History Characters / TheElderScrollsDaedra

'''Note:''' ''Elder Scrolls'' lore is [[ContinuitySnarl generally not clear-cut]]. Reasons for this range from [[UnreliableNarrator biased]] in-universe sources intentionally only giving you only one side of a story, to sources [[CriticalResearchFailure lacking critical information]] or working from [[BlatantLies false information]], to the implication that AllMythsAreTrue, despite the contradictions, or that at least all myths are MetaphoricallyTrue. [[WordOfGod Out-of-game developer supplemental texts]] (frequently referred to as "Obscure Texts" by the lore community) are more trustworthy, but are frequently left [[LooseCanon unofficial]] and sometimes later contradicted. Because of this, it is entirely possible for two contradictory statements in the below examples to ''both'' be true. (And due to frequent events in-universe that [[TimeCrash alter the timeline]], both may ''literally'' be true in-universe.)

This is a page for listing tropes related to the various Daedric beings of the ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''.
For other Divine Beings, see [[Characters/TheElderScrollsDivineBeings The Elder Scrolls Series Divine Beings Page]].

[[foldercontrol]]

!! The Daedric Princes

The most powerful and important of the Daedra are the Daedric Princes. There are 17 known Daedric Princes following the events of ''Shivering Isles'' (before which, there were 16). Each has a particular sphere, which they are said to govern from their planes of Oblivion which they inhabit and rule. Though most tend to appear consistently in a particular masculine or feminine form, they can change that form however they please and thus, have no inherent gender. They are always referred to as "Princes" regardless of the form the take. Mortals who gain their favor are often gifted with abilities and artifacts of great power, though may be required to pledge their soul to serve their Daedric patron after death.

----

[[folder:In General]]
!!General Tropes Applicable to the Daedric Princes:

* AboveGoodAndEvil: Though most are considered "evil" by the general populace of Tamriel, scholars argue that their actions are above what mortal minds can understand, with none wholly good or evil. The "Good" ones only seem that way because what they seek to accomplish is generally beneficial or benevolent toward mortals, while the "Evil" ones are more likely to harm mortals with their actions. For instance, Mehrunes Dagon is the Daedric Prince of Destruction, but can be considered no more "evil" than a tidal wave or an earthquake.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In-Universe. Further complicating the BlueAndOrangeMorality issue is that many of the Princes are seen differently through different cultural lenses. For example, Boethiah is considered a "good" Daedra by the Dunmer. Meanwhile, Malacath is considered a "bad" Daedra by the Dunmer, but the Orsimer consider him their patron deity and divine ancestor.
* AngelsDevilsAndSquid:
** As a group, they are (loosely) the "devils" to the Aedric and Magna-ge "angels" and Sithis "squid."
** The Princes themselves range from the angel-like, generally "good" ([[GoodIsNotNice if not always nice]]) ones like Azura and Meridia to the very devil-like ones like Mehrunes Dagon and Molag Bal. And then there's Hermaeus Mora, who doesn't even bother to appear in a [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm form mortals can understand]] and goes with the whole [[EldritchAbomination mishmash of tentacles and eyes]] look.
* AnimalMotif: Zigzagged, some deadric princes have strong associations with particular animals (like Nocturnal with crows, Mephala with spiders, Vaermina with snakes etc.), others... do not.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Of the spheres over which they govern.
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: They are limited in number due to the structure of the Aurbis (loosely, the universe or "totality"). Any other powerful Daedra are considered "lords" but not true Princes. However, there have been instances of "new" Princes coming into being, though each instance to date seems to be a case of LoopholeAbuse, with a sphere being "split" or something similar. Examples including Alduin "cursing" Mehrunes Dagon to his role, Boethiah "eating" and corrupting Trinimac into Malacath, Meridia being cast out from Atherius and shaping her own plane of Oblivion, and Sheogorath passing that mantle onto a mortal to become Jyggalag full-time.
* ArtifactOfDoom: Many of the artifacts associated with the Daedric Princes qualify. Most don't have an 'air' of "doom" on their own, but the means to acquire them often gives them one. For example, a person carrying Mehrunes Razor or the Mace of Molag Bal had to do ''something'' for the Daedric Prince of Destruction or the Daedric Prince of Domination and Corruption to make that person worthy of receiving the artifact.
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil:
** Most are treated as "evil" and nothing has ever been able to truly destroy a Prince. Since they are manifestations of the primal forces of reality, they will always exist for as long as existence itself. Even when they take an avatar form and that avatar is vanquished, they are simply banished back to Oblivion.
** Sotha Sil believed that the Daedra could be "destroyed", but that doing so would require a complete restructuring of the Aubris from the ground up. His theory was that the Daedra were "gaps" in how the Aubris was constructed due to errors made by the Aedra when they built the world, and that by constructing his Clockwork City and using that as a basis to rebuild the Aubris, he could eliminate the "gaps" in the cosmic machinery that allowed the Daedric Princes to exist as self-aware entities.
* BigBad: Most of the Big Bads for the games have come from the ranks of the Daedric Princes. Mehrunes Dagon for ''Battlespire'' and ''Oblivion'' (and being TheManBehindTheMan for ''Arena''); Hircine for ''Bloodmoon''; Meridia as the GreaterScopeVillain for ''Knights of the Nine''; Jyggalag for ''Shivering Isles''; Molag Bal for ''Online'' (and GreaterScopeVillain for ''Dawnguard''); and [[spoiler:Hermaeus Mora as the GreaterScopeVillain for ''Dragonborn'']].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality:
** Mortals tend to see them as mostly evil, but scholars and the Princes themselves insist they are far beyond these limits. Even the "good" Daedra would point out that applying human morality to beings like the Daedra operates on certain flawed assumptions.
** Point in case is the Dunmer, who worship Boethiah and Mephala, two Daedric Princes who are considered evil by most of the rest of Tamriel, because of their tendencies toward scheming, treachery, and brutal violence. The Dunmer, however, view the treacherous and violent natures of these Princes as blessings and tests that keep them strong. Malacath is viewed as a brutal and ruthless god, but the Orsimer hold that his brutality is necessary and that he blesses the outcast and downtrodden with strength and endurance. Even Mehrunes Dagon can be viewed in a somewhat positive light, as part of his sphere is change and revolution, something necessary for progress and growth. The only Prince [[HateSink universally regarded as pure evil devoid of any redeeming qualities]] is Molag Bal.
** Keep in mind, however, that while they are not necessarily "evil", Daedric Princes are still incredibly ''dangerous'', even the seemingly benevolent ones. Most of them won't hesitate to take steps to advance their power and strengthen their spheres, and with few exceptions they rarely care about individual mortals beyond their immediate utility or threat to a Prince's plans.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Combined with EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, the personalities of many of the Princes are ''very'' different in ''Daggerfall'' than they would go on to be depicted in later games.
* CompleteImmortality: Princes can be battered, beaten, defeated and even fundamentally changed, but nothing in the setting has ever been able to actually ''kill'' one. This includes Princes that ascended to their position, like Mehrunes Dagon, Malacath, and [[spoiler:the new Sheogorath]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Usually their presence revolves around a quest, where you get one of their artifacts. But there are games and DLC's where they get more of a presence. This also often culminates in a visit to their realm. To note:
** Azura has ''Morrowind'', while Hircine gets the ''Bloodmoon'' DLC for himself.
** Mehrunes Dagon has ''Oblivion'' and ''Battlespire'', and Sheogorath has the ''Shivering Isles'' DLC.
** In ''Skyrim'', the entire Thieves' Guild questline is one for Nocturnal, and the ''Dragonborn'' DLC is one for Hermaeus Mora.
** ''Online'' is this for Molag Bal and Meridia. As for the expansions, ''Morrowind'' serves as one for Clavicus Vile and Barbas, ''Clockwork City'' for Nocturnal, and ''Summerset Isles'' for Mephala [[spoiler:and Nocturnal again]]. Vaermina and Sheogorath also serve as major antagonists in the Stormhaven and Mage's Guild questlines, respectively.
* DealWithTheDevil: While Clavicus Vile specializes in these, any deal made with a Daedric Prince can be considered a Downplayed version of this. While you may be rewarded quite well for serving the Prince, you will often be required to perform some rather morally questionable (or worse) tasks to obtain the Prince's favor, up to and including outright murder and betrayal. In some cases, a pledge to serve the Prince in life and in death is required, though depending on the Prince and the individual, this may be an upside. Nocturnal appears to be the only exception to this, as she generally lays out the expectations -- and consequences -- of her deals upfront.
* DemonLordsAndArchdevils: Subverted. Many of them reign over concepts traditionally regarded as evil (destruction, rape, betrayal, etc.), but since they are AboveGoodAndEvil, there is virtually no distinction in thinking of them as either gods or demons.
* DemotedToExtra: Related to ADayInTheLimelight above, if a Deadric Prince gets more spotlight in a game or a DLC, in the next game they only show up in their respective quests.
* DevilButNoGod: How some in Tamriel view the situation. Most of the Princes are near-universally reviled as "evil", and their worshipers are considered misguided at best and dangerous lunatics at worst. They are, however, very much present in the world. They speak directly to their worshipers, sometimes even appearing in a physical form, and are perfectly willing to offer immediate, tangible rewards for those that choose to do their work. This is in contrast to the Aedra, who prefer [[InMysteriousWays a much lighter touch]] in dealing with mortal affairs.
* DimensionLord: Each rules over one or more planes of Oblivion, inside of which they possess almost absolute power. In some interpretations, a Prince's Realm is considered an extension of that Prince themselves, as their "body". Furthering the "body" analogy is that while a Prince has absolute power in their realm, it doesn't translate into ''omniscience'' within that Realm. The player's invasion of Coldharbour in ''Online'' is compared to a virus covertly infecting a body, for example.
* DivineDate: Some Daedric Princes (and even lesser Daedra) have copulated with mortals to bear children. These most commonly take the form of Demiprinces. Other examples include Fa-Nuit-Hen, the offspring of Boethiah and a mortal, and Malacath has "blessed" Orc women with children in some of his myths.
** Of particular note is Molag Bal, who in-universe texts describe as once having [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext had sweaty gay sex with Vivec, going so far as to describe "the biting of spears" and "the penetration of the second orifice" being involved]].
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Generally speaking, any mortals who try to screw with any of the Daedric Princes without the backing of the Aedra or any of the other Daedric Princes themselves tend to end up regretting it. And even those who are protected can still find themselves (or their descendants) on the receiving end of the offended Prince's ire in some form or another. A Prince is immortal, after all, and they have ''long'' memories.
* EldritchAbomination: The Daedric Princes are alien beyond human understanding, though they can take any form they like, and so will often take a humanoid form to deal with mortals. They operate on BlueAndOrangeMorality above mortal understanding. How they feel about the mortal races varies from Prince to Prince; many enjoy being worshiped, some just enjoy toying with mortals' lives for their own amusement, but all of them have demonstrated a willingness to reward mortals they find particularly helpful, loyal, or amusing.
* EldritchLocation: Their planes of Oblivion. These are spaces within the infinite Oblivion surrounding the mortal realm where the Princes have total reign, and are essentially the "bodies" of these Daedric Princes. They can vary from beautiful places, like Azura's Moonshadow, which is so beautiful that it is said to "half blind" mortals who lay eyes up on it, to Fire and Brimstone Hell places like Mehrunes Dagon's Deadlands. And then there are the places that Cthulhu himself would find cozy, like Hermaeus Mora's Apocrypha.
* EnemyMine: While most of the Princes famously do not get along with one another, they all came together at some point in the early world to curse Jyggalag into becoming Sheogorath when they feared his growing power.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: While there are a few exceptions where a particular Daedric Prince seems to favor a specific race (Malacath toward the Orcs or Azura toward the Dunmer, for example) they all accept worship from any mortal race or gender willing to give it to them.
* EvilCounterpart: Though they're usually seen as this to the Divines, most of them benefit from having Mundus and mortals exist. In fact, there was no distinction between the Divines and Princes before Mundus.
* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: Completely averted. Most of the Princes mortals would call "evil" can't stand each other. Molag Bal and Boethiah have a particularly heated rivalry, and the former doesn't get along with Mehrunes Dagon, either. According to Sheogorath, they do sometimes throw parties (at which [[ButtMonkey Malacath]] and [[TheDreaded Jyggalag]] are not popular), though this ''is'' the Prince of Madness saying this.
* FateWorseThanDeath: The fate of those mortals whose souls end up in the crueler Princes' realms. Mortal souls pledged to one of the Daedric Princes are believed to be claimed by that Prince upon the mortal's death. While many of these souls are voluntary servants, there are instances of souls being taken by the Princes against their will. For example, anyone killed by Mehrunes' Razor may have their soul sent to Dagon's [[FireAndBrimstoneHell Deadlands realm]]. Likewise, the souls of lycanthropes are believed to be claimed by Hircine, even if the mortal in question did not choose to become one of these creatures.
* FisherKing: The Daedric Planes are tied to (and may even ''be'') the Daedric Princes themselves. Anything that causes the Princes to change also affects their realm. For example, there are instances in which a Prince is cut from some of their power. In these instances, the Prince's plane will literally shrink. Dramatic changes in the personality of the Prince will also change the realms, such as during the Greymarch when Sheogorath temporarily reverts to become Jyggalag. Furthermore, separating part of a Prince's realm, as what happened with Clavicus Vile and Umbriel, will weaken that Prince, and the separated part will have an entity akin to the Prince it was separated from.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The vast majority of the Princes will take more humanoid forms when dealing with mortals, with Hermaeus Mora as the main exception. In all cases, it is speculated that mortals [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm Cannot Grasp Their True Forms]], similar to the AlienSky example of Lorkhan and the Aedra.
* GeniusLoci: One interpretation of the Princes is that their home realm or realms ''are'' the Princes, with the forms they take when dealing with mortals being the personification of that realm of Oblivion. This is backed up by the events of ''Online's'' main quest, where the Vestige and their allies can invade Coldharbour, while [[spoiler:Meridia]] works to keep Molag Bal from becoming aware of this in the same way a disease infiltrates and incubates inside of a living body.
* GodOfChaos: Generally perceived as forces of chaos to the order-based Aedra, though [[ControlFreak Jyggalag]] is a big exception. [[DestroyerDeity Mehrunes Dagon]], [[MadGod Sheogorath]], and Boethiah are especially considered gods of chaos.
* GodWasMyCopilot: They are known to take seemingly inconspicuous mortal forms from time to time, to personally guide mortals to ends they desire. Specific examples can be found under the relevant Prince's entry below.
* HijackingCthulhu: Like the Aedra, it is possible for this to happen to the Daedric Princes. Unlike the Aedra, who sacrificed much of their divine power during creation, it usually takes another divine entity (like another Daedric Prince) to cause this. Specific examples are found in their entries below.
* HumanSacrifice: Several Daedric Princes enjoy the sacrificing of mortals to them. The Reachmen, for example, have been known to sacrifice children to Namira, and Molag Bal regularly accepts sacrifices of mortals in his name, enslaving their souls to work for him in Coldharbour.
* IconicSequelCharacter: It's pretty easy to forget that, despite being an iconic part of the series, they were first introduced in ''Daggerfall'', the ''second'' game in the franchise. (And even then, there was plenty of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness with many of their appearances and personalities.)
* IKnowYourTrueName: All Daedra have both a neonymic and a protonymic. The neonymic is their name that they can change. It holds a certain amount of power, but is hard to use against them because they can change it at any time. However, the protonymic is their true name that they cannot change. It is heavily implied that through use of the protonymic, mortals can do horrible things to even the most powerful of Daedric Princes. The player character in ''Battlespire'' managed to banish Mehrunes Dagon by using them both.
* IncrediblyInconvenientDeity: Given their frequent meddling in the mortal world and the generally unsavory effects it has, they can very easily come off this way. The quests they give to their mortal follows are frequently either incredibly arduous or incredibly silly, with the Princes giving flimsy or no justification as to why they want the task accomplished. The tangible rewards they offer of legendary artifacts and greater power can still make these tasks worthwhile, however.
* JerkassGods: A large part of the reason that the majority of Princes are considered "evil" throughout Tamriel. Most have no compunction against toying with mortals, right up to ruining their lives, outright killing them, and/or damning their souls to an eternity of service. Even the more benevolent Princes have a major case of GoodIsNotNice, not caring if a few mortals die to accomplish greater things.
* KickTheDog: Due to their BlueAndOrangeMorality, they can do either this or PetTheDog, and probably don't see much difference between the two. Specific examples can be found in under the entry for the relevant Prince below.
* LegendaryWeapon: Most Princes are associated with artifacts (often weapons) of great power, which they will give out as rewards to mortal agents. Many of these artifacts are also [[EmpathicWeapon empathic]], continuing to serve the will of the associated Prince, and will abandon the mortal agent if he becomes too reliant or no longer uses the artifact in a way deemed fit by the Prince.
* MirroringFactions:
** In most tellings of the story of the creation of Mundus, there was originally no difference between the et'Ada who would go on to become the Aedra and those who would become the Daedra. Other versions of the story instead state that the the et'Ada who would become the Aedra rose from the intermingled blood of Anu and Padomay while the et'Ada who would become the Daedra specifically came from the blood of Padomay (the beings who came exclusively from the blood of Anu were called the Magna-ge, but they up and left the world of Mundus soon after it was created). There is still generally no difference made between them in terms of power or ability until after the creation of Mundus.
** Further muddying the whole thing is that at least two of the Princes are beings more in line with Anuic et'Ada (Jyggalag and Peryite), and others were Aedric et'Ada turned into Daedric Princes by other forces: Meridia is a banished Magna-Ge who became a Daedric Prince through reshaping light from Magnus (the Sun) to make her own realm; Mehrunes Dagon was a benevolent spirit cursed by Alduin because he meddled in the kalpic cycles; and Malacath is what resulted when the elven ancestor spirit Trinimac was eaten and excreted back out by Boethiah.
* MissionFromGod: Given the restrictions on the Princes which limit them from directly influencing mortal affairs on Mundus, they often hand out tasks to mortal agents. Even the most malevolent of the Princes still typically reward these agents with artifacts and abilities of great power.
%%
%%
%% Not So Different is no longer a trope and has been converted into a disambig as per TRS.
%% As such, it can no longer be added as a trope.
%% TRS thread link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1613628307033854800&page=1
%%
%%
* OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous: Being pure spirits, this applies to all of them, and several of them are known to appear as differing genders at certain times. Others will only present themselves as a single gender (Azura and Nocturnal as female, Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, and Sheogorath as male), and Hermaeus Mora forgoes even trying to resemble anything with a gender (although generally speaks with a male voice).
* OrderVsChaos: The Daedra generally represent the "Chaos" to the Aedra's "Order". They are Padomaic-aligned as opposed to Anuic-aligned. That said, there are "orderly" Princes who lean toward the Anuic side of things, such as Jyggalag and Peryite, though distinguished by the fact that their versions of order are ''too'' static and ordered for the world that the Aedra created.
* OurGodsAreDifferent: Pre-creation spirits who refused to take part in the creation of Mundus and are manifestations of the primal forces of reality. They are truly immortal, and if their avatar is slain, their spirit simply returns to their plane of Oblivion to reform.
* PutOnABus: More than half their number do not appear in ''Morrowind'': Clavicus Vile, Hermaeus Mora, Jyggalag, Meridia, Namira, Nocturnal, Peryite, Sanguine and Vaermina are all personally absent and do not give the hero a quest, although they are all mentioned (even if only through mentions in books) and several of their artifacts appear. This is because they are not a part of the official Dunmer religion, which consists of the "Anticipations"; Azura, Boethiah and Mephala, and the "House of Troubles"; Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal and Sheogorath. Hircine is absent in the base game but appears as the BigBad of the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion.
* PhysicalGod: Whenever a Prince physically manifests as an avatar, they are effectively one of these. They can do this quite readily within their own Realms, but have a vastly harder time doing so on other Princes' Realms (as the Prince whose Realm has been invaded will be rather cross with the intrusion) and it's nearly impossible to do so on Nirn itself due to the presence of the Divines, though if they do manage it, they are virtually invincible beings who require the direct intervention of the Divines to stop. The few cases where a mortal directly contests a Daedric Prince's avatar in open battle requires that they first obtain the power of either a Divine or another Prince to stand toe-to-toe with them, otherwise they'll be crushed out of hand... unless it's Hircine, who [[WorthyOpponent just wants a fair fight]].
* ThePowerOfCreation:
** They are said to lack this power within Mundus due to refusing to take part in the creation of Mundus and, as a result, can only alter what already exists. The truth is ambiguous at best, with cited examples of Daedric beings involved in creation of all sorts throughout history.
** The definitely have it within their own planes of Oblivion, where they can and do create, change, and alter at will, one exception being Sanguine's Myriad Realms of Revelry, which change to accommodate his visiting worshipers.
* ReligionOfEvil: Daedric worship is often hit with this in-universe, though given that most of the Daedric Princes are JerkassGods, this is understandable. Boethiah, Mehrunes Dagon, and Molag Bal, being the most malevolent of the Princes, invoke this more than most, as their worship frequently involves HumanSacrifice. Taken to a new extreme following the events of the Oblivion Crisis, where worship of certain Princes such as Mehrunes Dagon and Molag Bal was outright banned, and groups like the Vigilants of Stendarr were formed to wipe out Daedric worshipers before they could cause another Oblivion Crisis like the Mythic Dawn. Crosses over with ScaryAmoralReligion for some of the less outright malevolent Princes.
* SheIsTheKing: Even the female-identifying Daedra are still referred to as "Princes", though historically [[ShownTheirWork the term "prince" could be applied to rulers, regardless of sex]][[labelnote:Context]]It comes from ''princeps'', a Latin word meaning "first", which fits since the Daedric Princes are the most powerful of the Daedra[[/labelnote]].
* TimeAbyss: Like the Aedra, they were pre-creation spirits who have existed since before time itself.
* TimeDissonance: They have odd perceptions of time, with it being said that they sometimes have difficulty telling "when from when". Likewise, time seems to flow strangely in their realms of Oblivion. Mortals trapped within don't seem to age a day despite years or even centuries passing on Mundus.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: They are not bound to any one physical form and can manifest in whatever form they wish.
* WeakerInTheRealWorld: Because the Daedric Princes did not participate in the creation of Mundus, they have been left with their full divine powers intact, but are subject to metaphysical barriers which prevent them from manifesting at full power in the mortal world outside of some very specific circumstances. As such, the Princes prefer to work through mortal agents to accomplish their goals within Mundus.
* WorfHadTheFlu: In the rare cases where a mortal directly contends with a Daedric Prince, said Prince is either weakened (such as manifesting on Mundus where metaphysical laws typically weaken their power), is WillfullyWeak, or said mortal has been empowered by one of the Divines or another Prince.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Azura]]
!!Azura (aka Azurah)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/azura_morrowind.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Avatar of Azura]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Shari Elliker (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Linda Canyon (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Creator/LyndaCarter (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'', ''The Elder Scrolls Online'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Natalia Litvinova (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Nina Gogaeva (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Ekaterina Afrikantova (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

->''"Azura, whose sphere is dusk and dawn, the magic in-between realms of twilight, known as Moonshadow, Mother of the Rose, and Queen of the Night Sky."''
-->-- '''''The Book of Daedra'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Dawn and Dusk, Twilight, Prophecy, Vanity, Egotism\\
'''''Realm''''': Moonshadow\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Azura's Star, Moon and Star Ring of Nerevar\\
'''''Servants''''': Winged Twilights

Azura is the Daedric Prince of Dawn and Dusk, and is heavily associated with prophecy. Her most common symbols are a moon and star, and her typical form is as a matronly woman. She is one of the more benevolent Daedric Princes as well as one of the few to be almost universally considered "good" by mortals, and has typically shown greater concern for the well-being of her mortal followers than do most Princes. Azura has a particular association with the Dunmer people dating back to the earliest eras of Tamriellic history, and she is considered one of the three "Good Daedra" in their religion.

