see the glowing eyes of a vampire; other mortals see an ill-defined "hunger" in a vampire's eyes, but the glow is only obvious to the Dragonborn. Similarly, if we assume that the Dragonborn's vision going dark and the Words of Power starting to glow is not merely a gameplay mechanic, but an actual physical reaction of their Aedric soul's proximity to a Word Wall, this would explain why scholars have remained unaware of their true function for millennia. Indeed, in-game books note a slight blue glow to some of the ancient words in the Word Walls, but never mention anything special happening.
  • If you play as a Khajiit, you have Innate Night Vision.
• Supporting Protagonist: While still The Hero, the Dragonborn shifts into this role at various points in Dawnguard, since most of the story is centered around Serana.
• Sweet Tooth: The fact that Skyrim has no shortage of various dessert foods (sweet rolls among them) the Dragonborn can munch on makes it very easy for them to go by this trope.
• Token Minority:
  • If you play as a non-Nord Dragonborn who joins the Stormcloaks.
  • Also a lesser case if joining the Companions with a non-Nord Dragonborn, as they have an Imperial and a Dunmer in their ranks.
  • When joining the Dawnguard as a elf, Beleval will note that you and her are the only elves, there. They're more diverse than many factions. In addition to Nords, the leader is a Redguard, a couple Bretons, an Imperial, and a couple Orcs, in addition to Beleval's Bosmer.
  • A Khajiit or Argonian Dragonborn will unavoidably follow this trope if they join The Companions, Thieves Guild, Dawnguard, Imperial Legion, or Stormcloaks. That's because none of those factions have any Beast Race members in their ranks.
• Took a Level in Badass: You start off as a unlucky prisoner who crossed the border at a bad time, then almost got beheaded. The rest of the game sees you becoming the Dragonborn to save the world.
• Tribal Facepaint: Should you choose.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: First, take a deep breath. Ready? Here we go. Over the course of the game, you may become: The Last Dragonborn, Stormcrown, Dragon of the North, Thane of Whiterun, Thane of Eastmarch, Thane of Hjaalmarch, Thane of The Reach, Thane of Haafingar, Thane of Falkreath, Thane of The Rift, Thane of The Pale, Thane of Winterhold, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Guildmaster of the Thieves' Guild, Nightingale (also of the Thieves' Guild, and Champion of Nocturnal), Harbinger of the Companions, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Lord/Lady of Clan Volkihar or member of the Dawnguard, Stormblade of the Stormcloaks or Legate of the Imperial Legion, Champion of Hermaeus Mora, Champion of Boethiah, Champion of Molag Bal, Champion of Malacath, Member of House Telvanni, Qahnaarin (the Vanquisher), and Chief of the Rieklings of Thirsk Hall.
• True Companions: During their time in Cidhna Mine, they can say that they consider the friends they've made in Skyrim to be the only family they need.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: A Dragonborn with a maxed Smithing skill will put even Eorlund Gray-Mane to shame: that puny-looking iron dagger they just crafted? Go ahead and swing it at that giant over there and watch them fall to the ground after a couple hits. This humble steel shield? It could probably withstand a meteor shower. You want some Daedric armor? Sure, just give them a few ebony ingots and a Daedra heart and they'll craft it for you in a matter of hours. At level 100 Smithing, the Dragonborn basically rediscovers how to craft dragonbone/scale armor all by themselves.
• Uncle Pennybags: No matter how you play, there's a good chance you'll end up with tens of thousands of gold before you know it. Fortunately, there's an almost unlimited amount of moments where you can just throw money at people to help with their problems, especially if you get the Investor perk.
• The Undead: You can become a vampire, if you so choose.
• Underestimating Badassery: Most missions/sidequests/questlines are completely separate and don't overlap. That means that even if you've become Harbinger of the Companions, single-handedly stopped the resurrection of Potema, become the Thane of multiple Holds, and revealed yourself as the Dragonborn and absorbed the souls of dragons, you still need to undergo a petty quest to "prove yourself" worthy enough to join other factions. Somewhat justified in that being an adventurer alone (even the Dragonborn) isn't enough to indicate that you're willing to follow orders or maintain confidentiality; however, this justification does not help the cases where you merely have to prove that you're strong enough to fight. That said, there are a few notable aversions. For example, if you've completed the Wolf Queen questline and started the "Mind of Madness" questline, you may speak with Falk Firebeard and, though he's reluctant to allow anyone passage into the haunted and abandoned wing of the Blue Palace, he will make an exception just for you. It especially gets ridiculous when you're challenged by some random thief or an overconfident enemy like Ancano's aide, whom you encounter after getting the Staff of Magnus, and you clearly demonstrate that they prove to be mere cannon fodder.
