The Eternal Champion / Talin
The
Player Character 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.
- Featureless Protagonist: Apart from his name being mentioned in the manual, not much else is set in stone about him.
- Player Character: The guy you play as in Arena, and the first in the Elder Scrolls franchise.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: A reverse of this trope, as this applies to the monsters perspective if the hero is a Dark Elf.
- The Unchosen One: Like the 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.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: 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.
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.
- Big Bad: The main villain of Arena.
- Deal with the Devil: Made a deal with Mehrunes Dagon to destroy the Imperial Battlespire.
- Evil Chancellor: He was the Emperor's second in command before betraying him.
- Evil Mentor: He was Ria Silmane's master before he murdered her when she attempted to warn the Elder Council about him sealing away the Emperor.
- Evil Sorcerer: It's a bit of a given when he's the renegade Imperial Battlemage.
- Game-Over Man: He shows up whenever you die after you've started collecting pieces of the Staff of Chaos, but not after you defeat him (for obvious reasons).
- Greater-Scope Villain: Of Battlespire, as he was the one who got Mehrunes Dagon to try destroying the Battlespire, but he doesn't appear in-game.
- Have a Nice Death:
"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..."
- Heinz Hybrid: 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.
- Large Ham: 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..
- Obviously Evil: 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. - Red Eyes, Take Warning: Due to his Dunmeri heritage. (Of course, it's possible for the player to have glowing red eyes if they play a Dunmer...)
- Small Role, Big Impact: 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.
- Treacherous Advisor: To Uriel Septim VII, as he trapped him in Oblivion.
- The Usurper: Trapped Emperor Uriel in Oblivion for most of the game (there is a mention of enchantments in place that would alert the Elder Council of the Emperor's death, explaining why he didn't just kill Uriel- Oblivion would explain that the Dragonfires would go out the instant the Emperor died and couldn't be re-lit until another was crowned).
- Worthy Opponent: Uses almost these exact words to describe the Player Character.
"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
Player Character'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.
- Demoted to Extra: 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.
- Distressed Dude: He, along with the Emperor himself, is betrayed and imprisoned by Jagar Tharn at the beginning of the game.
- Out of Focus: 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.
- Parental Substitute: Some
Dummied Out 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 Player Character 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