That said, Azura has no compunction against expressing her displeasure in very nasty ways, having a cruel and often petty streak toward those who defy her in any way. While she is the "Lady of Prophecy", the fact that she actively works to ensure that her prophecies come to fruition is something she'd rather you ignore. Although she is never overtly deceitful, the way Azura always gets what she desires in the end, and how titanic events always follow her interventions, can be portrayed as disturbing. There are also some hints that she may be a sort of 'cosmic force' primarily concerned with maintaining a sort of metaphysical balance in the universe, and her perceived "benevolence" is merely the result of her actions benefiting mortals more often than not.

As Azurah, she is also fairly prominent within Khajiit tradition, being believed to be the being that gave them the ability to be born with different forms based on the phases of Masser and Secunda.

Azura's realm is Moonshadow, said to be so beautiful that it "half-blinds" mortals who lay eyes upon it. It features all manner of beautiful flowers, trees, and waterfalls. There is a rain that "blurs the colors" and a "Rose Palace" in a "city of silver" at its center, where Azura herself resides.

In ''Daggerfall'', she asks you to kill a priest who has blasphemed against her. In ''Morrowind'', she acts as a guide to the PlayerCharacter through the main quest. She also has a side quest where she asks you to slay the Daedra sent by Sheogorath to disturb her priestess. In ''Oblivion'', she asks you to mercy kill five of her followers who were infected with Porphyric Hemophilia (vampirism). In ''Skyrim'', she asks you to find and purge one of her artifacts, Azura's Star. She is involved with several quests in ''Online'', mostly revolving around the Dunmer and the Tribunal.
----
* AbsoluteCleavage: Crossing over with BarbieDollAnatomy and NippleAndDimed, depending on the game. Her appearance in ''Daggerfall'' is actually topless. In ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'', her statues are topless but lacking in details. Her avatar which appears in ''Morrowind'' and ''Tribunal'' is much more modestly dressed (see the entry image). Her statues in ''Skyrim'' and ''Online'' are this trope specifically.
* BenevolentBoss: If you worship her and stay loyal, she'll watch out for you. A book in ''Skyrim'' written by one of her followers notes that Azura wants the love of her followers. Regardless of the interpretation of her actions, she is this toward the Nerevarine in ''Morrowind'', being nothing but pleasant towards and protective of the Nerevarine, just as she was to the original Nerevar who served as her champion.
* BerserkButton: Mortals criticizing her or refusing her requests. A good example comes from ''Daggerfall'', if you summon her but do not accept her (rather petty) request:
--> ''"No! You're supposed to say yes! You're supposed to say: Yes, beautiful Azura, I would gladly murder at the snap of your ivory fingers. Boor! Bigot! Barbarian! Now, I must go before I forget that I am a lady and say something that I'll regret."''
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She makes a point of looking after her followers and isn't interested in messing with mortal affairs unless they directly concern her. This may seem like common courtesy, but by Daedric standards, she's practically a saint. However, she's still a Daedric Prince, and she does not respond well to being crossed. [[DisproportionateRetribution Just ask the Chimer]].
* BigGood: Azura seems to be a unique hybrid of Big Good and GreaterScopeVillain for ''Morrowind'', [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation with exactly where she falls depending on one's interpretation of her role]] in the events of ''Morrowind'' and its aftermath.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Along with EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. Her first appearance in ''Daggerfall'' is also her most malevolent and petty. She demands that you kill a priest who has spoken ill of her, and gets extremely upset if you refuse her request. She is also mentioned to be an ally of Molag Bal, something which has never been brought up in any work since then.
* TheChessmaster: She is the "Lady of Prophecy", and she actively works (mostly) behind the scenes to ensure that those prophecies come to pass, at least "in spirit" if not exactly as they are foretold.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: She prophesied the reincarnation of Nerevar, her slain champion, as "the Nerevarine", and serves as a guide to the Nerevarine. (It is implied that it may be a MultipleChoiceChosen situation, where she set forth criteria in her prophecy, and any individual who met those criteria could ''become'' the Nerevarine.) Fitting given her "chessmaster" reputation.
* CrystalDragonJesus: Downplayed, but her appearances in ''Morrowind'' seem rather like purported appearances of the Virgin Mary, complete with her always wearing a [[TrueBlueFemininity blue dress.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: While none of the Daedric Princes are truly evil, Azura is one of the more benevolent Princes, despite her association with twilight and the night.
* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: In her ''Skyrim'' quest, if you choose to purify Azura's Star on your own, it becomes a re-usable ''black'' soul gem called the Black Star.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Toward the Chimer/Dunmer, as a result of the actions of the Tribunal (and really, even the very ''existence'' of the Tribunal to begin with). While everyone involved has their [[TheRashomon own version]] of exactly what happened [[WhenItAllBegan at Red Mountain all those years ago]], we do know that Nerevar, faithful champion of Azura, ended up dead and the Tribunal (and Dagoth Ur) ascended to godhood. Neither of which Azura was happy about. She then (possibly) cursed them with the dark skin and red eyes of the modern Dunmer. Years later, she (definitely) played a prominent role in guiding the Nerevarine to unbind the Heart of Lorkhan, and with it, the Tribunal's divinity. They all end up dead or disappeared, plunging Morrowind into chaos and indirectly leading toward its destruction with the subsequent Oblivion Crisis, Red Mountain eruption, and Argonian invasion.
* EldritchAbomination: Behind her veil of benevolence and pleasing female form, there are hints that Azura may be something much more eldritch. She may be a sort of 'cosmic force' of [[TrueNeutral True Neutrality]], primarily concerned with maintaining a sort of metaphysical balance in the universe.
* EldritchLocation: Her realm of Moonshadow, said to be so extremely beautiful that the viewer is half-blinded by it, where Azura resides in a Rose Palace in a city made of silver.
* EnemyMine: As much as she hates the Tribunal, she is willing to work with them or help them to protect Morrowind. In ''The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind'', she helps save Vivec's life to prevent the fall of Baar Dau.
* EvilPaysBetter: The ([[BlueAndOrangeMorality mostly]]) good ending of her ''Skyrim'' questline is to purify Azura's Star, receiving it as a reusable Grand Soul Gem and gaining Aranea Ienith as a potential follower. On the other hand, you can complete the corruption and transform it into the Black Star which can hold all types of soul including human -- keep in mind Black Soul Gems are rather rare and humanoid souls are the best for enchanting.[[note]]Though this is apparently a glitch. Originally the Black Star was supposed to hold ''only'' black souls and not white souls, making it less useful but still more so than the standard Star.[[/note]] And even just the ability to hold black souls makes it heads and shoulders better than the other version, as grand animal and monster souls can be rare, but black (aka human) souls are extremely common regardless of level.
* {{Expy}}: Azura shares much of her temperament and nature, if not her domain, with [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Athena.]] Like Athena, she is seen as one of the "good" deities of her setting, but shows a very cruel and petty side when slighted. The in-universe text, 'Azura and the Box' shares much with some versions of tale of Arachne, with a mortal outdoing a god, and bringing down a curse upon themselves due to the gods in question being sore losers.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Some sources state that she is a "sister" of Nocturnal, although it is unclear whether it is in a literal or metaphorical sense, as other sources also mention both having a rivalry to each other.
* GoodIsNotNice: Generally considered of the "good" Daedra, and usually one of the more benevolent Princes toward mortals. However, she has no compunction against expressing her displeasure in very nasty ways. Additionally, there is some evidence that she may be more of a TrueNeutral, concerned with maintaining a sort of metaphysical balance, and doing so just so happens to benefit the mortal races more often than not.
* GreaterScopeVillain: One interpretation of her behavior in ''Morrowind''. While Azura takes on a highly benevolent image in helping to free the Dunmer (and Tamriel in general) from the threat of Dagoth Ur, the primary reason why the Nerevarine is actually sent to Vvardenfell is to undermine and destroy the [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Tribunal]] (who defied her, stole her worshipers, and [[TheRashomon may have]] killed her previous champion, Nerevar). Actually defeating Dagoth Ur is just good PR "icing on the cake" while she actually gets what she wants when the 4000-year reign of the Dunmeri {{Physical God}}s is brought to an end. In addition, Azura herself played a highly active role in bringing about the destruction of Morrowind in the years that followed, as she only warned a handful of her followers to leave (allowing for the rest to die horribly as punishment for turning on her). She is also the only party during and after the events of ''Morrowind'' to end up with ''[[TheBadGuyWins everything she wanted]]'' (Dead or otherwise indisposed Tribunal, her former worshipers are firmly hers again, those who didn't worship her are enslaved and destroyed, amazing PR...)
* RedBaron:
** Lady of Prophecy, Mother of the Rose, Queen of the Night Sky.
** As Azurah she's known as the Mother of All Khajiit, She Who Sits at the Precipice, and the Favored Daughter of Fadomai.
* SlaveToPR: Ultimately, the reason the goddess of [[ItsAllAboutMe vanity and egotism]] is considered one of the "good" Daedra is because, uniquely among all the Daedric Princes, ''she wants people to like her''.
* ThresholdGuardian: To the Khajiit, Azura is "keeper of all gates and keys, all rims and thresholds", is known as She Who Sits at the Precipice, and is believed to watch over the Gates of the Crossing behind the Lunar Lattice, a twilight realm between death and the afterlife, where in at least one case a Khajiit had to walk across a bed of rose thorns to reach her.
* UnwittingPawn: Given her reputation as a "chess master" of sorts, just about any mortal in her service falls into this. While Azura may give that mortal a straightforward task and that mortal may accomplish it, it is almost certainly one move that is part of a bigger game. Her use of the Nerevarine to rid the Tribunal of their divinity by assisting them in defeatin Dagoth Ur is an prominent example.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity:
** Despite playing an active role in the events that would eventually lead to the destruction of the Dunmer homeland, the Dunmer religion still highly reveres Azura. In fact, the destruction of the Dunmer homeland has made Azura ''more'' revered in the Dunmeri religion and was what ultimately ended worship of the Tribunal, her most hated enemies.
** While listed as one of the "good" Daedra (both in Morrowind lore and by series fans), Azura is also closely tied to and allied with Molag Bal, [[NamesToRunAwayFrom the King of Rape]]. If the name didn't make it obvious, just about everyone both in and out-of-universe considers him to be a "bad" Daedra. This is possibly a case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, as Azura's alliance with Molag Bal is only mentioned in ''Daggerfall''.[[note]]In ''Morrowind'', there is Molag Grunda, daughter of Molag Bal, who looks like a Winged Twilight, a type of Daedra serving Azura]], suggesting there may indeed be still a connection between Azura and Molag Bal. ''Online'', however, introduces a group of Winged Twilight that serve Molag Bal; one quest in particular introduces one that ''betrayed'' Azura to do so, and Azura is none-too-pleased about it.[[/note]] As mentioned above, Azura, like many other Daedric Princes, was a subject to CharacterizationMarchesOn since then.
* XanatosGambit: As the "Lady of Prophecy", she actively works (mostly) behind the scenes to ensure that her prophecies come to pass. Even if things don't go exactly according to her plans, they still tend to work out in ways that ultimately benefit her.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her sprite in ''Daggerfall'' depicts her with ''azure'' hair, pretty much the only time where she has it. Also a rare example of this trope in the Elder Scrolls series.
* YourSoulIsMine: Her most famous artifact is Azura's Star, a reusable Grand Soul Gem. She is not otherwise associated with the taking of souls, however, making it somewhat unusual. Also unusual is the Star is specifically intended to ''not'' be capable of trapping a human's soul.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Boethiah]]
!!Boethiah (aka Boethia)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boethiah.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Shadow of Boethiah]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Wes Johnson (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Jean Gilpin (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'', ''The Elder Scrolls Online'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Alexey Borzunov (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Olga Pletneva (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

->''"So one day Boethiah, Prince of Plots, precocious youth, tricked Trinimac to go into his mouth. Boethiah talked like Trinimac for awhile then, and gathered enough people to listen to him. Boethiah showed them the lies of the et'Ada, the Aedra, and told them Trinimac was the biggest liar of all, saying all this with Trinimac's voice..."''
-->-- '''''The Changed Ones'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Plots, Deceit, Conspiracy, Murder, Assassination, Treason, Unlawful Overthrow of Authority, Betrayal\\
'''''Realm''''': Attribution's Share and/or Snake Mount\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Goldbrand, Eltonbrand, Ebony Mail, Fearstruck\\
'''''Servants''''': Hunger

Boethiah is the Daedric Prince of Plots, whose sphere includes seemingly all manner of high crimes. Snakes are a common symbol of Boethiah, who has an intense love for competition and battle. Boethiah also has the greatest tendency out of the Daedric Princes to change gender with each manifestation, appearing variously as male or female. In either case, Boethiah takes a form a caped warrior wearing all black. Given all that is contained within Boethiah's sphere, Boethiah is naturally considered a "bad" Daedra near universally throughout Tamriel, with the Dunmer being one major exception. To the Dunmer, Boethiah is instead one of the three "good" Daedra.

Boethiah's sphere has some overlap with Mephalas's, and with Mephala's sphere being "obscured to mortals", it is nigh impossible to tell where the two are separated.

Boethiah's realm is variously referred to as Attribution's Share or Snake Mount, and is said to be a place generally avoided by mortals. It has been described as a country of labyrinthine policy and betrayals, with maze gardens and twisted towers.

In ''Daggerfall'', Boethiah asks you to kill a spellsword. In ''Morrowind'', he asks you to rebuild his destroyed statue. In ''Oblivion'', he asks you to participate in her "Tournament of Ten Bloods". In ''Skyrim'', she asks you to kill all of their followers, and later kill her previous champion. In ''Online,'' she is the patron deity of the Maulborn Cult, as well as the patron of the Dragonstar Arena.
----
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In-Universe. Boethiah is near-universally considered one of the most outright "evil" Daedric Princes throughout most of Tamriel, with the major exception being the Dunmer. The Dunmer instead see Boethiah as a brutal but positive force, driving them to be tougher and stronger, and to be guarded against treachery and betrayal. In effect, Boethiah's harsh trials and ruthless betrayals push the the Dunmer to [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre become greater than they think they are.]]
* AmbiguousGender: While technically true of all of the Daedric Princes, Boethiah has the most GenderBender tendencies. Boethiah appears as male in ''Daggerfall'', ''Morrowind'', and ''Oblivion'', while appearing female in ''Skyrim'' and ''Online''. The worshipers and cultists refer to Boethiah as both "he" and "she", [[PronounTrouble sometimes in the same sentence]].
* AnAxeToGrind: Boethiah's male statue depictions have him wielding a massive battle axe.
* ArchEnemy: To Molag Bal.
* BadBoss: Crossing over with YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness. Boethiah demands that his followers independently follow their own desires... just as long as those desires are completely in line with his own. The minute a follower fails that balancing act, things turn ''ugly'', with betrayal and murder as legitimate options. Being considered a "champion" of Boethiah practically paints a target on your back, one that Boethiah himself is often all too happy to hit the moment he considers you unworthy or simply ''gets bored''.
* BlackKnight:
** Boethiah's usual appearance, whether male or female, is of a caped warrior wearing all black. It is theorized that this may be the corrupted appearance of Trinimac (now Malacath) who Boethiah swallowed and temporarily assumed his form.
** The Ebony Mail is an artifact associated with Boethiah and is a suit of black armor, turning its wearer into one of these (at least aesthetically).
* BloodKnight: Boethiah has an intense love for competition and battle, and is known to hold tournaments among mortals to determine the strongest. Boethiah's quest in ''Oblivion'' is the "Tournament of Ten Bloods" on his plane of Oblivion. What's the tournament's purpose? None. [[ItAmusedMe He's just bored]].
* CardCarryingVillain: Boethiah is very open about the fact that he represents a number of typically ''evil'' attributes and actions including assassination, betrayal, deceit, and specifically the ''unlawful'' overthrow of authority.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: One could say that Boethiah is the ''embodiment'' of this trope. He exists to cause and exacerbate this condition in mortals.
* CoolSword: Boethiah's female statue depictions have her wielding a blade. Boethiah is also associated with Goldbrand, typically one of the best swords available in the games where it appears.
* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: Almost always the case to gain Boethiah's support and favor. Given that murder, deceit, and betrayal are all within Boethiah's sphere, this shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
* DemonicPossession: Boethiah has shown to be capable of taking over dead mortal bodies. However, Boethiah finds mortal flesh "distasteful".
* ForTheEvulz: Encourages and delights in getting mortals to deceive, betray, back stab, and outright murder each other. If doing so can be made to include treason, conspiracy, or the ''unlawful'' overthrow of authority as well, all the better.
* GodEating: "Devoured" Trinimac in order to speak with his voice to convince his followers to leave the Summerset Isles for Morrowind (becoming the Chimer and later the Dunmer in the process). Later excreted Trinimac, with the remains becoming Malacath and Trinimac's remaining followers becoming the Orcs.
* GodNeedsPrayerBadly: In ''Morrowind'', Boethiah's shrine has been destroyed and dunk beneath the sea. His quest to you is to build him a new shrine so that he can once again receive worship.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Of the Deshaan arc in ''Online'', being the one responsible for [[ArcVillain Magistrix Vox's]] fall into evil and insanity, and her patron Prince.
* HijackingCthulhu: According to legend, Boethiah "ate" the Aedric/Aldmeri spirit Trinimac and spoke with Trinimac's voice in order to convince the Chimer to migrate to Morrowind. Trinimac was "tortured" in Boethiah's stomach and later excreted, with these excreted remains becoming Malacath and Trinimac's remaining followers becoming the Orcs. Malacath himself implies this is true, if [[MetaphoricallyTrue not entirely literal]].
* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: Summoning Boethiah in ''Skyrim'' requires you to prove that you're treacherous enough to work for her. To do that, you need to find someone who trusts you enough to follow you, take them to Boethiah's altar, and [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice]] that person.
* InTheHood: Boethiah's female form statues in ''Skyrim'' and ''Online'' depict her wearing a hood and wielding a blade.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Goldbrand, and it's [[InfinityPlusOneSword upgraded version Eltonbrand]], are artifacts associated with Boethiah. Both take the form of katanas.
* ManipulativeBastard: Deceit, betrayal, conspiracy, assassination, treason, ''unlawful'' overthrow of authority... all are within Boethiah's sphere. Historically, he pulled this when he "ate" Trinimac, used Trinimac's voice to deceive the group that would become the Chimer into following him, and then (along with Azura and Mephala) leading the Chimer Morrowind where they would make the worship of these three "good" Daedra their primary religion.
* MindScrew: In the ''36 Lessons of Vivec'', Vivec frequently refers to Boethiah as the "House of False Thinking". By contemplating what must be "untrue", one can see into the true nature of reality.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The two colors most prominently associated with Boethiah are red and black, and he is typically considered one of the more outright malevolent Daedric Princes.
* RedBaron: Prince of Plots, Deceiver of Nations, Queen of Shadows, Goddess of Destruction.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Snakes are a common symbol of Boethiah, who is typically considered one of the more outright malevolent Daedric Princes.
* TheUnfettered: Boethiah encourages every single one of her followers to be one, in a dark and twisted version of DareToBeBadass. Pretty much her whole shtick is "follow no code, form no attachments, and devote yourself to leaving your mark upon the world, no matter how much blood you have to spill in the process".
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Given all that is contained within Boethiah's sphere, he is near-universally considered "evil" throughout Tamriel. However, to the Dunmer, he is considered one of the "good" Daedra and the anticipation of [[PhysicalGod Almalexia]].
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: In Boethiah's ''Online'' quest, she decides that her current Champion must fight ''you'' ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation and your party]]) in the Dragonstar Arena in order to keep his title as Boethiah's Champion. Naturally, you win. (And get to take his place.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clavicus Vile]]
!!Clavicus Vile
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clavicus_vile.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Shrine to Clavicus Vile (also depicting Barbas)]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Craig Sechler (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Stephen Russell (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Rudolf Pankov (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Dmitry Filimonov (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Clavicus Vile, whose sphere is the granting of power and wishes through ritual invocations and pacts."''
-->-- '''''The Book of Daedra'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Wishes, Pacts, Deals, Bargains\\
'''''Realm''''': Fields of Regret\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Masque of Clavicus Vile, Umbra, Bitter Cup, Rueful Axe\\
'''''Servants''''': Skaafin

Clavicus Vile is the Daedric Prince of Wishes, Pacts, Bargains, and Making Deals. He typically takes the form of a horned, jovial, very short man or boy, often joined by his canine companion Barbas, who is Vile's external conscience. While not considered to be one of the inherently malevolent Daedric Princes, it is common knowledge that those who make deals with Vile very often come to regret those deals.