• Unkempt Beauty: It's possible to invoke this by creating a female Dragonborn with messy hair. Given that this takes place in Skyrim, it's rather appropriate.
• Unskilled, but Strong: A properly built Dual Wielding, or Fistfighting, build is this. Either playstyle locks out blocking, so defensive options are minimal (and, for Unarmed, on top of being a practicioner of Good Old Fisticuffs with little in the way of proper unarmed technique). That said, dual wielding is fast and powerful, basically sword and board with double damage, and a properly built Unarmed build can punch dragons to death.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: For most people, the sight of a dragon attacking the town would be the stuff of nightmares. For the Dragonborn, it's more of a nuisance than anything else. Back to work.
• Unwitting Pawn: At the end of his Daedric quest and Dragonborn, Hermaeus Mora claims that he's been watching the Dragonborn for some time and subtly grooming them for becoming his champion. Even if you are openly defiant towards him, he tells you that this doesn't change anything and you're already his champion, even if you don't know it yet.
• Villain Protagonist: While there is no Karma Meter it is possible to play this kind of character by joining the Thieves Guild or Dark Brotherhood and choosing to engage in the copious Video Game Cruelty Potential opportunities presented.
• Warrior Poet: Joining the Bards' College can qualify you. Not that it changes anything.
• Warrior Therapist: Can potentially be one toward Serana in Dawnguard, depending on how you interact with her.
• Weather Manipulation: The Dragonborn after obtaining the "Clear Skies" and "Storm Call" Shouts.
  • In Dawnguard, they can actually gain partial control of the sun itself, causing it to either to become their own personal Kill Sat or blocking it out completely to cause a temporary artificial night.
• What the Hell Are You?: Some of the Whiterun Guards have this reaction upon witnessing the Dragonborn absorbing Mirmulnir's soul and demonstrate the Thu'um, before realising that the individual in front of them must be a Dragonborn.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In Hearthfire, your spouse may express their frustration at being left at home with the children in the wilderness fending off wild animal attacks while you're off adventuring.
• Wild Card: You can tip the balance of power in the Skyrim Civil War, whether for the Legion or Stormcloaks.
• Worthy Opponent: Considered this by many powerful adversaries:
  • To Alduin, who eventually concedes that the Dragonborn is the only real threat he's encountered so far.
  • Hermaeus Mora directly invokes this if you remain defiant to him throughout all conversations. "You will be a worthy adversary, or (Miraak's) successor, as the tides of fate decree."
  • Durnehviir goes so far as to honor-name you Qahnaarin, the Vanquisher for besting him in battle.
  • Miraak himself calls you much stronger than he thought possible, and a great many of his lines are compliments to you.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Unarmed kill animations include choke slams, suplexes, chokeholds, and in one case an overhead body slam that drops the enemy on their head as of the 1.5 update.
• You Are the Translated Foreign Word: "In their tongue, he is Dovahkiin - Dragonborn!"
• Youngest Child Wins: The Dragonborn is the last in the long line of mortals to be gifted with the Dragonsblood by Akatosh and the subject of an ancient prophecy to defeat Alduin, the firstborn son of Akatosh.
  • In Dragonborn, the Dragonborn is sent to defeat Miraak, the first Dragonborn. The latter even suspects that Hermaeus Mora pitted them against each other simply because because he found bookending them amusing.
• Your Soul Is Mine!:
  • A rare heroic variation, absorbing the souls of fallen dragons. Can also be done by filling soul gems, which are used to enchant or replenish already enchanted items. The Dawnguard DLC introduces a Dragon Shout that rips souls from enemies, turning them into undead thralls.
  • Amusingly, it is also difficult to say which deity, if any, has claim to the Dragonborn's own soul after their death as most of the Powers That Be end up favoring them in some fashion^note depending on your race and what questlines you tackle, you can have your soul claimed by Malacath (Orc Dragonborn), Hircine (Werewolf), Nocturnal (Nightingale), Sithis (member of the Dark Brotherhood), and Hermaeus Mora (Dragonborn DLC). The chief claim likely belongs to Akatosh since, as a Dovah, the Dragonborn is essentially Akatosh's son/daughter.