Clavicus Vile's realm, The Fields of Regret, appear as a tranquil countryside. The floating island Umbriel was once part of Vile's realm, but became severed when Vile was weakened and it then "invaded" Tamriel. Vile assisted in taking down Umbriel, where it came to rest in an unknown realm of Oblivion.

In ''Daggerfall'', he asks you to slay a werewolf. In ''Redguard'', he has acquired the soul of Cyrus' sister and must be gambled to win it back. He does not appear in ''Morrowind'', but three of his artifacts, the Bitter Cup, Umbra, and his Masque, do appear. In ''Oblivion'', he asks you to acquire Umbra for him. In ''Skyrim'', he asks you, along with Barbas, to retrieve the Rueful Axe from a mage who previously made a deal with him. In ''Online'', he is involved with the Stillrise Village quests, serves as the main antagonist of the ''Morrowind'' expansion as he tries to break into Sotha Sil's Clockwork City, and serves as one of the antagonists of the ''Summerset'' expansion.

----
* AffablyEvil: While not truly "evil", Vile does have a mean streak to him and [[LiteralGenie loves to play on the words of his bargains for laughs]]. However, he is also highly social and friendly (at least while Barbas is around), and his realm is a beautiful, idyllic paradise, making it one of the safest and most suitable Daedric realms for mortal life.
* BigBadDuumvirate: He and Barbas are the main antagonists of ''Online's'' ''Morrowind'' expansion. He also serves as one of the principal antagonists of ''Summerset'' alongside Mephala and Nocturnal.
* CanineCompanion: Barbas, who is actually Vile's external conscience.
* CharmPerson: The Masque of Clavicus Vile, one of Vile's most famous artifacts, is a legendary helmet enchanted to turn its wearer into one of these. It makes others infatuated with the wearer.
* CuttingOffTheBranches: ''Skyrim'' reveals that the Champion of Cyrodiil ignored Barbas' warnings in ''Oblivion'' and gave Umbra to Clavicus Vile.
* DealWithTheDevil: Vile is essentially the ''embodiment'' of the trope. He does hold up his end of the bargain, typically by granting great power, but almost always manages to do so in a way that the dealmaker will regret. When performing tasks directly for Vile, he tends to be much less insidious and rewards his mortal agents well. On the flipside, if you give Clavicus Vile a gift, he will be delighted and give you a gift in turn... but because you got to chose the gift you gave him, he gets to choose the gift he gives you in turn, and that gift might not be what you want....
* ForTheEvulz: He enjoys seeing mortals regret the deals they've made with him, and is said to collect souls simply for the sake of having them.
* HellHound: Subverted with Barbas, who ''looks'' quite intimidating in statue form, but is actually Vile's external conscience and quite [[BigFriendlyDog friendly]].
* HornedHumanoid: Typically depicted with small horns protruding from his head. Barbas, when taking a non-canine form in ''Online'', is also one.
* KnightsAndKnaves: Poses this riddle to Cyrus in ''Redguard''.
* LiteralGenie: How his granting of wishes and fulfilling of deals typically goes, given his "deal with the devil" nature. When he is separated from Barbas, he gets much closer to JerkassGenie territory, being much more outright malevolent. (Such as "curing" a group of vampires by having a hero come along and MercyKill them all...and they were only vampires in the first place because they wished to Vile for immortality.)
* LiteralSplitPersonality:
** An in-game lore book 'The Vile Truth of Barbas' found in ''Online'' claims that Clavicus Vile and Barbas are two aspects of the same entity rather than Barbas being his own separate being. The book speculates that the existence of a Daedric Prince is an inherently lonely one and Vile split himself into two beings to always have a companion.
** Also happens with the sword Umbra in the ''Lord of Souls'' novel. As a Daedric artifact Umbra is technically a fragment of Vile's power but eventually the sword absorbed enough souls to be able to think and act independently and sliced off a piece of Vile's realm for itself. Vile clarifies that, while Umbra is acting on its own, it is also technically him.
--->''"What was in this sword was me, plain and simple. If someone cut your leg off and the leg starting calling itself 'Umbra', it would still be your leg, wouldn't it? "''
* MoralityChain: Barbas is his external conscience and takes the form of a BigFriendlyDog. With Barbas, Vile is much less outright malevolent. When he's with Barbas, Vile is far more affable and friendly and enjoys conversation and socializing with mortals.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: He seems to believe that most wishes can be granted by killing the wish maker. Vampires asking for a cure for vampirism? Have a hero come in and slaughter them all. A man whose daughter has been turned into a werewolf? Give him an axe to put her down. Asking for peace in Skyrim? Do nothing and let the Dragons kill everyone. A village asking for immunity from the Knahaten plague? Turn them ''undead''.
* PetTheDog: If the Dragonborn reunites him with Barbas in ''Skyrim'', he (reluctantly) decides not to flay them in the most gruesomely manner possible for disobeying his order to kill Barbas instead. The implication is that the return of Barbas, and thus Vile's full divine power (and his conscience) is the better deal for Vile.
* PutOnABus: He doesn't make an appearance in ''Morrowind'', but he is mentioned and several of his artifacts appear. He returns for ''Oblivion''.
* RareCandy: His artifact, the Bitter Cup, plays with it, along with UpgradeArtifact. It automatically increases the drinker's top two attributes significantly, but also drops their lowest two attributes by the same amount. Given Vile's nature, this shouldn't come as a shock.
* SatanicArchetype: He mostly reflects the DealWithTheDevil aspects of the archetype, as well as bargaining for souls, while leaving out the truly evil and demonic aspects. Vile does like to play cruel pranks and twists on his deals, but these are typically treated like childish pranks from his perspective.
* SealedEvilInACan: Between the events of ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'', [[NiceJobBreakingItHero due in no small part to the Champion of Cyrodiil's actions]], Vile is severely weakened, separated from Barbas, and forced to spend spend several decades trapped within a cave, high in the mountains of Skyrim.
* StealthPun: His name might be a very roundabout pun on [[Myth/NorseMythology Loki]]. "Vile" is the Latin word for "low," while "Clavicus" is derived from "clavicula," the Latin word for "key." In other words, he's low key, which is a homophone for Loki.
* YourSoulIsMine: He is a known collector of mortal souls, though he doesn't seem to do anything with them. He simply likes having them for the sake of having them. He also commissioned the creation of Umbra, an EmpathicWeapon blade which steals souls (including the soul of its wielder).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hermaeus Mora]]
!!Hermaeus Mora (aka Herma-Mora)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hermaeus_mora.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hermaeus Mora as manifested in Apocrypha]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Wes Johnson (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Yuri Derkach (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Hermaeus Mora, 'the Gardener of Men', claims that he is one of the oldest Princes, born of thrown-away ideas used during the creation of mortality in the Mundus."''
-->-- '''''Imperial Census of Daedra Lords'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Fate, Knowledge, Destiny, Memory\\
'''''Realm''''': Apocrypha\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Oghma Infinium, Black Books\\
'''''Servants''''': Seekers, Lurkers

Hermaeus Mora is the Daedric Prince of Knowledge, and also associated with the tides of fate and destiny. His most common symbol is an eye and, unlike the other Daedric Princes, he does not bother with a humanoid form, preferring to appear as a grotesque assemblage seemingly endless tentacles and eyes. While not considered to be one of the inherently malevolent Daedric Princes, Hermaeus Mora has been known to commit unspeakable acts in the pursuit of knowledge. He is considered an "enemy" in the religious traditions of the Skaal of Solstheim and in the old Nordic religion, where he was an adversary of Ysgramor. Some sources state that Hermaeus Mora is a "sibling" of Mephala.


Hermaeus Mora's realm is Apocrypha, an endless library containing all knowledge in the form of tomes. The sky is an illuminating green in color and it is covered by a sea of roiling acidic waters. Some areas of Apocrypha are consumed by a darkness which kills any mortal who tries to enter it. The realm is haunted by the ghosts of mortals forever searching for knowledge.

In ''Daggerfall'', Mora asks you to assassinate a noble. He does not appear in ''Morrowind''. In ''Oblivion'', he asks you to collect a soul from every Tamriellic race. In ''Skyrim'', he tasks you with freeing the Oghma Infinium from a sealed Dwemer lock box. In the ''Dragonborn'' DLC, he serves as an instigator behind the main plot. In ''Online'', he seeks knowledge of the Celestials.
----
* AffablyEvil: Like most Daedric Princes, Mora is not inherently "evil" per se, but he certainly has his episodes of malevolence. Despite this, Mora's preferred method of seducing mortal servants is to bribe them with gifts of power and knowledge. He also tends to give them absolute freedom, trusting that the lure of the gifts he offers will keep them in his service. A great example is his behavior toward the Dragonborn in ''Skyrim'''s ''Dragonborn'' DLC. He offers gifts including the powerful enhancements of his Black Books and he even offers some of the most potent Words of Power there are, such as the final word of Bend Will. He's also unfailingly polite and even offers free unlimited {{Skill Point Reset}}s after completing his quest.
* ArchEnemy: Of Ysgramor and the Skaal of Solstheim. His Daedric quest in ''Skyrim,'' and the plot of the ''Dragonborn'' DLC especially, set him up as one of the most dangerous and personal foes that the Dragonborn faces, as well as the only one that remains undefeated at the end.
* BerserkButton:
** As affable as he may seem, he does have one particularly big berserk button: trying to hide knowledge from him. Storn of the Skaal and Miraak [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice find this out the hard way]] in ''Skyrim'''s ''Dragonborn'' DLC. The latter also gets hit with one of the few instances of Mora [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness raising his voice in anger]].
--> '''Hermaeus Mora''': ''"Did you think to escape me, Miraak?! You can hide ''nothing'' from me here!"''
** To a lesser extent, attempting to scheme behind his back and betray him, and thinking he would be none the wiser to the attempt. Miraak was not only stupid enough to do it, but did it in Apocrypha of all places. Mora not only made it plainatively clear he's known about Miraak’s plans for years, and possibly ever since Miraak first came up with the idea, he ensured [[spoiler:Miraak’s death was an incredibly painful one.]] Both as a means to warn the Dragonborn of what could happen to them should they decide to follow Miraak’s example, and to punish Miraak for his stupidity and GenreBlindness.
* TheChessmaster: He ''is'' the Daedric Prince of ''Knowledge'', afterall. He can play whatever game he needs to in order to get exactly what he wants, and often more.
* CombatTentacles: Which he uses in ''Dragonborn'' to kill Miraak and Storn via ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice. The book ''Boneless Limbs'' has this to say:
-->''A writhing mass of heaped appendage''\\
''Slipping grasp the squirming slick''\\
''Extend the reach to touch the face''\\
''Burn the mind, reveal the quick''
* DeusExMachina: The story of the ''Dragonborn'' DLC of ''Skyrim'' reaches its climax when Mora spontaneously appears to the player in Apocrypha and offers to give them the Words of Power needed to challenge Miraak on equal footing. Justified, as Mora was the one who gave Miraak the words long ago and probably only he knows them; he just has to feel like sharing them.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu:
** Mora was an enemy to the [[FounderOfTheKingdom old Nordic king]] Ysgramor. According to Nordic legends, Ysgramor outwitted him regularly.
** The Skaal of Solstheim consider Mora their enemy, and have managed to keep their secrets safely hidden from him. The plot of ''Dragonborn'' is revealed to be an elaborate scheme by Mora to get them.
* DoNotTauntCthulhu:
** As affable and polite as he may come across, he can flip the switch to extreme violent anger in an instant if taunted. Doubling fitting, as Mora is easily the most eldritch out of the Daedric Princes. In ''Dragonborn'', Miraak learns this the hard way.
** In ''Skyrim'' and ''Dragonborn'', the Dragonborn has the option of flipping him off several times, even venomously referring to him as a "demon". The only time he even slightly gets back for these slights is when Dragonborn tells him that his help isn't needed to find the last word of Bend Will from his realm, to which he politely explains that you would be searching for all eternity without his aid.
* EldritchAbomination: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], but also [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] a little. While he dives head-first into the aesthetics and trappings traditionally associated with this trope, he isn't anymore "otherworldly" or "beyond mortal comprehension" than any other Et'Ada, though to be fair that is an accurate description to a degree. While some sources do state him to be one of the "oldest" of a class TimeAbyss beings, forming out of "discarded ideas" during creation, it should be noted that this conflicts with the consensus account for the origin of the Et'Ada.
** His motives (If him being a discarded draft of creation is the truth) are also not quite incomprehensible if some of the “Obscure Texts” are to be believed. Assuming that “draft of the universe” origin is true, he’s essentially getting information so he can know every difference between himself and creation as it exists. He’s either trying to figure out why his creators discarded him, or how to finish the process since they won’t. Either is understandable from a human perspective.
* EldritchLocation: Apocrypha, along with being a GreatBigLibraryOfEverything. It is home to all forbidden knowledge, with a green sky, roiling acidic waters, and areas covered in darkness which kill any mortal who tries to enter. Mora's eyes and tentacles are known to blot out the sky, and it is stalked by Mora's servants, the Seekers and Lurkers. It's endless expanse of shadowy bookshelves is haunted by the ghosts of mortals who have become trapped there in search of knowledge.
* EvilIsPetty: He has long desired to know the secrets of the Skaal, even though the secrets are relatively benign knowledge about how the Skaal commune with the forces of nature. Mora wants them anyway, for as the Prince of Knowledge, it is simply in his nature to hoard secrets, regardless of their true value. What's more, when he finally gets them to surrender this knowledge through AnOfferYouCantRefuse, he [[spoiler:murders Storn while taking the knowledge from him]] as nothing more than petty revenge for the Skaal defying him in the past.
* EvilSoundsDeep: His voice is always deep. In ''Oblivion'', it is more a menacing kind of deep, while in ''Skyrim'' it's soothing and grandfatherly but with distinctly thick, bubbling undertones.
* {{Expy}}:
** In ''Skyrim'', particularly in the ''Dragonborn'' DLC, he has a more than passing resemblance to the [[VideoGame/LegacyOfKain Elder God]], and shares his obsession with having control over the fate of mortal.
** He ''very'' closely resembles [[Creator/HPLovecraft Yog-Sothoth]] of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, in both appearance and nature. Like Yog-Sothoth, Hermaeus Mora exists outside of linear time and possesses vast amounts of knowledge often sought out by mortals and cultists. Likewise in ''Dragonborn'', Hermaeus Mora manifests as a mass of tentacles and eyes not unlike common depictions of the Outer God.
* GenuineHumanHide: The Oghma Infinium is said to be bound in it, and the ''Skyrim'' version is bound specifically in various ''elven'' hides.
* GiantEnemyCrab: Frequently depicted as having giant crab-like pincers. Even ''Skyrim'' has statues that depict him like this, although his actual appearance is very different. The book ''Delving Pincers'' has this to say:
-->''Crushing razors, hollow shells''\\
''That snap, that twitch, that cinch and rend''\\
''To hold the subject, bodily,''\\
'''Til mind blows soft and life meets end''
* GreatBigBookOfEverything: His most famous artifact, the Oghma Infinium. Reading it grants immense knowledge, but it vanishes before one can ''[[GoMadFromTheRevelation read too much]]''.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Of ''Skyrim'''s ''Dragonborn'' DLC. His champion, Miraak, serves as the BigBad and EvilCounterpart to the Dragonborn.
* IGaveMyWord: In keeping with his preferred recruitment method of tempting potential followers with gifts of knowledge, Mora keeps just about every promise he makes and holds his end of every bargain, both in spirit as well as word. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Doesn't mean he won't toss you aside when he doesn't need you anymore.]]
* KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge: Hermaeus Mora is the embodiment of the trope. In addition to being the keeper, he is also the ''seeker'', and is willing to offer knowledge to those who serve him.
* MagicalLibrary: Apocrypha. In addition to all of the "forbidden" and supernatural knowledge, it also contains all known spell tomes in general. Aside from the acid and the tentacles, it's practically a dimension made up of nothing but books. The walls are often stacks of books (sometimes arranged to look like bones or spines). The wandering monsters all tend to drop random books, and treasure chests in Apocrypha usually contain ''more'' books.
* MindScrew: According to Mora himself, he ''is''/arose from detritus concepts ejected from reality during creation. Hermaeus Mora ''is'' what ''could not be''.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: It's a subtle example, but during his appearances in Skyrim (specifically when the ''Dragonborn'' expansion is installed), his eyes will constantly look directly at the camera, or perhaps more specifically, directly at ''you'', the player!
* TheOlderImmortal: Mora claims to be one of the "oldest" of Daedric Princes, who are already TimeAbyss deities who have existed since before time itself was conceived of as a concept.
* {{Omniscient}}: He claims to be this. However, it's more likely he isn't, since the whole plot of ''Dragonborn'' is him using the player character to acquire knowledge he did not have. The Elder Scrolls, which predict tell possible futures but not with certainy, are constantly changing and shiftign their contents. In addition, like the other Princes, he opposed and assisted in the curse of Jyggalag, who had a library that ''actually'' threatened to know everything. It is probably better to say that omniscience is something that Hermaeus Mora aspires to but does not currently have.
* PutOnABus: He doesn't make an appearance in ''Morrowind'', but he is mentioned. He returns for ''Oblivion''.
* RedBaron: [[IHaveManyNames The Golden Eye, Gardener of Men, Prince of Fate, Lord of Secrets, Abyssal Cephaliarch, The Woodland Man, Old Antecedent, Scryer, Inevitable Knower, and Demon of Knowledge.]]
* ScaryLibrarian: His dimension is a giant eldritch library containing the world's "forbidden" knowledge, and Mora is a generally terrifying entity in appearance.
* SuddenlyShouting: When he confronts Miraak at the end of ''Dragonborn'', he raises his voice in anger and starts yelling in disgust for Miraak's betrayal before calming down.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: He speaks this way in ''Daggerfall''. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This trait has been dropped in later appearances]].
* ShoutOut: As a nod to his [[Creator/HPLovecraft inspiration]], in ''Skyrim'', one of his Black Books is a play named ''[[Literature/TheKingInYellow The Sallow Regent]]'', written by '''H'''awfi'''p''' the '''Crafter'''.
* SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome: In the first four games, he was always a neutral entity, even if his quests tended to be a bit ruthless. Come ''Skyrim'', he orchestrates everything that happens in ''Dragonborn'', putting millions of innocent lives at risk, just to obtain the "secrets" of the Skaal.
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow:
** Hermaeus Mora is the keeper of this sort of knowledge. According to Mora himself, he ''is''/arose from knowledge ''that cannot exist'' (detritus concepts ejected from reality), rendering him not only the keeper of things man was not meant to know, but also making him something man ''cannot'' know.
** Neloth in ''Dragonborn'' is an expert in the madness people can experience if they delve too much into the forbidden secrets Hermaeus Mora offers... which is why he's willing to let you keep the Black Books. The Dragonborn is his guinea pig for "how much is too much".
* TimeMaster: Of a sort. In the same way that Akatosh ''is'' time, Mora exists outside of linear time, which allows him to interact with it in unusual ways. Some of his Black Books are believed to come from the future, and he has direct (but subtle) influence over fate and destiny.
* TomeOfEldritchLore: His IconicItem, the Oghma Infinium, and in ''Dragonborn'', the Black Books. The Infinium grants a massive boost to one-third of your skills, and the Black Books take you to a mini-dungeon with special perks and abilities at the end.
* UnwittingPawn: He doesn't ask much of the Dragonborn as a champion, and in fact makes no requests at all of you after ''Dragonborn's'' main plot or the daedric quest...but he doesn't have to. Your status as a wandering adventurer means you will inevitably stick your nose into dungeons full of forbidden secrets and lost knowledge. All he has to do is watch you while you do it, and you're working for him.
* VerbalTic: In ''Skyrim'', and especially in ''Dragonborn'', he yawns while talking regularly.
* VillainTakesAnInterest: He's apparently ''very'' interested in those who are Dragonborn, leading him to offer Miraak power in exchange for serving as his champion. He later makes the same offer to the Dragonborn after Miraak's death. After his ''Skyrim'' quest and the main quest of ''Dragonborn'', he claims that he has been watching the Dragonborn for some time and claims that he has been grooming the Dragonborn to become his champion. Even if the Dragonborn defiantly refuses Mora's offer, Mora states that the Dragonborn ''already is'' [[UnwittingPawn his pawn]].
* WeCanRuleTogether: Offered the Dragon Priest, Miraak, the knowledge to control his former masters, in exchange for agreeing to serve as his [[TheDragon Dragon]]. After Miraak's failed rebellion against Mora is thwarted by the Dragonborn, he informs the Dragonborn that they've just [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt inherited the position.]]
* XanatosGambit:
** The main questline for ''Skyrim'''s ''Dragonborn'' DLC is essentially this for him. He allowed Miraak to think he could plot against him in Apocrypha, using the opportunity to secretly groom the Last Dragonborn as his replacement, and thusly allowed Miraak to become a threat the Last Dragonborn and the Skaal couldn't ignore. Simultaneously, Miraak can't be reached by normal means, and doing so requires knowing the full Bend Will shout, the words of which only Hermaus Mora himself knows. The last of which, Mora refuses to give until the Skaal give up the knowledge he is pursuing. One way or another, Mora wins.
** Additionally, in order to get the main ''Skyrim'' plot to finish, you need the "Elder Scroll (Dragon)", which you also have to get for Mora's daedric quest. One way or another, you're ''eventually'' going to be doing him a favor.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Mora has no compunctions with killing off those that are of no further use for him. However, he generally makes it quick and painless for loyal servants such as Septimus (who largely just appeared to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence), while instead treating followers that try to betray him with a hefty dose of ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice.
* YourSoulIsMine: His ''Oblivion'' quest requires capturing the soul of one of every member of the Tamriellic races. Mora plans to have his followers use them in rituals to bend reality, time, and space.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hircine]]
!!Hircine
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hircine_bloodmoon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hircine as seen in Morrowind]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jonathan Bryce (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind'', ''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Craig Sechler (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Alexander Gruzdev (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Kirill Radzig (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Eugene Waltz (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"You may meet the Hunter, who is invoked as Alrabeg. He bears the Spear of Bitter Mercy. He comes here from the Hunting Grounds to hunt new prey, or he brings prey native to the Hunting Grounds, like the Unicorn, to hunt in new forests. If he brings not prey, then woe betide you who meet him, for he may dub you the Hare. Then you must flee as best you can, though you will not escape."''
-->-- '''''Aspects of Lord Hircine'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': The Hunt\\
'''''Realm''''': The Hunting Grounds\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Hircine's Ring, Spear of Bitter Mercy, Saviour's Hide, Spear of the Hunter\\
'''''Servants''''': Werecreatures

Hircine is the Daedric Prince of the Hunt and all aspects associated with it. His most common form is of a spear-wielding, antlered humanoid. While not considered to be one of the inherently malevolent Daedric Princes, those who are unwillingly drawn into his hunts may disagree. Despite this, he always gives his prey a chance to escape or turn the tables, as Hircine is the ultimate sportsman.

Hircine is the "Father of the Manbeasts", being responsible for the creation of Nirn's werecreatures. His most famous servants are the werewolves, who act as his "hunting dogs".

Hircine's realm is the Hunting Grounds, an infinite expanse of thick forests and open plains populated by Hircine's werecreatures.

In ''Daggerfall'', Hircine asks you to hunt a rogue wereboar. In ''Battlespire'', you take place in his hunt and win two of his artifacts. He does not appear in ''Morrowind'' itself, but serves as the instigator of the plot of ''Bloodmoon''. In ''Oblivion'', he tasks you with hunting a unicorn. In ''Skyrim'', he has you hunt down a rogue werewolf. In ''Online'', he tasks you with slaying a series of monsters as a werewolf.

----
* AffablyEvil: Like most Daedric Princes, Hircine is not inherently "evil" per se, but he certainly has his episodes of malevolence. He's always very polite to those who summon him, as well as to his opponents when he judges them worthy, and he watches over his followers much more than the average Prince. It is noted that summoning Hircine typically invokes "Hrokkibeg", the aspect of the Mighty Bear, who brings horror and violence to those who disrespectfully interrupt his slumber, but will be delighted and friendly if the summoner is respectful and makes the appropriate offerings.
* AnimalMotifs: Hircine appears in various animal forms, including wolves, bears, rats, and stags. In ''Skyrim'' he first appears to the player in the form of a large white stag and his Savior's Hide resembles deer hide and is stag themed.
* BadMoonRising: The event known as the Bloodmoon signals that it is time for his hunt on Mundus. The final sign of the Bloodmoon is Secunda, Nirn's smaller moon, turning blood red.
* BenevolentBoss: He values his followers, whose fealty is 'precious' to him.
* BigBad: Of the ''Morrowind'''s ''Bloodmoon'' expansion. [[spoiler:Unlike most instances where a Daedric Prince is the BigBad, he personally serves as the FinalBoss at the end of his "hunt"]]. In keeping with his personality, however, he imposes a DramaPreservingHandicap upon himself, as fighting him at his full power would be, in his own words, "less than sporting".
* BladeOnAStick: His humanoid forms are almost always depicted as wielding a spear, and he is associated with two [[LegendaryWeapon legendary artifact]] spears: The Spear of Bitter Mercy and the Spear of the Hunter.
* BloodKnight: ''The'' Blood Knight of the ''Elder Scrolls'' universe. The plot of ''Bloodmoon'' is him seeking the most worthy opponent for his hunt on Mundus, and he is always seeking the best prey within his realm, the Hunting Grounds.
* CombatByChampion:
** If Hircine is not participating directly in one of his hunts, he will usually appoint another Daedra (such as the Herne in ''Battlespire'') or a great were-beast to do the hunting instead.
** According to the ''16 Accords of Madness'', Hircine and Sheogorath agreed to a battle in this fashion. Each would choose a champion, and the two champions would battle. Hircine infected an ancient Daedroth with lycanthropy to serve as his champion. Sheogorath chose...a songbird. [[spoiler:Hircine's champion ends up blinding itself and tearing itself apart while struggling to hit the song bird]].
* CursedWithAwesome: Or BlessedWithSuck, depending on how one views his "gift". His werebeast followers are granted the ability to transform into powerful monsters, but enter a vicious hunter/hunted cycle as the are typically demonized by their fellow mortals. Additionally, Hircine claims their souls upon death to hunt and/or be hunted in his Hunting Grounds realm, regardless of what afterlife they may have preferred.
* DefeatMeansRespect: He has immense respect for those who survive his hunts, or better yet, turn the tables on the hunter.
* EgomaniacHunter: He lives for the glory of the hunt, and has no reason to do so beyond his own vanity. He hunts solely for the sport, including having his own pack of hunting dogs (read: werewolves). Somewhat unusually for the trope, he doesn't consider it a ''true'' hunt unless the prey has a sporting chance.
* {{Expy}}: Of the Horned God, a modern pagan deity of the wilderness and the hunt that is based on several figures from mythology. One of these is Cernunnos, a Celtic god thought to be associated with hunting (though nothing about him survives except for his name and a few images). Another is Herne, the ghost of a hunter that haunts Windsor Forest, mentioned in ''Theatre/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor''.
* HornedHumanoid: He most often appears with deer antlers, even in his humanoid form.
* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: In Hircine's realm, everyone is either Hunter or Prey. However, Prey and Hunter can reverse roles at any time, and for the most part, Hircine finds these role reversals to be amusing. [[spoiler:Even if he's the one who becomes the prey.]] His werebeast servants are the embodiment of this trope. At night, they are dangerous monsters and hunt mortals while they have the advantage. During the day, however, they revert to their own weaker mortal forms and must flee from the very mortals they were just preying on.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: His realm, the Hunting Grounds, has this going on eternally. He is always looking for more dangerous prey to add to them. Additionally, the Bloodmoon event is when he brings his hunt to Mundus. He will gather the greatest warriors in a region and pit them against his werewolf "hunting dogs" (and each other) until only the most "dangerous" still lives, then he will personally enter the hunt. It's also part of why he likes werewolves; they hunt mortals by night, but are hunted ''by'' them during the day.
* TheMarvelousDeer: He often takes the form of a white stag and even his humanoid avatar is typically depicted with deer antlers.
* MeaningfulName: The word "hircine" means "goat-like" in Latin, although Hircine's forms tend to resemble a deer more closely.
* MonsterProgenitor: He is the creator and master of Nirn's were-creatures.
* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: He is the creator of werebeasts, which include werelions, werecrocodiles, werebears, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]], wereboars, and werebats. Only the last four have been seen in the games to date.
* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: He communicates to his werebeast followers in this fashion.
* RedBaron: The Huntsman of the Princes, the Father of Manbeasts.
** The Reachfolk are said to have as many names for him as there are tribes, including Old Elk-Eye, Hunt-King, Beast Father, Skinshaper, and the Spear with Five Points.
* ReroutedFromHeaven: He gets the souls of all werebeasts, usually whether or not they worship other entities or want to go to other afterlives. In an unusual case, one can reroute the rerouted souls via drawing out and killing the beast aspect of their soul. Doing this breaks the connection to Hircine and releases the soul.
* TheyHaveTheScent: Werewolves are his favored servants and serve him as hunting dogs. They are sometimes referred to specifically as his "hounds".
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Like all Daedric Princes, he is not bound to any one form, but he has several different forms which he uses to present himself to mortals, each of which represents a different aspect of his. These include "[[PhysicalGod The Hunter]]" (also known as Guile), the "Quick Fox" (also known as Speed, and sometimes taking the form of a [[SavageWolves Savage Wolf]]), the "[[BearsAreBadNews Mighty Bear]]" (also known as Strength), the "[[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Manbeast]]", and the "[[TheMarvelousDeer Great Stag]]".
* WarGod: Of the "personal battle" variety. Hircine's hunts almost always end in a battle of some kind, and while he adores a fair contest where the prey can defeat the predator, in his darker appearances and interpretations he also frequently champions a hunt where many warriors pursue a weaker foe. As long as the prey has a ''chance'' to turn the hunt inside out and defeat their enemies, Hircine is happy.
* WarriorHeaven: Or HellIsWar, depending on the preferences of the particular inhabitant. The Hunting Grounds are a variation of one for his werebeast followers, who alternate between being predators and prey in an eternal, endless hunt.
* TheWildHunt: He views the entirety of existence as an unending hunt. Events involving he or his minions hunting have been referred to by this exact name.
* WildWilderness: His realm, The Hunting Grounds, is an endless world of plains and forests where the inhabitants forever hunt and are hunted.
* WillfullyWeak: When he personally engages mortals in his hunts, he generally does not do so at full strength. As a Daedric Prince at full power would easily crush any mortal, he does this in order to give his prey a sporting chance. If he successfully hunts the prey, he wins. If the prey [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted turns the tables]], he ''still'' wins, because what better expression of his sphere is there than that?
* WorthyOpponent: His whole purpose for being is finding, creating, testing and watching these, whether they win or lose. Hircine generally rewards those that survive his hunts; the Savior's Hide was created for the first mortal to ever escape his hunting grounds. Although he directs the Dragonborn in ''Skyrim'' to hunt down and kill a specific werewolf, a player who decides to instead hunt the other hunters will indeed be rewarded by Hircine for [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted completing the hunt]] in [[TakeAThirdOption a different way]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jyggalag]]
!!Jyggalag
[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jyggalag_969.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Wes Johnson (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Dmitry Filimonov (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"The other Princes, fearful of my power, cursed me with Madness, doomed me to live as Sheogorath, a broken soul reigning in a broken land. Once each era, I was allowed my true form, conquering this world anew. And each time I did, the curse was renewed, damning me to exist as Sheogorath. For millennia this drama has unfolded, and each time, I have conquered this land, only to be transformed back into that gibbering fool, Sheogorath."''
-->-- '''''Jyggalag's Dialogue in The Shivering Isles'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Order, Deduction\\
'''''Realm''''': The Realm of Order (now the Shivering Isles)\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Sword of Jyggalag\\
'''''Servants''''': Knights of Order, Priests of Order

Jyggalag is the Daedric Prince of Order, specifically associated with Logical Order and Deduction. His typical form is as a knight clad fully in silver armor. He is said to have taken account of every detail of the world and of every action that has ever taken place on Mundus or Oblivion, long before they actually happened.

In a time before recorded history, Jyggalag grew too powerful, making the other Daedric Princes fearful and jealous of him. They came together and cursed him, trapping in the form of Sheogorath. However, at the end of every Era, he is allowed to return to his true form in an event known as the Greymarch. During this time, he retakes and destroys the Shivering Isles, only to return to the form of Sheogorath at the end. At the end of the 3rd Era, the Champion of Cyrodiil ended the cycle by defeating Jyggalag and assuming the mantle of Sheogorath. Jyggalag then left to "roam the voids" of Oblivion.

His realm is the Realm of Order. Little is known of it save that it contains a giant library holding the logical prediction of every action ever taken by any creature. It is believed to have been the Shivering Isles before he was cursed into becoming Sheogorath.

Jyggalag's only appearance to date in the series is in ''Oblivion'''s ''Shivering Isles'' expansion.
----
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The other Daedric Princes are fearful and jealous of his power. Even Malacath, not considered a "true" Daedra by the other Princes, is more highly regarded than Jyggalag.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He was cursed by the other Daedric Princes, who feared his growing power.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis:
** The Library of Jyggalag contained a precise and exact record of ''everything'' that ''any'' entity in Nirn or Oblivion would ''ever'' do, which Jyggalag compiled through nothing but simple but extremely thorough deductive reasoning and logic. This was one of the big reasons why the other Daedric Princes turned on him.
** His chamberlain, Dyus, also has this ability. Though he admits he is surprised when he miscalculated that the Champion could pull off Sheogorath's scheme to free Jyggalag and pass himself on to a mortal body.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Very literally, and very deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]] as part of his IronicHell curse by the other Daedric Princes.
* {{BFS}}: His weapon of choice, the Sword of Jyggalag, is roughly the size of a claymore, and is wielded as such by any mortal fortunate enough to obtain it. [[GiantsKnifeHumansGreatsword Jyggalag himself is able to wield it with just one hand]].
* BigBad: Of ''The Shivering Isles''. It turns out that he's also the ''BigGood'' of the expansion at the same time, ''being'' Sheogorath.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Despite ''The Shivering Isles'' ending with Jyggalag freed from the curse that forced him to become Sheogorath, he is not mentioned or referenced even once in ''Skyrim''. It's implied in some obscure texts and interviews that he doesn't have much of an interest in Nirn and is more active in Oblivion. [[FridgeBrilliance Nirn itself is already ordered, but the rest of Oblivion is a chaotic mess.]]
* CombatPragmatist: Prince of logical deduction and order, but he is neither creative nor theatrical. Logically speaking, the most efficient way for him to wipe out a realm is to go through it with an army and big sword, just demolishing it piece-by-piece, thus, that is exactly how he goes about it. He still outsources some traitors from said realm to try their hands at schemes, but whether they succeed or fail he’s still sticking to the tried and true method in the meantime.
* ControlFreak: He takes order very seriously, which is only natural, as he ''is'' Order. After the Champion of Cyrodiil separates him and Sheogorath, Jyggalag moves on to the rest of Oblivion, largely ignoring Nirn because the Aedra have made it much more ordered than the chaotic realms of Oblivion, which is a much more pressing issue for him to deal with.
* CreativeSterility: Sheogorath accuses him of "never having had an original thought in his existence". Ironically, as Sheogorath, he's actually able to come up with a plan that lets him break out of the endless cycle of destruction and rebirth.
* TheDreaded: ''All'' the Daedric Princes collaborated to seal him within Shegorath. It's usually considered a miracle for even two of them for to join forces.
* FireForgedFriends: As an insane god and with the fact that he and the Champion of Cyrodil left on good terms, it's possible that they are allied now. Seeing as how Sheogorath sends the Dragonborn to ''cure'' insanity instead of cause it, it'snot a baseless assumption.
* EarlyBirdCameo: The in-game book ''On Oblivion'' mentioned a Daedric Prince named Jyggalag as early as ''Daggerfall''.
* EnemyWithin: Formerly this to Sheogorath. Jyggalag spent his imprisonment as the last vestige of sanity in Sheogorath's broken psyche.
* EternalRecurrence: Crossed with ViciousCycle. At the end of every Era, he is able to return to his true form in an event known as the Greymarch. During this time, he retakes and destroys the Shivering Isles, only to return to the form of Sheogorath at the end. It isn't until the events of ''Shivering Isles'' that he is able to break it.
* EvilSoundsDeep: '''Very''' deep, complete with a sub-bass rumble underneath to add to his already imposing stature.
* FisherKing: He longs to overthrow Sheogorath and reclaim the MadGod's plane, The Shivering Isles, as his own. Whenever he grows powerful enough to do so, life in the Isles begins to die off and crystal spires grow out of the ground, signalling the beginning of the Greymarch.
* FightingFromTheInside: Played very subtly but consistant. A lot of things about Sheogorath's behavior seem alarmingly calculated for someone who is supposed be the embodiment of insanity, from seaking out and indivdually betting against every other Daedric Prince, to nearly destroying Jyggalag's library but sparing the faithful librarian/living master-record, but most notably planning to train someone to represent him and break the cycle of his curse, but said champion could only end it in a battle with Jyggalag, and being defeated in specifically that state returns him to be reborn as his true self, upon reforming in Oblivion - meaning Sheogorath was not so much planning to stop Jyggalag permanently, as much as free him.
* GodOfOrder: Unlike all the other Daedric Princes, Jyggalag represents order, specifically associated with Logical Order and Deduction. He was such a ControlFreak the other Daedra were scared of him, leading to being cursed into an IronicHell in the form of Sheogorath.
* GodzillaThreshold: All of the other Daedric Princes combined their powers to prevent him from threatening them further. No small feat considering how openly hateful and hostile several of the Princes are toward each other.
* GracefulLoser: He treats the player rather politely upon defeat, especially since he is ''counting on'' the Champion of Cyrodiil defeating him so that they could both break the cycle of the Greymarch and the Champion could become Sheogorath.
* GroundhogDayLoop: He's only able to become his true self during the Greymarch, once in a thousand years during which he destroys the land his mad self made and then has to witness the mad half rebuilding it. It's also implied that Sheogorath's plan to have a mortal champion mantle him and defeat Jyggalag is something that has been repeated many times in the past to the same result, with the Champion of Cyrodiil being the first one to break the loop by actually beating Jyggalag.
* HijackingCthulhu: The other Daedric Princes, fearing his growing power, came together and trapped him in the form of Sheogorath.
* IronicHell: His existence as Sheogorath, the Prince of Madness, is essentially this. What would be a worse Hell to a being of ''order'' than complete madness?

* {{Irony}}:
** One of his spheres of influence is logic and deduction, but his main approach to retaking the Shivering Isles is often through brute force.
** Despite being cursed into become a prince of pure madness, in his regular form, he was a perfect fit for the ''obsessive-compulsive'' form of madness.
* TheJuggernaut: When the Greymarch comes, there's nothing to stop Jyggalag. He slowly marches through the Shivering Isles, destroying or converting everything he comes across.
-->'''Sheogorath''': The Greymarch comes, and Jyggalag walks. Or runs. Never skips, sidles, or struts. Mostly, he just destroys everything around him.
* KnightTemplar: It is his driving mission to put the universe in perfect order. The Daedra under him are even called "Knights of Order".
* LightIsNotGood: Despite his associations with order, light, and his shiny metal appearance, he is a destructive deity who stops at nothing in an attempt to put the universe into his idea of "perfect order".
* LiteralSplitPersonalities: At the end of ''Shivering Isles'', he is freed from Sheogorath and passes that mantle onto the Champion of Cyrodiil.
* MadGod: One implication of the obscure texts is that Jyggalag's extreme obsession with order is, itself, a form of insanity, and that Sheogorath is madness in the expression of manic uncertainty while Jyggalag is madness expressed in [[SuperOCD extreme order and obsessive organization]].
* OxymoronicBeing: Sotha Sil and his priests believe the source of Jyggalag's madness stems from the fact that, despite his all-consuming desire for order, Jyggalag's nature as a Daedra renders him an inherently chaotic creature, and his knowledge of this contradictory existence drove him insane.
*OrderVersusChaos: He is the order to Sheogorath's chaos.
--->''"Of the Daedra, only the Gray Prince of Order knew his nature, and he went mad in the knowing."''
* SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan: He was sealed by the other Daedric Princes in the form of Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness.
* WorldsStrongestMan: If [[UnreliableNarrator his account]] of why he became Shegorath is true, then he may very well be the most powerful Daedra: The amount of beings in Oblivion who pose enough of a threat to get the ''[[JerkassGods Daedric]] [[IncrediblyInconvenientDeity Princes]]'' to cooperate with each other can be counted on one hand.
* StrawVulcan: Jyggalag is essentially this trope incarnate. Interestingly, he stands in contrast to Julianos, another god of logic who also presides over ''contradiction'', which may well be what keeps the Divine from falling into the Jyggalag's monomania.
* SuperOCD: Jyggalag obsessively orders everything in his Realm and extends that to a desire to order all of the realms of Oblivion.
* ThatManIsDead: When he returns to his true form:
-->'''Sheogorath:''' With the Staff, there was hope. But now, hope is dead. ''I'' am dead. The Realm... '''AAAAARGH!!''' The Realm is dead! SHEOGORATH... IS ''DEAD!!''
-->'''Jyggalag:''' All shall crumble before... '''JYGGALAG!!'''
* TinTyrant: He and his Knights of Order appear to be clad head to toe in metallic armor.
* UnPerson: Though it wasn't intentional, this is effectively what happened to Jyggalag when they cursed him into his endless cycle with Sheogorath. The Greymarch cycle proved so effective at rendering Jyggalag irrelevant that virtually no one on Tamriel even knows what he is beyond passing mentions of his name.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Malacath]]
!!Malacath (aka Mauloch)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/malacath.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Avatar of Malacath]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Wes Johnson (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind'', ''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Michael Donovan (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Alexey Borzunov (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Kirill Radzig (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Sergey Chonishvili (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"He is more commonly known as the Daedroth Prince Malacath, 'whose sphere is the patronage of the spurned and ostracized, the sworn oath, and the bloody curse.' He is not technically a Daedra Lord, nor do the other Daedra recognize him as such, but this is fitting for his sphere. Of old he was Trinimac, the champion of the High Elven pantheon, in some places more popular than Auri-El, who protected them against enemies without and within. When Trinimac and his followers attempted to halt the Velothi dissident movement, Boethiah ate him. Trinimac's body and spirit were corrupted, and he emerged as Malacath. His followers were likewise changed for the worse."''
-->-- '''''The True Nature of Orcs'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': The Ostracized, the Spurned, Pariahs\\
'''''Realm''''': The Ashpit\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Scourge, Volendrung, Helm of Oreyn Bearclaw, Blade of the Bloody Tusk\\
'''''Servants''''': Ogrim

Malacath is the Daedric Prince of the Spurned, the Ostracized, and of Pariahs. He is also associated with curses and exile, and detests physical weakness. His most common symbol is a mace, specifically one in the shape of Scourge. Malacath typically takes the form a muscular, often shirtless, male Orc wielding a two-handed sword. Malacath is near universally considered one of the "bad" Daedra throughout Tamriel, with Orcs being the main exception.

According to most religious traditions, Malacath was once the Aedric deity Trinimac. Boethiah "ate" Trinimac in order to manipulate Trinimac's followers, who would become the Chimer. After being tortured in Boethiah's stomach, the remains of Trinimac were "excreted". These remains became Malacath and his remaining followers were transformed into the Orsimer (Orcs). Due to his origins, Malacath is not technically a Daedra Lord, nor do the other Daedra recognize him as such, but this is, of course, quite fitting for his sphere. Malacath is considered the patron of the Orcs, and is also associated with other "goblin-ken", including Goblins and Ogres.

Malacath's realm is the Ashpit, with very little solid ground. Choking dust and soot clouds the air, the only structures are palaces made of smoke, and vaporous creatures lurk in the thick air. Few mortals are able to reach this realm, and those that do require magical levitation and means of breathing in order to survive. For loyal Orcs, this also serves as their afterlife. They are said to reside within the Ashen Forge, which grants immortality, abundant food and drink, and plenty of epic battles.

In ''Daggerfall'', Malacath asks you to execute a rogue Daedra Seducer. In ''Morrowind'', he asks you to slay a warrior who has taken credit for the achievements of an Orc. In ''Oblivion'', he tasks you with freeing enslaved Ogres. In ''Skyrim'', he asks you to accompany a weak Orc chieftain to slay some Giants. In ''Online'', he asks you to light the braziers of Old Orsinium.

The below tropes are associated with Malacath. For tropes relating to Trinimac, see his entry on the [[Characters/TheElderScrollsDivineBeings Divine Beings]] page. (Some tropes may warrant placement on both, but please be judicious.)
----
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The other Daedric Princes do not consider Malacath to be a "real" Prince. Given that he's the patron of pariahs, this is rather appropriate. As Sheogorath puts while talking about Jyggalag, "Malacath is more popular at parties! And Malacath is ''not'' popular at parties!"
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Malacath detests physical weakness and is a big believer in this idea. He has passed this idea onto the Orcs, who hold it as a cultural prerogative. In ''Skyrim'' he places a curse on an Orc stronghold (i.e. has it attacked by ''giants'') because their chief is a weak, scheming DirtyCoward and the rest of the stronghold hasn't done anything about it.
* BenevolentBoss: Is as close to it as a warrior god of the orcs could be. Despite his ferocity and bold nature, he genuinely cares about his followers and the Orsimer people. While Malacath allows his people to suffer under constant hardships and struggles, it's believed by the Orsimer that he does this to [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre show the Orsimer just how capable and strong they can be]]. Another notable thing about Malacath is that he forbids the orcs from attacking, stealing, or killing each other, while also enforcing tribal discipline and honor. One example where he expressed genuine sorrow over the the butchering of an orc girl and the death of his mortal son, engineered by Sheogorath.
--> ''"Why show me this, Mad One? Do you take such pleasure in watching me grieve the murder of my children?"''
-->-- '''''16 Accords of Madness, v.XII'''''
* ButtMonkey: Is subject to frequent mockery and ridicule by the other Daedric Princes, as well as most of the non-Orc mortals on Tamriel. Part of his teaching is "[[IronButtMonkey strength through adversity]]", however.
* CarryABigStick: The mace known as Scourge is perhaps Malacath's most famous associated artifact. Malacath dedicated it for use by mortals, and any Daedra who attempts to wield it will be vanished to the [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds Void]].
* DropTheHammer: One of the artifact weapons associated with him is the warhammer Voldendrung. Originally crafted by the Dwemer, it is unknown how it came to be associated with Malacath.
* EldritchLocation: His realm, the Ashpit, is this crossed with a DeathWorld. It will kill most mortals in minutes unless they have a means of magical breathing and levitation. Its air is thick with choking dust and soot and even the buildings are made of smoke. It is also said that the Ashpit stretches endlessly across the planes, extending even behind the stars to Aetherius, granting access to every worthy Orc who crosses from this life into the next.
* GodEating: Came into being from the excreted remains after Boethiah "ate" Trinimac. There are different interpretations on how exactly this happened, as some myths suggest that Trinimac was betrayed and tortured by Boethiah, which turned him into Malacath, while others say that it was a literal example of him being eaten alive. In ''The Lord of Souls'' Malacath gets annoyed when he is told the myth, saying it is "too literal."
* HiddenDepths: Despite his many malevolent traits, he keeps a "garden of slender trees" that have "vines festooned with lilylike flowers wound about the trunks". In this garden, a "multitude of spheres moved, deep in the colorless sky, as distant and pale as moons". Malacath describes it as a "shadow of a garden", and an "echo of something that once was".
* HijackingCthulhu: According to most tellings, Malacath came into being when Boethiah "ate" the Aedric spirit Trinimac, twisted Trinimac in his belly, and then "excreted" him as Malacath. Malacath himself somewhat confirms this, but also complains that the story is far too "literal minded".
* KatanasAreJustBetter: He is most often depicted wielding a two-handed blade, similar in appearance to a dai-katana.
* KlingonPromotion: Actively advocates this among his Orc followers. When a chieftain has grown old and weak (or is otherwise failing to perform his duties), it is the ''duty'' of the younger and more able-bodied Orcs to replace him via a DuelToTheDeath.
* LoserDeity: Looked down on by the other Princes as not being a "real" Daedric Prince as well as having few mortal followers outside of the Orcs and goblin-ken. For the "patron of pariahs", this is rather appropriate.
* NoTrueScotsman: Due to his origins, none of the other Daedric Princes consider him to be a "True" Daedra. Ambiguously [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], however, as they may technically be right, depending on the exact nature of Et'Ada spirits and the details of what exactly was involved in Boethia "eating" him.
* OffingTheOffspring: According to the ''16 Accords of Madness'', Sheogorath once tricked Malacath into killing his own son, a noble Orc who would have otherwise been destined to be a great hero.
* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: He is associated with Tamriel's "goblin-ken", including Goblins and [[OurOgresAreHungrier Ogres]].
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: He is the patron of the Orcs, who were formerly the Aldmeri followers of Trinimac. When Trinimac was "eaten" by Boethiah, the excreted remains became Malacath and his followers were changed as well.
* PapaWolf: He is very protective of his followers. Messing with them in any way, especially enslaving them, is a sure-fire way to get Malacath angry. Also, [[StealingTheCredit do not take credit for their accomplishments]].
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The god of them, to the point where he specifically manifests as an orc himself. He’s known to be tough but fair to his orcs, and willing to give them a shot at redemption if they make an effort, but he despises rulers who rest on their laurels.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives a short, but scathing one regarding Yamarz, a weak Orc chieftain, in ''Skyrim''.
--> ''"Yamarz was a coward and a weakling. His deceitful ways have cost you all greatly. Yamarz was a fool, always trying to scheme his way out of responsibility."''
* RedBaron: Keeper of the Sworn Oath and Bloody Curse, God of Curses, Prince of Exile.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Malacath adores vengeance and grudges, and none moreso than vengeance totally out of proportion and which causes massive collateral damage in the process. The entire reason he helps Sul in ''The Lord of Souls'' is because he knew that Sul's desire for revenge had led to the Red Year and the devastation of Morrowind, and that he still hungered for vengeance against Vuhon.
* WarriorHeaven: The "Ashen Forge" within the Ashpit is this for loyal Orcs. Entering it brings immortality, abundant food and drink, and of course, many great battles. It is said that every Orc is a chief, every chief has a thousand wives, and every wife has a thousand slaves to cater to their every need. [[note]]This is very likely hyperbole, such as when real life Christians say that Heaven is "paved with gold," as in-game there does not appear to ''be'' a thousand Orc women for every Orc man. Also, it's probably worth asking what race all those slaves are...[[/note]]
* WasOnceAMan: He used to be an Aedric spirit, Trinimac, until Boethiah ate him, twisted him, and excreted him. The remains became Malacath. As a result, his followers became the Orcs. Malacath himself acknowledges this story as being at least partially true, but he also complains that it is far too "literal".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mehrunes Dagon]]
!!Mehrunes Dagon
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theelderscrollsonlineblackwooddeadlandsanddamnationtrailerblogroll_1620834252587.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jonathan Bryce (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Victor Raider-Wexler (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Nikolai Vereshchenko (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Peter Ivashchenko (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Mehrunes Dagon, Lord of Razors, has proven himself time and again the enemy of the Empire. Of terrible aspect and crowned in beaten copper, the four-armed Prince of Destruction has troubled the borders of the Mundus with warfare, foul rumor, and force of arms. Banished to dissolution during the Weir Gate massacre and again at Kvatch by battlemages of the 33rd, Mehrunes Dagon is returned to Oblivion once more, and the stars have foretold that his tenacity has known no forfeiture. All heroes of Cyrodiil are called upon to stand vigil against his hidden agencies."''
-->-- '''''Imperial Census of Daedra Lords'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Destruction, Ambition, Change, Revolution, Energy\\
'''''Realm''''': Deadlands\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Mehrune's Razor, Mysterium Xarxes, Daedric Crescent\\
'''''Servants''''': Dremora, Xivilai, Scamps, Clannfear, Vermai

Mehrunes Dagon is the Daedric Prince of Destruction, a sphere which also includes Ambition, Change, and Revolution. He is associated with natural disasters including fires, floods, and earthquakes. Dagon's typical form is that of a male, muscular, four-armed, and often horned humanoid. He is naturally considered a "bad" Daedra throughout Tamriel and is extremely malevolent in nearly all of his dealings with mortals. Dagon has made repeated takeover attempts of Mundus throughout history, including most infamously the destruction of the Imperial Battlespire and the Oblivion Crisis.

Dagon's realm is known as the Deadlands, a barren wastelands of blackened rock and seas of lava. Despite this, mortal visitors claim to feel an unearthly chill within the Deadlands.

In ''Daggerfall'', Mehrunes Dagon asks you to slay a Frost Daedra. In ''Battlespire'', he serves as the leader of the invasion. In ''Morrowind'', he asks you to retrieve his dormant Razor. In ''Oblivion'', his cult, the Mythic Dawn, works to summon Dagon's forces and later Dagon himself to Mundus to take it over. In ''Skyrim'', he asks you to once again retrieve his disassembled Razor. In ''Online'', he is the secret patron and backer of the Veiled Heritance.
----
* AboveGoodAndEvil: {{Downplayed|Trope}}; while his sphere of influence is certainly not good from a mortal standard, and the Mythic Dawn runs the gamut of evil, he is no more actively malicious than a tidal wave or earthquake would be. He destroys because it is his very nature to do so, not because he despises the Mundus or mortals in general.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Ambition is one of his spheres of influence and he is considered one of the most outright "evil" of the Daedric Princes, alongside Molag Bal.
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: When he manifests in Mundus, he tends to do so in this way. When he briefly took form during the 11th hour of the Oblivion Crisis, he towered over everything else in the Imperial City.
* BadBoss: He treats everyone under his command as pawns to be sacrificed to further his goals, or simply because [[YouHaveFailedMe they displeased him]]. The lesser Daedra who serve him, being immortal, can take this sort of treatment. If they are slain, they simply reform in Oblivion. Any mortals who voluntarily choose to worship a deity of ''Omnicidal Mania'' should not expect any other kind of treatment.
* BigBad: For both ''Battlespire'' and ''Oblivion''.
* BigRedDevil: His typical form plays up this aesthetic, along with being a HornedHumanoid.
* CardCarryingVillain: He exists to ''destroy''. Hell, he is the ''embodiment'' of Destruction. And he doesn't try to hide it at all.
* CatsAreMean: Khajiiti religion interprets Dagon as a [[FluffyTheTerrible kitten]], "for what is more destructive than a young cat?"
* DestroyerDeity: Dagon is the embodiment of the very ''idea'' of destruction. Above all else, his desire is to invade and destroy Mundus. However, as brutal and destructive as he is, he is also the god of revolution and the violent overthrow of authority, which can include tyranny and oppression, and destruction is often necessary for creation, giving him some redeeming features.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Happens to him every time he tries to invade Mundus. Almalexia does it in the backstory, then the Hero of Battlespire does it in the eponymous game. Finally, Martin/Akatosh do this to him in ''Oblivion''.
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: According to ''The Seven Fights of the Aldudagga'', Dagon tried to do this with Alduin, saving bits and pieces of kalpas he was eating and hiding them in the new kalpas that were created. Once Alduin learned of this, he cursed Dagon into his monstrous form, and made it so that he would only ever be returned to normal if he destroyed the parts of the kalpas that he had hidden from Alduin... while also making it nearly impossible for Dagon to enter Nirn to do the destroying.
* EvilIsDeathlyCold: The Deadlands, despite their appearance, are said to feel surprisingly and unearthly cold.
* EvilOverlord: Toward the Dremora who serve him.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Always has a deep, booming voice in his appearances.
* ExcaliburInTheRust: This has happened at least twice to his Razor, and his quests in ''Morrowind'' and ''Skyrim'' are to recover and reforge it.
* {{Expy}}: He is basically a GenderFlipped, [[EvilCounterpart evil version]] of [[Myth/HinduMythology Kali]].
* FaceHeelTurn: According to a LooseCanon [[http://www.imperial-library.info/content/seven-fights-aldudagga text]] written by former series developer/writer Michael Kirkbride, he was once a kindly demon who attempted to protect parts of Mundus from being eaten by [[BeastOfTheApocalypse Alduin]] at the end of every kalpa, until Alduin banished and cursed him into his current state.
* FireAndBrimstoneHell: His realm, the [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Deadlands]], crossed over with {{Mordor}}.
* ForcedIntoEvil: If the version of his creation with Alduin is true, then perhaps it's for the better if his original personality is buried so deep that he is unaware of what he is doing. Notably he seems to lack a Barbas equivalent like Clavicus Vile and Sheogorath have. That or he banished or destroyed his version (which wouldn't matter too much as Daedra can't die), but even if he does, he's clearly been ignoring it at least during the Oblivion Crisis.
* ForTheEvulz: He ''exists'' to ''destroy''. It doesn't matter what it is or why, Dagon wants to destroy it.
* GodOfEvil: Considered as such by the people of Tamriel along with Molag Bal, though unlike Bal, Dagon actually has some redeeming qualities. For example, ideas like ambition and ''change'' that a functioning world requires fall within his sphere.
* GoodPowersBadPeople: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. None of his domains are activley ''good'' per se, but when one thinks about it, destruction, ambition, change, and revolution are all vital to the functioning of any society.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Was the ManBehindTheMan who helped Jagar Tharn procure the Imperial throne in ''Arena.''
* HijackingCthulhu: According to one Obscure Text, Dagon was originally a lowly and friendly demon who protected parts of the world from being eaten by Alduin at the end of every kalpa. Alduin caught on and cursed him into what he is today.
* IronicHell: For Dagon himself, along with AndIMustScream. To note:
** Imagine you were a being whose entire existence is based around destruction and change. Now imagine you were stuck in a realm where nothing can ever be killed or destroyed without eventually coming back, effectively negating your purpose. That's Dagon. No wonder he wants to take over and destroy Mundus; it would be stress relief for him.
** Worse still, in ''[[https://www.imperial-library.info/content/seven-fights-aldudagga The Seven Fights of the Aldudagga]]'', it is implied that Alduin originally cursed him into this state in the first place as a punishment for hiding parts of earlier kalpas from him.
-->'''Alduin''': "You I curse right here and right now! I take away your ability to jump and jump and jump and doom you to [the void] where you will not be able to leave except for auspicious days long between one and another and even so only through hard, hard work. And it will be this way, my little corner cutter, [[ImpossibleTask until you have destroyed all that in the world which you have stolen from earlier kalpas, which is to say probably never at all!]]"
* LegionsOfHell: He and his Dremora army whenever he tries to invade Mundus.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: His typical form has four arms.
* MultipleChoicePast: There are differing accounts of how he came into being:
** Mankor Camaron's ''Commentaries'' suggest that he was created by the Magna-Ge, in a mythical continent called Lyg, where he was named Mehrunes the Razor and was a being of destructive revolution, and ultimately destroyed Lyg.
** ''The Seven Fights of the Aldudagga'' suggests that he was created by Alduin from the Leaper Demon King as punishment for interfering with Alduin's duties as the World-Eater, cursing him to forever try to destroy the world he had attempted to preserve from Alduin.
* OmnicidalManiac: He's the Daedric Prince of Destruction. He exists to destroy ''everything''.
* OneHitKill: His artifact, [[KnifeNut Mehrunes' Razor]], can sever the link between its victim's body and their soul, killing them instantly.
* PathOfInspiration: The cult dedicated to him, the Mythic Dawn. Once their [[ApocalypseCult true goals]] are revealed, they very much become a ReligionOfEvil.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Being the Daedric Prince of Destruction, this comes with the territory. Whenever he manifests on Mundus, expect a ''minimum'' of city-wide destruction.
* RedBaron: Lord of Razors, Exalted and Most Puissant Lord, Gerent of Dagon.
* RedSkyTakeWarning: His Deadlands plane, as well as the areas in Mundus near the gates to his plane.
* SatanicArchetype: He is played up as such quite frequently in-universe and mistakenly so out of universe, but he actually subverts it. Despite his [[BigRedDevil appearance]], [[LegionsOfHell servants]], [[FireAndBrimstoneHell realm]], and [[TakeOverTheWorld modus]] [[OmnicidalManiac operandi]], he actually has some redeeming qualities that put him beyond true "evil".
* TakeOverTheWorld: He has attempted it repeatedly throughout history, but thankfully, has yet to succeed.
* ThirdPersonPerson: He speaks this way in ''Daggerfall'', with an added bit of HulkSpeak. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This is dropped in later appearances]].
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The Mysterium Xarxes. The ''Oblivion'' script notes actually call for Martin, the most knowledgeable major character on the subject, to react as if given "a handful of glowing plutonium" when he receives the Xarxes. It's just that sort of book.
* UnwittingPawn: Is described by Haskill in an [[http://www.imperial-library.info/node/2234 obscure text]] to be "the pawn of every Prince of true power, the dupe of every schemer in the Nineteen Voids". Essentially, whenever one of the other PowersThatBe wants to accomplish something that involves destruction of some sort, they get Dagon to do the heavy lifting.
* WarriorHeaven: In a twisted and horrific way, the Deadlands can be seen as one for Dagon's followers. It's DeathWorld nature provides plenty of opportunity for warriors to battle for eternity.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: In ''Skyrim'', he tells you to kill Silus, the Mythic Dawn cultist who helped you find the pieces of Mehrunes' Razor. Once that's done, he sends some Dremora to kill ''you''.
* YourSoulIsMine: Whenever a creature is killed with the Mehrunes' Razor, their soul is delivered to Dagon's plane of Oblivion, where they become his property.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mephala]]
!!Mephala
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eso_mephala_summerset.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Maphala as she appears in ESO]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Melissa Leebaert (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Elisabeth Noone (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Colleen Delany (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Elena Kischik (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Nina Tobilevich (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

->''"The Webspinner in day parlance; otherwise it gets hazy. Ties to the Morag Tong, ties to sordid other cults in the provinces, running gamut from drugs to dibbledark to, hell, fashion trends even. Weird one, this Mephala."''
-->--'''''Lord Vivec's Sword-Meeting with Cyrus the Restless'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Obscured to Mortals (unofficially related to Manipulation, Lies, Sex, Murder, Secrets)\\
'''''Realm''''': Spiral Skein\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Ebony Blade, Ring of Khajiiti, The 27 Threads of the Webspinner (created by Sanguine)\\
'''''Servants''''': Spider Daedra

Mephala is a Daedric Prince whose true sphere is obscured to mortals, but is typically associated with various forms of manipulation, lies, sex, murder, and secrets. Spiders are a common symbol of Mephala, who is commonly referred to as "the Webspinner". Mephala has been known to change gender with each manifestation, but primarily appears as a female and its technically considered a hermaphrodite (though is still referred to as "she"). While not to the same degree as a Molag Bal or Mehrunes Dagon, Mephala is typically considered as one of the more malevolent of the Daedric Princes, with the Dunmer being one major exception. To the Dunmer, Mephala is instead one of the three "good" Daedra and she serves as the patron of the Morag Tong.

Mephala's sphere has some overlap with Boethiah's, and with her sphere being "obscured to mortals", it is nigh impossible to tell where the two are separated. Mephala is said to have been one of the "strongest of the recognizable spirits" that emerged soon after Akatosh formed and time began. Some sources also state that Mephala is a "sibling" of Hermaeus Mora.

Her plane of Oblivion is known as the Spiral Skein. It is metaphysically constructed similarly to Mundus, with a "Tower" (the Pillar Palace) at the center and eight spokes forming the shape of a wheel. The area between each spoke is dedicated to one of the eight "sins". Mephala is also said to have other realms as well, collected together by "vast strands of magical ghostweb".

In ''Daggerfall'', Mephala asks you to assassinate a minor noble. In ''Morrowind'', she asks you to poison a Morag tong agent who has been performing illegal assassinations. In ''Oblivion'', she asks you to turn a village of Nords and Dunmer against each other by killing the heads of their families. In ''Skyrim'', she tasks you with freeing and powering up the Ebony Blade. In ''Online'', you help (and later kill) her priest, as well as kill a man she had turned into a Lich. She also serves as one of the antagonists of the ''Summerset'' expansion.
----
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: InUniverse. Mephala is typically seen as a malevolent entity throughout most of Tamriel, but is considered one of the "good" Daedra by the Dunmer. The Dunmer believe that Mephala taught them the skills they would need to evade their enemies or to kill them with secret murder. In their early days, as the Chimer, they were few in number and surrounded by enemies (primarily the Nords and Dwemer) on all sides. She is also credited with organizing the "clan" systems that would eventually become the Dunmeri Great Houses.
* AmbiguousGender: Mephala is stated to be a {{hermaphrodite}}, and has [[GenderBender variously appeared as male of female]] (though primarily female). She is almost always referred to as a "she".
* ArachnidAppearanceAndAttire:
** She is associated with spiders and webspinning, and often appears with arachnid elements. This is most obvious in her ''Daggerfall'' form, where she has webbing for clothing and a black widow red hourglass over her crotch area.
** In ''Online'' she has eight spider legs growing out of her back.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Her sphere, though obscured, is believed to include manipulation, lies, sex, murder, secrets...and she is also associated with ''fashion trends''.
* BigBadDuumvirate: She is one of the three main antagonists of ''Online's'' ''Summerset'' expansion, alongside Clavicus Vile and Nocturnal.
* BlackSwordsAreBetter: The Ebony Blade, her most famous Daedric artifact. It takes the form of a black [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana-like]] weapon and is fueled by the blood of people trusted by the wielder, meaning she openly promotes ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.
* TheChessmaster: A major part of her sphere. She is generally characterized by complex, long-reaching plans, likened to spider webs.
* TheClan: She is credited (along with Boethiah) for organizing the "clan" systems that would eventually become the Dunmeri Great Houses.
* CloakAndDagger: Given all that is within her sphere, she could be considered the patron deity of spies and assassins. The Dunmer consider her as this directly, as she is the patron of the Morag Tong.
* TheCorrupter: She loves to see how she can fray the "web" of mortal relationships, and takes a particular joy in the betrayal of trust or minor slights tearing entire towns or ''nations'' apart.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:She's built up as the main antagonist throughout most of ''Summerset'', only to have the rug pulled out from under her by Nocturnal.]]
* EldritchLocation: Her Daedric realm, the Spiral Skein. It is metaphysically constructed similarly to Mundus, with a "Tower" (the Pillar Palace) at the center and eight spokes forming the shape of a wheel. The area between each spoke is dedicated to one of the eight "sins". The first is a cavern devoted to lies, filled with pedestals pretending to hold up the sky. The second is made up of cramped chambers representing envy, while the third is maggot-filled grottoes filled with seductive light. The fourth contains eternally dark tunnels of fear; the fifth, a place of betrayal; the sixth, an arena of murder. The seventh space is home to arcades of avarice and appetite, containing all things mortals would kill or die for, while the eighth is a flaming skein of fury, representing the death that comes to all mortals.
* EvilIsSexy: In-Universe example: Sexuality falls under Mephala's purview.
* FemmeFatale: Mephala is associated with manipulation, lies, sex, and murder, which makes her the the ''perfect'' patron for the Morag Tong.
* GodCouple: Mephala has some associations with Sithis, and according to some sources, the Night Mother, wife of Sithis, is believed to be an aspect of Mephala.
* GoodWingsEvilWings: Her ''Daggerfall'' appearance gives her bat-like "glider" wings connecting from her sides to her wrists.
* GottaCatchEmAll: The 27 threads of the Webspinner, created for Mephala and the Morag Tong by Sanguine. They are 27 pieces of enchanted clothing and jewelry.
* GreaterScopeVillain: In the plots of at least two of the [[HarderThanHard Veteran Dungeons]] in ''Online.'' In one, a Priestess of Mephala you helped in the non-veteran mode of the dungeon goes crazy and poses a threat, so you need to put her and her ArtifactOfDoom down. In the other, Mephala personally {{Mind Rape}}d a man into [[spoiler:becoming a Lich, who went on to murder his students and his wife. It turns out it was because he was being influenced by ''the Ebony Blade''. And, as you might guess, he uses it against you during the fight]].
* TheHorseshoeEffect: The Morag Tong, a legal Dunmeri [[MurderInc assassin's guild]], is dedicated to Mephala. The Dark Brotherhood, a criminal offshoot of the Morag Tong, is dedicated to the service of Sithis and the Night Mother. Both are MurderInc[=/=]ProfessionalKiller organizations. According to some sources, the Night Mother may very well be an aspect of Mephala, meaning that both groups, despite their differences, are still dedicated to the same deity.
* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Alongside deceit, this is the ''entirety'' of her divine sphere. For Mephala and the mortals under her influence, sex and violence are best when entwined; Morag Tong assassins are ''encouraged'' to seduce and sleep with their targets before killing them, and even loving sexual partnerships are often "enhanced" with a bit of deceit and mortal peril.
* LifeDrain: Her Ebony Blade cannot be sharpened by smithing, but comes with an upgradeable Health-absorbing enchantment.
* LoveGoddess: "Love" is stretching it, but sex is considered one of her spheres of influence.
* ManipulativeBastard: Practically the ''embodiment'' of the trope. She exists to "fray the web" of mortal relationships and interferes in the affairs of mortals [[ItAmusedMe for amusement]].
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: In ''Daggerfall'' and ''Oblivion'' she's depicted with four arms.
* ParadoxPerson: Contained within Mephala's sphere are the themes of murder, sex, and secrets. All of these themes contain subtle aspects and violent ones (assassination/genocide, courtship/orgy, tact/poetic truths); Mephala is understood paradoxically to contain and integrate these contradictory themes.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Horribly twisted by her Ebony Blade. It only powers itself up if you kill a friend with it, up to ten times. There are ways of using LoopholeAbuse though; anyone who considered you a friend but betrayed you or turned hostile like the named Blackblood Marauders will do, and if you kill someone resurrected with magic they count again.
* RedBaron: The Webspinner, Lady of Whispers, Teacher of the Secret Arts, Queen of the Eight Shadows of Murder.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: In ''Online'' she has red eyes, and is one of the Daedric Princes most closely associated with murder.
* RingOfPower: Is associated with the Ring of Khajiit, with typically bestows the wearer with enhanced quickness, silent movement, and outright invisibility. It is said that Rajhin, the legendary Khajiit thief, stole it from Mephala herself. However, after making use of its power too freely, Rajhin was abandoned by the ring and left exposed to his enemies. The ring is also associated with Meridia, who, through unexplained means, acquired the ring and bestowed it as a reward to her agents twice in the 3rd Era.
* SealedEvilInACan: The status of the Ebony Blade in ''Skyrim''. Her quest has you break it out and recharge it. The "Admonition Against Ebony" book you find nearby is the Jarl saying "whoever finds this, we tried to destroy this thing and couldn't, so please, please, ''please'' leave it be". Some of its power leaks out and causes the door locking it away to become the Whispering Door, which gives the Jarl's youngest son a lot of dirty knowledge about his family and surroundings.
* SeductiveSpider: A spider-associated Daedra who is associated with sex along with manipulation. She tends to be portrayed as an attractive FemmeFatale and is associated with SpiderPeople.
* ShoutOut: Her plane of Oblivion, the Spiral Skein, is described as circular, with partitions similar to the spokes of a wheel separating each individual realm, each of which represent a different sin. At the center is her citadel, with each area branching out from the center like a spider's web. Aside from a few minor differences, this is a pretty clear reference to ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Dante's Inferno]].''
* SneakySpider: Her domains involve manipulation, lies, sex, and secrets. Fittingly she has a spider motif, with her sobriquets including "The Webspinner" and "Lady of Whispers", her plans are likened to spiderwebs, she physically resembles a spider, and has minions called Spider Daedra.
* SpidersAreScary: She is associated with spiders and many elements within her sphere are quite scary. The Spider Daedra are her servants and take the appearance of mutated, humanoid {{Giant Spider}}s.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Possibly. In the province of Morrowind, she's considered one of the "Good Daedra", in no small part because of her association with Vivec. She has yet to demonstrate any benevolence in-game as mortals would understand it -- ''including'' her association with Vivec.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meridia]]
!!Meridia (aka Merid-Nunda)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meridia.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Statue of Meridia]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jean Gilpin (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Nina Tobilevich (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Another Prince whose origins may not entirely be outside of the aetherial, Meridia has at several times been linked to Magnus the Sun. The most famous account of this association is the Tract of Merid-nunda, which overtly casts Meridia in the role of a wayward solar daughter, cast from the heavens for consorting with illicit spectra."''
-->-- '''''Imperial Census of Daedra Lords'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Life Energy, Light, Beauty\\
'''''Realm''''': Colored Rooms\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Dawnbreaker, Ring of Khajiiti\\
-->'''''Servants''''': Aurorans

Meridia is a Daedric Prince whose sphere is obscured to mortals, but is associated with the energy of living things as well as light and beauty. As such, she has an extreme hatred for anything undead. Rainbows are common symbols of Meridia. She typically takes the form of a beautiful woman, sometimes with angel-like wings. She is one of the more benevolent Daedric Princes as well as one of the few to be almost universally considered "good" by mortals.

That said, Meridia has been known to express her anger toward those who earn her displeasure in very nasty ways. She has no compunction against causing collateral damage in her quest to eliminate anything undead, and makes it clear that any "good" she does is purely to further her own causes.

Meridia is believed to have originally been one of the Magna-Ge, the "Star Orphans" who abandoned the creation of Mundus part way through along with Magnus. She was then cast out of Aetherius for consorting with "illicit spectra", implied to be the Daedra.

After the Daedra complained of her "trespassing" in Oblivion, Meridia, through sheer force of will, "bent and shaped" the rays of Magnus to create her own Daedric realm in Oblivion, known as the Colored Rooms. It is a colorful realm of vast floating stones, strewn about with trails of colorful dust and clouds. The "ground" between the stones looks like luminescent water, but is solid enough to walk on.

In ''Daggerfall'', Meridia asks you to kill a sorcerer who reneged on a deal with her. She does not appear in ''Morrowind''. In ''Oblivion'', she asks you to wipe out a group of necromancers. In ''Knights of the Nine'', she serves as the patron of Umaril the Unfeathered. In ''Skyrim'', she asks you to cleanse her shrine. In ''Online'', she works to prevent Molag Bal's Planemeld.
----
* AboveGoodAndEvil: While this is technically the case for all Daedric Princes, Meridia requires a special mention. Meridia ''hates'' the undead. Since the undead and necromancy are generally a threat to the mortals of Nirn, she's viewed as a positive force by mortals, but this doesn't mean she truly ''cares'' for mortals. She supported many of the Ayleids because they worshiped her and ''didn't'' use necromancy, while still being horrific monsters that tortured and murdered countless human slaves.
* AbusiveParents: She created her “vessel”, [[spoiler: Darien Gautier]], but treats him as little more than one of her tools, and refers to him as “it”.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Meridia was originally a Magna-Ge, an et'Ada who assisted during the creation of Mundus but abandoned the project part way through along with Magnus and the rest of the Magna-Ge. However, she was banished from Aetherius for "consorting with illicit spectra". Considered a "trespasser" in Oblivion by the Daedra, Meridia proceeded to use her powers to shape the light from Magnus to create her own realm.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Some accounts and depictions portray Meridia as an insatiably demanding goddess, constantly fishing for [[ComplimentFishing worshippers and admirerers]], while doing as little as possible to repay those who offer.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: If Meridia offers a mortal a deal, or asks them for a "favor" of some kind, refusal is not an option. In ''Daggerfall'', she will give a player that refuses her deal an ImpliedDeathThreat. In ''Skyrim'', she will tell the Last Dragonborn that if they won't fulfill her wishes, she will find someone else, but also gives yet another ImpliedDeathThreat if they're thinking about refusing.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: She invokes the idea of beauty being associated with goodness or pleasantness. Meridia takes the form of a beautiful woman, often in various [[{{Stripperific}} skimpy outfits]] which show off and/or enhance her [[BuxomIsBetter bust]] and [[ShowSomeLeg legs]]. She often refers to her abilities and divine sphere as being associated with beauty, light, and living auras.
* BerserkButton: Do not mess with her shrines. She once destroyed an Ayleid village because it was built above one of her shrines.
* BigGood: In ''Online'', actively working to ensure that Molag Bal's Planemeld will fail.
* ComplimentFishing: Meridia is always eager to be reminded that mortals find her [[{{Narcissist}} benevolent, wise and attractive]], and is not above fishing for said compliments and being ''very'' irate if she does not receive them.
* CoolSword: Her artifact Dawnbreaker, a shining golden sword that glows when close to the Undead, sets them on fire, and makes them ''explode''.
* DisproportionateRetribution: A group of Ayleids built a city above one of her shrines. She responded by destroying it with roots, burying it and all who lived there beneath the ground.
* DivinelyAppearingDemons: She maintains the most "angelic" appearance out of any of the Daedric Princes. It may have to do with her different [[FallenAngel origins]].
* EldritchAbomination: There is some indication that Meridia is something... ''more'' than what she appears behind her (intentionally chosen) pleasing female form and generally "good" actions toward mortals. According to the ''[[https://www.imperial-library.info/content/magne-ge-pantheon Magne-Ge Pantheon]]'', the actions of the "Chrome Device" (implied to be Magnus or possibly Anu) have caused her "real" role in history to be lost. It also states "Of all of the Greater Spirits, it is Merid that we should most revere. For what if she forsakes us?" Further, she is the only one listed to have her pronouns capitalized in the work in the "{{God}}" with a capital "G" sense.
* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: Closely associated with rainbow imagery and the color spectrum. Her sphere is even called the "Colored Rooms". One ancient Ayleid text even claims that by traveling the "rainbow road" (a reference to the prismatic refraction of light), Meridia can in some sense alter the rate at which time flows forward.
--> ''"... thus does Merid-Nunda [ride? slide?] across the rainbow road from end to end, at one end stretching the dragon, at the other end compressing him ..."''
* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: From the perspective of mortals, at least. In one instance, she'll be acting as the BigGood in defending mortal lives from hostile takeover by supernatural forces. Then in another, she'll be giving aid to a being who seeks to overthrow the Nine Divines and enslave the races of Men.
* FallenAngel: While not truly "angelic" in nature, she was once one of the Magna Ge, but was cast out to Oblivion for consorting with "illicit spectra". Her statue at Kilkreath Ruins in Skyrim gives her this appearance, being humanoid with a pair of large feathered wings.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Though she is associated with the "energy of living things", she Subverts it. There is a heavy emphasis on the ''Living'' part, for one. If you're Undead or a Necromancer, she ''will'' destroy you. If some living things have to die as collateral damage in order for her to achieve her greater goals, she'll sacrifice them without a second thought.
* GodWasMyCopilot: In ''Online'', the player is ushered into the Hollow City in Coldharbour by a seemingly normal but mysterious woman known only as [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep the Groundskeeper]]. In the final act of the story, the Groundskeeper reveals herself as Meridia, acting against Molag Bal.
* GoodIsNotNice: She's generally considered one of the "good" Daedra, but she's still a Daedric Prince. If some innocent mortals have to die so that she can achieve her goals (which usually involves eliminating a supernatural or undead threat), she will sacrifice them without a second thought.
* GoodWingsEvilWings: Some depictions of her give her [[WingedHumanoid angel-like wings]].
* GreaterScopeVillain: Of ''Knights of the Nine''. She is the patron of [[BigBad Umaril the Unfeathered]] and is supplying him with his forces. She also allows him to retreat to her realm of Oblivion when his physical form is slain on Mundus, allowing it to reform and thus giving him his ResurrectiveImmortality.
* {{Greed}}: In the Iliac Bay aera of Hammerfell, she is known as "The Daedric Lady of Greed". It's implied that this is because she has an insatiable desire for worship, and [[AllTakeAndNoGive will make unending demands of said worshippers while doing as little as necessary for them in return]].
* HeroicWillpower: After being cast out of the ranks of the Magna-Ge and being called a "trespasser" in Oblivion by the Daedra, she brought her realm into being through the ''sheer power of her will''.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: A rare example in which the character is both this AND a VillainWithGoodPublicity. Most of Tamriel is skeptical, or cautious, toward Daedra in general (especially after the Oblivion Crisis at the end of the 3rd Era). Some groups, such as the Vigilant of Stendarr, actively ''oppose'' any and all Daedra regardless of intention. Meridia, however, still undertakes actions on behalf of mortals despite this and sometimes has to work through a proxy (like Sees-All-Colors in ''Online'') for groups that would never collaborate with her willingly.
* IGaveMyWord: While Meridia has the reputation of being AllTakeAndNoGive toward her followers, when she ''does'' offer a reward of some kind for service, she will always make good on her promise. However, there are times when [[ExactWords what the other party gets is not exactly what they thought it would be]] or when the "reward" comes with strings or loopholes that only draws the person further into Meridia's service.
* {{Irony}}: In ''Skyrim'', her shrine is found in Haafinger. Not that ironic in the vanilla game... but once the ''Dawnguard'' DLC was released, her shrine now shares a hold with the Clan Volkihar - a group of vampires, and the only ''pure-blooded'' ones in Skyrim at that.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Meridia describes herself as compassionate and merciful, but she won't hesitate to use or sacrifice her own followers for what she perceives to be a greater end. If said followers lose faith or abandon her because of her actions, her compassion disappears entirely and she will allow or even ''cause'' them to meet a terrible end.
* {{Jerkass}}: Almost every other Daedric Prince is polite to the player in some way, whether [[AffablyEvil genuinely]] or [[FauxAffablyEvil as a front]] - even Molag Bal is capable of faking it long enough to get business done. Comparatively, [[{{Irony}} despite being considered one of the few benevolent Daedra]], Meridia is extremely rude, narcissistic, and petty, and is well-known to [[AllTakeAndNoGive dislike rewarding people]] who operate in her service.
* KnightTemplar: Meridia despises the undead and any other entities of cruelty, darkness, rot, filth, or decay. Thus, she will stop at nothing to destroy them, even if it means causing collateral damage to innocent people or her own followers, bordering on being a WellIntentionedExtremist. Undead and necromancy seem to be the only reasons she ever interacts with mortal affairs, usually to have them wiped out.
* LargeHam: In ''Skyrim'', famously, where she dominates her interactions with the Dragonborn by speaking with bombastic demeanor and flowery prose.
--> '''Meridia''': ''[[IncomingHam A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON!]]''
* LifeEnergy: Her primary association is with the "energy of living things". It is also a strong justification for her severe hatred of anything undead.
* LightIsNotGood: While her association with light and living energies seems to imply she might be a "good" Daedric Prince it's important to remember that she was the GreaterScopeVillain of ''Knights of the Nine''. She, along with her Aurorans, allied with the BigBad Umaril, an Ayleid sorceror-king who wanted to overthrow the Nine Divines and enslave humanity. Meridia is also prone to ''majorly'' lashing out at any mortal being that upsets her (for example, destroying an entire Ayleid city because they were located a little too close to her shrine). Ultimately, like any Daedric Prince, what good Meridia does is going to be for her benefit, not anyone else's.
* ManipulativeBitch: After revealing her true identity in ''Online'', the Vestige will call her out for using him/her. Meridia will counter that she thinks of them as nothing but a pawn in a grand game and that's up to the Vestige themselves if they make the most of it or not.
* {{Narcissist}}: Implied in ''Online'' when, [[ButHeSoundsHandsome especially in her guise as the Groundskeeper, she refers to herself and her actions in the most glorifying language possible]]. To hear her speak, everything she does is merciful, benevolent, and wise, and she also thinks highly of her own beauty and power. She shows ''zero'' patience or tolerance for things or individuals which do not support that conclusion.
* PetTheDog: Despite admitting that most of her benevolent acts in ''Online'' were for her own benefit, Meridia does two helpful things for the player. The first is locating and returning the Vestige's soul -- although Cadwell was the one who asked her to do, she agreed regardless. The second is accepting Cadwell as her new servant, and enabling him to assist the player in various ways, such as opening the way for NewGamePlus content.
* ThePowerOfTheSun: Carved her own realm out of sunlight. Being the daughter of Magnus (who has left), she is also the closest thing the set has to a solar deity.
* ProudBeauty: Meridia embodies light and life, and so takes an appearance that mortals would perceive as a beautiful woman. She is well aware of this fact, and takes pride in the fact that mortals find everything about her, even her visible form, pleasant and appealing.
* PutOnABus: She does not appear in ''Morrowind'', though is mentioned. She returns in ''Oblivion''.
* RedBaron: The Solar Daughter, Lady of Infinite Energy, The Glister Witch.
* RingOfPower: Is associated with the Ring of Khajiit, with typically bestows the wearer with enhanced quickness, silent movement, and outright invisibility. It is said that Rajhin, the legendary Khajiit thief, stole it from Mephala herself. However, after making use of its power too freely, Rajhin was abandoned by the ring and left exposed to his enemies. The ring is also associated with Meridia, who, through unexplained means, acquired the ring and bestowed it as a reward to her agents twice in the 3rd Era.
* TautologicalTemplar: Meridia opposes creatures of cruelty and defilement, so both she and her followers categorize her as "good". However, that means that she feels ''any'' action she takes is therefore good and anyone who opposes or abandons her is evil. She will thus deal with them appropriately.
* TheTease: DownplayedTrope. Meridia's shapely, buxom (and often scantily-clad) female form was a deliberate choice to make her beautiful and appealing to mortals, as befitting her sphere of Light and Life. She has no qualms about deliberately calling attention to her attractiveness, either, but has never been shown with the slightest desire to act on or return a mortal's interest. Her typical response to any enamored mortal implies that because she is so much greater than they, their desires are both expected and beneath her concern.
* TimeMaster: To a degree. Through the prismatic refraction of light, it is said that Meridia can in some small way alter the forward flow of time.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: A rare example in which the character is both this AND a HeroWithBadPublicity. Amongst her faithful and many other groups, Meridia is considered one of the most "benevolent" Daedric Princes. She, in fact, doesn't like it when her actions are painted in anything but a positive light even at her most ruthless, petty, and vindictive.
* WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison: She will sacrifice innocent lives, even those of her loyal followers, in an instant if it means achieving a greater good (at least in her opinion). In ''Online'', she outright tells the Vestige that she used him/her to save countless other lives, and that she ultimately doesn't care about one mortal soul.
* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: From Meridia's point-of-view, mortals who abandon or neglect her favor have only themselves to blame. After all, [[TautologicalTemplar she is "good" and thus anything that hinders her is "bad".]]
-->'''Meridia:''' Look at my temple, lying in ruins. So much for the constancy of mortals, their crafts and their hearts. If they love me not, how can my love reach them?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Molag Bal]]
!!Molag Bal
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/molag_bal_5478.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Wes Johnson (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Jonathan Bryce (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Creator/ChristopherCoreySmith (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim''), Creator/MalcolmMcDowell (''The Elder Scrolls Online'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Alexey Borzunov (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Rudolf Pankov (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Vasily Stonozhenko (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Molag Bal seeds chaos and strife, spreading discord by corrupting soul after soul. His forces are legion; his patience is limitless; his ultimate goal is the domination and enslavement of all living things."''
-->-- '''''The Spawn of Molag Bal'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Domination, Corruption, Enslavement, Rape\\
'''''Realm''''': Coldharbour\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Mace of Molag Bal\\
'''''Servants''''': Daedroths, Daedric Titans, Xivkyn

Molag Bal is the Daedric Prince of Domination and Corruption, a sphere which includes Enslavement, Violation, Defilement, and Rape. His main desire is to harvest the souls of mortals and to bring them within his sway by spreading seeds of strife and discord in the mortal realms. He especially enjoys manipulating and corrupting mortals into violating and destroying one another. Molag Bal's typical form is that of a horned humanoid with various undead and/or reptilian features which vary between appearances. He is naturally considered a "bad" Daedra throughout Tamriel, and perhaps the most outright ''malevolent'' of them all. Unlike Mehrunes Dagon, who at least has some redeeming qualities, Molag Bal is not known to have ''any''.

Molag Bal's most infamous act (and that is ''really'' saying something) was committing the first rape, upon a Nede[[note]]the ancient Cyrodiils[[/note]] woman, from which was born the first vampire, leading to his title, the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast King of Rape]]. All vampires can trace their lineage to this act, or to another similar act involving Molag Bal.

Molag Bal's realm is Coldharbour, which resembles a ruined and desecrated copy of Nirn that is filled with suffering and "spattered" with blood and excrement. It contains charnel houses full of the dead and slave pens beyond count. It is said that no mortals willingly visit this place except in error.

In ''Daggerfall'', Molag Bal asks you to assassinate a mage. In ''Morrowind'', he asks you to slay a lazy Daedroth servant. Additionally, to cure vampirism, he'll task you with slaying his "daughter" (a Winged Twilight) and her "lowly" Frost Atronach lover. In ''Oblivion'', he tasks you with provoking a pacifist into ''killing you'' with a cursed mace (you survive). In ''Skyrim'', he tasks you with killing a Vigilant of Stendarr and then corrupting a priest of Boethiah. In ''Online'', he serves as the antagonist for the game's main plot.
----
* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Molag Bal is universally despised by every culture in Tamriel. Among his servants, the only ones who genuinely like him are are those who don't know him very well and those who have become enthralled by the power he's granted them. And it's only a matter of time before he betrays the former group, or converts them into one of the latter.
* AffablyEvil: On the rare occasion that somebody manages to significantly [[GracefulLoser upset his plans or downright defeat him]], or he finds somebody almost as evil as he himself is. [[FauxAffablyEvil At all other times, it is simply an act]].
* ArchEnemy:
** Boethiah is his most hated rival/enemy. The two are willing to do all sorts of terrible things just to mildly annoy the other. Probably because he's the Daedric Prince of domination, while Boethiah only respects willpower.
** He and Arkay also fit, as Bal created the first vampire just to upset Arkay's balance of life and death.
** He and Meridia hate each other as well, since she finds him utterly disgusting and he considers her a nuisance.
** He is also implied to antagonize followers of Stendarr specifically. Since Stendarr is the God of Mercy and he is the God of Domination, it seems Bal enjoys seeing just how capable Stendarr is of protecting his faithful.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: His servants, both mortals and the lesser denizens of Oblivion, know better than to disobey or disrespect Molag Bal. Those who do tend to end up with a FateWorseThanDeath.
* BadBoss: Working for Molag Bal almost ''never'' ends well. Any power he offers or tempts a minion with will immediately disappear the moment that Bal realizes they're no longer useful, and sometimes even before that point.
* BigBad: For ''Online''.
* BloodyBowelsOfHell: Coldharbour, his Daedric Plane, is a ruined parody of Tamriel, with every surface covered in blood and excrement. He ''is'' the Lord of Violation, afterall...
* CardCarryingVillain: He makes absolutely no attempt to hide his extreme malevolence.
* CarryABigStick: The Mace of Molag Bal. He even [[spoiler:fights you with it in the climax of ''Online'']].
* ColdBloodedTorture: He is a major fan of inflicting this. His plane, Coldharbour, is designed to torment a person as horribly and efficiently as possible.
* TheCorrupter: The very ''embodiment'' of the idea. One of his favorite things is to corrupt a good and noble mortal, then seeing them snap, fall, or break. He especially loves it when mortals do this to ''each other''.
* CreepyMonotone: His tone doesn't change much while talking. This is dropped completely when he becomes entertained, however.
* DarkWorld: His Daedric Plane of Coldharbour is said to be a "ruined parody" of Nirn, having endured every imaginable catastrophe while being spattered with blood and excrement.
* DefeatMeansRespect: As the lord of Domination, Molag Bal relishes power and strength. Defeating his minions and lieutenants prompts him to commend the victor for their strength, but it also means [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt you just earned the spot of the beings you defeated]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: Along with EvilIsPetty. He perpetrated the first rape, turning the innocent woman into the first vampire, who proceeded to rape and kill the nomads who cared for her, bringing undeath into Mundus -- simply as a "Screw you!" gesture to Arkay.
* TheDreaded: To the point where, during his quest in ''Skyrim'', simply revealing to an NPC that Molag Bal was the one who sent you counts as an Intimidation check. In the same game, the Hold guards' dialogue towards any player wielding his mace will be full of ''terror''.
* EldritchLocation: Coldharbour. The ground is sludge, the sky is on fire, and the [[EvilIsDeathlyCold air is freezing]]. It resembles a ruined and desecrated copy of Nirn that is filled with suffering and "spattered" with blood and excrement. It contains charnel houses full of the dead and slave pens beyond count. It is said that no mortals willingly visit this place except in error.
* EvilIsPetty: Considering that he is almost inarguably the most evil entity in the setting, his Daedric quests are all fairly small scale, mostly boiling down to simply killing one creature. While there is usually a sadistic twist, it still ends up being rather tame, all things considered. [[BigBad Until Online, that is]]
* EvilSmellsBad: Another trait of Coldharbour is the terrible smell. Given that every surface is spattered with blood and bloody excrement, one could say that this is justified.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He speeks with a deep, booming voice. He has a pretty nasty EvilLaugh as well.
* {{Expy}}: As the Daedric Princes are similar to ''Creator/HPLovecraft''s Great Old Ones and Outer Gods, he can be considered equivalent to Nyatharlotep, being the most purely sinister and evil of the bunch.
* AFateWorseThanDeath: Being trapped in Coldharbour, for any reason whatsoever, counts as this. It is specifically designed to break and torment mortals as efficiently and cruelly as possible. Being a follower or faithful servant of his will not save you in any way, and in fact, may make it worse. He is also known to dole out fates like this as punishments to servants who disobey or fail him... as well as sometimes to those who ''[[BadBoss don't.]]''
** He also [[PlayingWithATrope plays with]] the trope, in that [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil the act to which the phrase originally referred]] is one of his godly spheres.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Molag Bal can actually act pleasant and polite, but he is ''not'' nice ''at all.''
* ForTheEvulz: It is the motivation for ''everything'' he does. He commits horrific, ''unspeakable'' acts ''simply because '''he can'''''.
* GenderBender: ''Mostly'' averted, unlike most of the other Daedric Lords; Molag Bal (to the best knowledge of scholars on the subject) appears as male to all of his followers with one exception; an all female cult known as the Witches of Molag Bal, who are ''extremely devoted'' to their Prince, even by Daedric Cult standards. The Witches commune with Molag Bal in the guise of a mortal female.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GodOfEvil: Most of the Daedra are JerkassGods to some degree or another, but still have redeeming qualities, even Mehrunes Dagon. Not Molag Bal. He is a being of pure malevolence, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He basically is TheDevil to the Dunmer, as they see him as the creator of obstacles trying to threaten the "purity" of the Great Houses. He is not much better regarded by any other race on Tamriel, either.
* GreaterScopeVillain: He serves as this in ''Dawnguard'', as the creator of vampirism, and thus the ultimate progenitor of all the conflict in ''Dawnguard's'' storyline. It was he who turned [[BigBad Lord Harkon]] into a pureblood vampire along with the rest of his family, thus giving rise to the Volkihar Clan in the first place. Being the progenitor of all vampires, it also makes him indirectly responsible for Arch-Curate Vyrthur's corruption, which results in him creating the Prophecy of the Tyranny of the Sun which sets the plot of ''Dawnguard'' into motion. Essentially, he is the ManBehindTheMan behind the GreaterScopeVillain.
** Played with in Online. [[spoiler:Up until the end of the main quest, Molag Bal most certainly IS the ManBehindTheMan of Mannimarco, and responsible for the attempted Planemeld. But upon defeat he all but laughs at the protagonists for believing that he is the worst threat they will ever face]].
--> [[spoiler:''"Had you [[KneelBeforeZod bowed before]] me and [[EvilOverlord accepted eternal servitude]], I would have protected you. There are worse masters [[AffablyEvil than I]]. [[UltimateEvil Far worse]]."'']]
* HauntedHouse: How he manifests in ''Skyrim''. He's got a hidden, deceptively small shrine housing his Mace in the basement of a house in Markarth, and when the Dragonborn and a Vigilant of Stendarr show up to investigate, he locks the doors and pelts them with objects like a poltergeist until one of them kills the other.
* HornedHumanoid: While his physical appearance can vary somewhat between appearances, he is always depicted with horns.
* ILied: Molag Bal ultimately does not keep his word with any but the worst of his minions. "Rewards" are given solely for the purpose of creating a more useful or obedient slave; remaining in his service will ultimately result in the servant only being rewarded with slavery and endless torment.
* IShallTauntYou: Almost every sentence out of his mouth is a taunt to remind a person how insignificant they are compared to him. He ''is'' the Lord of Domination, after all.
* LargeHam: He repeatedly shows this in his quest in ''Skyrim''. Even moreso in [[BigBad his appearance]] in ''Online''.
* TheManBehindTheMan: In ''Online'', he also serves as this to [[DragonWithAnAgenda Mannimarco]], though you're aware of it from the start.
* ManipulativeBastard: Molag Bal greatly enjoys manipulating mortals into furthering his schemes. Indeed, the main difference between Molag Bal and Mehrunes Dagon is that while Dagon will invade and inflict destruction upon mortals with his LegionsOfHell and cultists, Molag Bal will instead manipulate mortals into destroying ''themselves''.
* MindRape: He can fragment a person's soul or memories, so that if they prove resistant to the torture, he can take away or make them completely forget what gives them strength.
* MonsterProgenitor: Created the first vampire. It is believed that all Vampires descend from her, upsetting the balance of death and rebirth normally administered by the Aedric God Arkay.
* MoralEventHorizon: Molag Bal's favorite pass-time is forcing mortals to jump over the lines they would never usually cross. In fact the only servants of his that he genuinely seems to [[VillainousFriendship like, value, and refrain from tossing aside casually]] are the ones that will repeatedly jump over any moral boundaries whatsoever with relish.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: UpToEleven. Molag Bal (which itself means "Fire Stone" in [[ClassicalTongue old Aldmeris]]), the ''King of Rape'', the ''Lord of Brutality'', the "''Hated One''", and just an endless line of equally-horrific titles.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Both he and Meridia state that defeating him in ''Online'' actually works to his ''advantage''. This is never elaborated upon. Further, at points when the player destroys his Dark Anchors, Bal will be delighted that mortals are rising to meet his challenge with greater strength, as if that were his intention.
* ObviouslyEvil: While morality is a highly debated topic with the Daedra, there's no debate with Molag Bal. He is the closest to a true GodOfEvil among the Daedric Princes, with no redeeming qualities.
* OffingTheOffspring: Once issued a task to the Nerevarine to slaughter a rebellious daughter for consorting with an Atronach that he did not approve of.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Downplayed in regards to his title "The King of Rape". To note:
** He's only been recorded as having raped ''one'' person, but this does not prevent his most infamous title being that of the "King of Rape". It also doesn't help that this act was stated to be the "first" rape, similar in implication to the "first murder" of the Bible.
** ''Dawnguard'' further downplays this. It's implied that this is one of the ways that Molag Bal chooses to confer the abilities of a [[MonsterLord Vampire Lord]] upon his most devout followers. While his male followers are asked to perform a large HumanSacrifice in his name, women are subjected to a far more ''degrading'' ritual at his hands, with the implication being further reinforced by Serana ''refusing'' to elaborate further on the matter.
** In the title's original context, personal assault wasn't even the focus. Instead the "King of Rape" was focused on the corruption of racial and genealogical purity, both being SeriousBusiness to the Dunmer.
* PetTheDog: Surprisingly he has one in ''Oblivion'', though it could be considered a case of PragmaticVillainy. The quest to get his mace requires you to provoke someone into committing a murder, with you as the victim. After the task is finished, Molag Bal brings you back to life.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: His most infamous act was the very first rape which created vampires, and all pureblood vampire lines can trace their origins back to a Daughter of Coldharbour being raped by Molag Bal.
* RapePillageAndBurn: He is practically the patron deity of the trope. He especially enjoys it when he can corrupt mortals into committing these against each other.
* RedBaron: The King of Corruption, Father of Vampires, Harvester of Souls, Hated One, King of Rape, Lord of Brutality, Prince of Rage. And that's just a short list. A longer one can be found [[https://raven-6-10.tumblr.com/post/638028348084355072/today-is-the-20th-of-evening-star-chila-the here]] and [[UpToEleven it's still not all of his titles]].
* RedSkyTakeWarning: Coldharbour is described as having a burning sky as well as being [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin extremely cold]].
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: His statues in ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'' depict a reptilian humanoid.
* SatanicArchetype: He's probably the closest thing the ''Elder Scrolls'' universe has to {{Satan}}, seeing as his ''modus operandi'' is corrupting mortals into committing evil deeds so he can claim their souls. Unlike a few others on this list he lacks ''any'' redeeming qualities, to the point he comes across [[EvilerThanThou even worse]] than [[OmnicidalManiac Mehrunes Dagon]]. Hell, even his name is taken from "Moloch" and "Baal", two of the ''most'' ValuesDissonance heavy pagan gods from the Bible.
* SerialEscalation: Don't ask us how, but Molag Bal [[TookALevelInJerkass gets worse]] with each appearance.
* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: He claims Domination and Enslavement as part of his spheres of influence, and is widely considered the most evil of the Daedric Princes.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Molag Bal believes that the strong should kill and dominate the weak, even when ''he personally'' proves to be the latter. For instance in ''Skyrim'' he tries to tempt the Dragonborn into becoming his champion because he recognizes and respects the Dragonborn's power. In ''Online'', he [[GracefulLoser commends the player for defeating his armies and, ultimately, himself]].
* TimeOfMyths: In a previous kalpa (cycle of time), it is said that the [[FishPeople Dreugh]] ruled the world in service to Molag Bal. However, that world (known as "Lyg") was destroyed and the remnants were one of the 12 worlds assembled to create Nirn during the Dawn Era as described in many creation myths.
* TheUndead: By siring the first vampire, he brought the idea of "undeath" into Mundus. He apparently did this just as a "Screw you!" gesture toward Arkay.
* VillainousFriendship: The only mortals Molag Bal actually likes are the ones closest to himself; people with no morals whatsoever who will commit unspeakable atrocities for the barest scrap of power, and [[ForTheEvulz sometimes for no reason at all]].
* WorthyOpponent: After the conclusion of ''Online's'' main quest, he outright congratulates the Vestige for their skills, though he's quite quick to warn them that even worse things will be coming later on.
* YouGotSpunk: Molag Bal's dialogue in ''Online'' and elsewhere implies that while he enjoys domination and enslavement, he ''especially'' enjoys it when the target of his attentions fights back. The harder the target fights back, the more he enjoys trying to break them. If that sounds creepy, well, it should be. Remember his titles.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Defeating his minions means that he now recognizes you as a worthy replacement for them.
* YourSoulIsMine:
** He loves corrupting people and claiming their souls. The Mace of Molag Bal in ''Skyrim'' has this as ability.
** Molag Bal taking people's souls serves as the plot for ''Online''.
** According to one obscure text, one of Molag Bal's positive (for a very, very loose definition of "positive") achievements was lending his power to the creation of the first soul gems. Knowing Bal, this act very likely had an extremely sinister motive behind it as well. Although considering that Soul gems are themselves subject to some particularly sinister FridgeHorror, maybe not.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Namira]]
!!Namira (aka Namiira)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/namira.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Shrine of Namira]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Mozhan Marnò (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Marina Lisovets (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Namira, whose sphere is the ancient Darkness; known as the Spirit Daedra, ruler of sundry dark and shadowy spirits; associated with spiders, insects, slugs, and other repulsive creatures which inspire mortals with an instinctive revulsion."''
-->-- '''''The Book of Daedra'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': The Ancient Darkness, the Grotesque, Revulsion, Decay, Pity\\
'''''Realm''''': Scuttling Void\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Namira's Ring\\
'''''Servants''''': Dro-m'Athra

Namira is the Daedric Prince of the Ancient Darkness, associated with all things Grotesque, things which cause Revulsion, and with Decay. Cannibalism also falls within her sphere. She is also associated with insects, slugs, bats, rats, and other creatures which disgust mortals. This includes sapient beings such as beggars, the diseased, and the disfigured. She typically takes the form of an unkempt woman dressed in black. While not considered to be an inherently malevolent Prince, the nature of her sphere and the behaviors of her followers often cause her to be cast in a negative light. She is very protective over her followers.

In Khajiiti mythology, she is known as Namiira and is associated with Lorkhan (Lorkhaj). She is said to be a part of the Void which became self-aware after the birth of Lorkhaj.

Namira's realm is known as the Scuttling Void, but few details of it are known to mortals.

In ''Daggerfall'', Namira asks you to slay an ancient vampire. She does not appear in ''Morrowind''. In ''Oblivion'', asks you to help her followers retaliate against those who wish to turn them away from her. In ''Skyrim'', she tasks you to help her secretive group of followers acquire their next meal.
----
* AbsoluteCleavage: Her statues depict her wearing a dress in this fashion.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: A more poetic interpretation on her domain being described as "ancient darkness" is that she embodies humanities ''primal'' fears.
* BlessedWithSuck: According to the book ''Beggar Prince'', she "blessed" all beggars with the gift of disease. It makes them repulsive, and this invokes pity and disregard in others. This both earns them the charity of others, while also making them [[BeneathNotice the perfect spies and sources of information, because they could watch and listen to what others did, but never be noticed doing so]].
* BodyHorror: This is practically a requirement of her followers. Disfiguring diseases are her favored form of this. She has been known to outright refuse the worship of any who are not repulsive enough.
* DarkIsNotEvil: She is associated not only with darkness, but specifically the "ancient darkness". According to Khajiiti religious tradition, she is a piece of the Void which became self-aware after the birth of Lorkhaj. However, she isn't particularly malevolent and she is very protective over her followers. Most of her other associations are perfectly natural occurrences as well.
* EldritchLocation: Her realm is called the "[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Scuttling Void]]", of which nothing is known.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: The only Daedric Prince to avert it. She ''hates'' attractive people and has outright refused the worship of people she does not find revolting enough.
* GrotesqueCute: She usually associated with things most would consider disgusting or repulsive, such as slugs, insects, or disfiguring diseases. In fact she only allows those considered ugly to summon her, and she ''hates'' attractive people.
* ImAHumanitarian: Cannibalism falls within her sphere. This makes sense given her ''modus operandi'', since cannibalism is typically a revolting and grotesque act which is frowned upon in most civilized societies. Of course, in Valenwood, cannibalism is the norm for Wood Elves who practice the Green Pact, so there she might instead have followers who (''gasp'') eat plants.
* LifeDeathJuxtaposition: The in-game book ''Great Spirits of the Reach'' stats that the Reachfolk view her as an "avatar of all primal dualisms," including life and death.
* MamaBear: She is very protective of her followers. Mess with them at your own peril.
* MessyHair: Most depictions of her include this. This along with her black dress, she almost crosses into WitchClassic territory.
* NatureIsNotNice: She represents many of the darker aspects of nature, including disease and decay, as well as being represented by typically revolting creatures such as insects, slugs, bats, and rats.
* NightmareFetishist: She is the very ''embodiment'' of all things grotesque and revolting.
* PutOnABus: She does not appear in ''Morrowind'', though she is mentioned. She returns for ''Oblivion''.
* RedBaron: Lady of Decay, the Spirit Daedra, the Great Darkness.
* RingOfPower: Her primary artifact is the Ring Of Namira. In most appearances, it grants the wearer increased [[AntiMagic protection against magic attacks]]. In ''Skyrim'', it instead grants the wearer a mild CannibalismSuperpower.
* TrashOfTheTitans: Her followers are infamous for preferring to live in dark and squalid conditions. Anyone attempting to remove them from these conditions is met with her wrath.
* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: Namira herself is associated with the "ancient darkness" of the pre-creation Void, and according to at least one religious tradition is actually a piece of the Void which became self-aware. Her realm is also called the Scuttling Void.
* WeAreEverywhere: Not her, exactly, but her cannibal followers have quite a large number of members; half the vendors of Markarth work for her despite being seemingly upstanding citizens normally.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nocturnal]]
!!Nocturnal
[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nocturnal_8869.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Catherine Flye (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Creator/LaniMinella (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'', ''The Elder Scrolls Online'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Elena Kischik (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Elena Solovyova (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Our trinity serves the Lady Nocturnal, the Empress of Murk and the Daughter of Twilight. We believe her to be our patron, if not the patron of all thieves worldwide. We serve her without prayer, without charity and without celebration. Our bond with Nocturnal is in the form of a business transaction we strike known as the Oath. Her terms are simple and binding. As Nightingales we are required to guard the Twilight Sepulcher, the Temple of Nocturnal, against those perceived as a threat. In return, we are allowed to use our abilities as Nightingales to further our own means and the means of the Thieves Guild."''
-->-- '''''The Nightingales Vol. 1'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Night, Darkness, Thieves, Luck\\
'''''Realm''''': Evergloam, Shade Perilous, Crow's Wood\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Skeleton Key, Bow of Shadows, the Gray Cowl\\
'''''Servants''''': Nightingales

Nocturnal is the Daedric Prince of Night and Darkness, and is also heavily associated with Thieves and Luck. Ravens are a common symbol of Nocturnal, who most commonly appears as a hooded woman dressed all in black. While not considered to be an inherently malevolent Prince, the nature of her sphere and the behaviors of her followers often cause her to be cast in a negative light. She is regarded as the patron of the Thieves Guild, toward whom she is a distant but motherly figure.

Her primary realm is known as Evergloam, a realm of perpetual twilight and shadows. It is connected to Mundus by the Ebonmere, a conduit which allows Nocturnal's power to bring luck to thieves. The Ebonmere is protected by her mortal servants, the Nightingales, whom she grants great power in exchange for their service in life (and in death). She is also associated with several pocket realms, including Shade Perilous and Crow's Wood.

In ''Daggerfall'', Nocturnal asks you to slay a mage. She does not appear in ''Morrowind'', but two of her artifacts (the Bow of Shadows and the Skeleton Key) do. In ''Oblivion'', she asks you to recover her "Eye" from thieves. In ''Skyrim'', she is heavily involved in the Thieves' Guild questline. In ''Online'' she gets promoted to the BigBad of the ''Summerset'' chapter, attempting to hijack the Crystal Tower and become omnipotent.
----
* AbsoluteCleavage: Her appearances in ''Skyrim'' and ''Online'' have her wear robes with a wide slit going from the top down to her navel.
* AlwaysNight: Her realm, Evergloam, is said to be in a state of "perpetual twilight".
* AnimalMotifs: Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and of course her most trusted mortal servants are Nightingales.
* BigBad: She is the main villain of both the Clockwork City expansion and Summerset chapter of ''Online''.
* TheChessmaster: In the ''Summerset'' chapter of ''Online'' she manipulates everybody, including the Psijjic Order and ''two other Daedric Princes who specialise in manipulation'' into doing her dirty work for her.
* DarkIsEvil: A rare moment from her occurs in ''Online'' where she tries to take over the Clockwork City and then the Crystal Tower in order to make herself the supreme God of reality.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Though her sphere does include darkness and the night, she isn't considered one of the more inherently malevolent Princes. Her association with thieves does maker her a bit morally ambiguous, but it's safe to say she's no Molag Bal.
* DealWithTheDevil: The patron of thieves, and said to be the source of "scoundrel's luck" that aids them and the shadows that hide them. However, this is a ''contract'', not a blessing. Three champions known as the Nightingales swear absolute loyalty to her, pledging their souls to guard the Ebonmere, her conduit to the mortal realms, in life and in death. In life, the Nightingales receive great power, special armor, and the freedom to do with these as they wish on the condition that they always guard the Ebonmere -- fail and they will lose all their gifts, and ''all'' thieves will have a sudden run of supernaturally bad luck, until it is reconsecrated. After serving their term as spectral guardians, they join the shadows which aid all living thieves.
* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: At the time of ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'', she had the receiving end of this. Inverted however that your tasks pertaining to Nocturnal usually have you return the stuff stolen from her.
* DivineRaceLift: Of a sort since Daedric Princes can take the form of whatever they want. Nocturnal appears in ''Skyrim'' as a white woman, while she appears in ''Online'' as a black woman.[[note]]Ironically, Nocturnal is marked in the game files for ''Skyrim'' as a Redguard, but was given a whiter skin tone more similar to a Nord's instead.[[/note]]
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Thieves love stealing things ''from'' Nocturnal. While they may succeed in acquiring the item they are attempting to steal (the Gray Cowl, the Eye of Nocturnal, the Skeleton Key) they always pay for it in the end, usually by Nocturnal cursing the item they stole or [[TooDumbToLive having her servants hunt down the offender]].
* {{Expy}}: Of Nyx from Myth/ClassicalMythology. She's the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification embodiment of night]], and also grants protection to thieves. However, Nocturnal is more a bit more anthropomorphic than Nyx, and her association with thieves is played up significantly.
* GodIsDispleased: At some point prior to the events of ''Skyrim'', she cursed the Thieves Guild with a long string of bad luck, [[spoiler:having withdrawn her protection and influence as its unknown (to all non-Nightingale members of the Guild) patron deity, due to Mercer Frey's theft of the Skeleton Key and murder of Gallus, the previous Guildmaster.]]
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Some sources state that she is a "sister" of Azura, although it is unclear whether it is in a literal or metaphorical sense, as other sources also mention both having a rivalry to each other.
* InTheHood: All of her appearances have her wearing a hooded cloak.
* LadyLuck: She's the Daedric Prince of luck, at least for the thieves who venerate her.
* MagpiesAsPortents: She is associated with ravens and crows. The Crow's Wood is a pocket realm of Oblivion associated with Nocturnal, and it is ruled by the Blackfeather Court, a group of sentient crows who consider themselves as the realm's rulers.
* MeaningfulName: On several levels. Nocturnal means "active at night", and she is the very ''embodiment'' of the night. She is the patron of the thieves, who are also most active during the night.
* PutOnABus: She doesn't make an appearance in ''Morrowind'', but she is mentioned and the Skeleton Key does appear. She returns for ''Oblivion''.
* RedBaron: The Mistress of Shadows, the Unfathomable, the Empress of Murk, the Daughter of Twilight, the Mistress of Mystery, Lady Luck, the Saint of Suspicion, the Night Mistress, Ur-Dra.
* TheSacredDarkness: The darkness that Nocturnal represents is treated as protective, as well as beautiful, welcoming, and awe-inspiring to those who appreciate it. However, Nocturnal is quick to withdraw her favor (and thus the protective qualities of darkness) if she is displeased, and those who appreciate the darkness more often than not tend to be thieves and criminals.
* ScamReligion: The "Priests of Nocturnal" were merely a cult created to prey on the gullible. While their members set up shop in the Twilight Sepulcher and conducted all sorts of bogus rituals and practices to supposedly gain Nocturnal's favor, Nocturnal herself didn't actually pay them ''any'' attention or care ''what'' they did, as long as they didn't interfere with the Nightingales or threaten the Ebonmere.
* SemanticSuperpower: The Skeleton Key. It unlocks things. In fact, it unlocks ''anything''. Including [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower the limits of human potential]]. [[StoryAndGameplaySegregation In the hands of the player however]], it's simply a lockpick which will never fail.
* ShowSomeLeg: In most depictions of Nocturnal, her cloak/robe opens up at the side of the thighs, fully exposing her legs.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Her relationship with the Nightingales, and really all thieves. For the Nightingales, she grants them immense power and freedom to do with it as they wish, on the condition that they ''always'' protect the Ebonmere. Thieves in general benefit from her protective darkness and "scoundrel's luck", but she does not offer any sort of direct DivineIntervention to either group if they get in over their heads, and is quick to withdraw her blessings if she is displeased.
* SkeletonKey: Her most (in)famous artifact. In the hands of most, it serves as a [[MasterOfUnlocking lockpick which will never fail]]. For those who can unlock [[FullPotentialUpgrade its true power]], it gives them the ability to unlock ''anything'', including the metaphorical locks on their own potential.
* SpiritAdvisor: Along with allowing for {{Dead Person Conversation}}s. Deceased Nightingales serve a "term" as the "spectral guardians" of the Ebonmere and Twilight Sepulcher, allowing them to communicate with the still-living Nightingales.
* ThievesGuild: She is the (unofficial) patron of the Tamriellic Thieves Guild, and really all thieves everywhere even if they don't acknowledge it or aren't aware of it. The reason it is "unofficial", as Karliah explains in ''Skyrim'':
--> ''"Nocturnal isn't one for worship and reverence. There are no priests and no sermons, no services and no alms. She influences our luck and in return demands payment. [...] The only difference is she doesn't demand payment in the traditional sense and sometimes the cost can be quite high. Whether you know it or not, Nocturnal dictates how well we perform as rogues."''
* {{Unperson}}: The curse she placed on the Gray Cowl causes this to happen to anyone who wears it. (It would take the power of an Elder Scroll to finally break the curse centuries later.)
--> ''"Whosoever wears it shall be lost in the shadows. His true nature shall be unknown to all who meet him. His identity shall be struck from all records and histories. Memory will hide in the shadows, refusing to record the name of the owner to any who meet him. He shall be known by the cowl and only by the cowl."''
* VoidBetweenTheWorlds: As the embodiment of the night, Nocturnal claims to be an aspect of the original Void itself. It turns out that this isn't metaphorical, either; in ''Online'' she uses this void in an attempt to consume the Clockwork City.
* WellDoneSonGuy: One of her Nightingales describes Nocturnal as a mother that offers little praise but always pushes you to do better.
* YourSoulIsMine: She claims the souls of the Nightingales when the die. They continue to serve her as spectral guardians of the Ebonmere and Twilight Sepulcher for a "term", then join the shadows.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Peryite]]
!!Peryite
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peryite.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Statue of Peryite]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Craig Sechler (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Alexander Gruzdev (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"It is said that Peryite guards the lowest orders of Oblivion and that his summoners are to regard his likeness to Akatosh as some primordial and curious jest."''
-->-- '''''Imperial Census of Daedra Lords'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Pestilence, the Natural Order, Tasks\\
'''''Realm''''': The Pits\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Spell Breaker\\
'''''Servants''''': Unknown

Peryite is the Daedric Prince of Pestilence, Tasks, and the Natural Order, and is charged with the ordering of the lowest levels of Oblivion. He is considered to be the weakest of the Princes. Peryite most commonly takes the form of a four-legged green dragon. While not considered an inherently malevolent Prince, his association with plagues and the deaths they cause tends to cast him in a negative light. He is considered particularly "loathsome" by the other Daedric Princes, who constantly look down upon him.

There is evidence that Peryite has a connection to the Sload, the "slug men" of Thras. He is connected to the creation of the Thrassian Plague which the Sload used to wipe out up to half the population of Tamriel in the 1st Era. There is also an ancient shrine dedicated to Peryite in the Summerset Isles which depicts the Aldmer fighting "slug-like creatures".

His realm is known as "The Pits". It somewhat resembles the Deadlands and is said to be typically inaccessible to mortals.

In ''Daggerfall'', Peryite asks you to slay a vampire ancient. He does not appear in ''Morrowind'', but his artifact, Spell Breaker, does. In ''Oblivion'', he asks you to rescue the souls of some of his followers. In ''Skyrim'', he asks you to kill a former priest of his who rebelled.
----
* AffablyEvil: Despite being referred to as one of the most "loathsome" Princes, as well as his association with pestilence and plagues, he has been consistently polite to the player character in all of his appearances. Even Mora and Hircine will express their displeasure, albeit calmly, if their quests are turned down in ''Daggerfall''. Peryite on the other hand, takes it in stride and benignly states that refusal indicates ''maturity''. Literally no other Daedric Prince takes rejection this well in their first appearance. His quest in ''Oblivion'' is one of the least morally suspect Daedric quests, as it involves ''saving'' the lives of his followers.
* AlmightyJanitor:
** Widely considered by Imperial scholars to be the "weakest" Daedric Prince and whose main sphere is ordering the lesser realms of Oblivion, but nonetheless, Peryite is still a ''Daedric Prince'', making him virtually infinite in power in his own realm and able to inflict massive damage if left unchecked. The Thrassian Plague was one such instance, and was so terrible it was one of the rare instances where [[EnemyMine everyone in Tamriel banded together]] to destroy the Sloads who unleashed it.
** It is important to remember that while he's called the "weakest" by mortals, [[RuleOfPerception that measurement is based on how much observable impact Peryite has on Nirn.]] Because his sphere involves orderly tasks and the growth and decay in nature, Peryite has little reason to or interest in acting openly on Nirn compared with other Princes. After all, merely by existing, life on Nirn furthers his sphere of influence.
** This trope is also a possible explanation for his DivergentCharacterEvolution: Since his focus on "order" was largely gone in ''Skyrim'', it's likely that he was "filling in" for Jyggalag because SomeoneHasToDoIt.
* BlessedWithSuck: His "blessings" to his followers seem to take the form of various diseases, [[LovecraftianSuperpower complete with weaponized projectile vomiting]].
* ButtMonkey: For the other Princes, who constantly look down upon him. It may also be why earlier games emphasize the "Order" part of his sphere, as prior to the proper introduction of Jyggalag, [[SomeoneHasToDoIt Someone Had To Do It]]. Further, being associated with order would put him at odds with the other Princes, who have a generally chaotic nature.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: His quest in ''Skyrim'' emphasizes his association with pestilence rather than his association with maintaining order, likely because ''Shivering Isles'' introduced Jyggalag as the Daedric Prince of Order.
* DraconicAbomination: Statues of Peryite often depict him as a four-legged dragon, and he is said to enjoy taking on this form as a mockery of Akatosh.
* {{Expy}}: In Skyrim, you may as well call him [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Grandpapa Nurgle]] and call it a day. Given that the Elder Scrolls devs are Warhammer fans, the parallels may be intentional.
* HypercompetentSidekick: While he's supposed to be the weakest Daedric Prince, he also keeps the lower levels of Oblivion running and the lesser Daedra in line.
* LoserDeity: He is considered to be the weakest of the Princes, and is considered particularly "loathsome" by the other Daedric Princes, who constantly look down upon him. He is also the Prince with perhaps the fewest mortal worshipers, both because of his low status and because his blessings to them tend to suck, often using them to spread plagues and diseases.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: His artifact, the Spell Breaker, is a Dwemer tower shield with a ward that [[AntiMagic blocks most forms of magic]].
* MysticalPlague: He is associated with pestilence and plagues. Perhaps most infamously, he is associated with the Thrassian Plague, unleashed by the Sload in the 1st Era, which killed up to half of Tamriel's population. In ''Skyrim'', his followers are afflicted with one of these as well.
* NatureIsNotNice: While Jyggalag's take on order is inorganic stasis ("Perfect Order"), Peryite seems to represent the "Natural Order" cycle of growth and decay. Unfortunately for Tamriel, this primarily manifests as outbreaks of disease, and death in wake of those outbreaks.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Compared with virtually every other Daedric Prince, Peryite doesn't really do much on Nirn beyond creating diseases, preferring to sit back and let things develop as they will. Because Nirn is mostly ordered and developing naturally, he has no reason to really intervene directly to further his interests, unless something goes wrong. His Daedric quests generally involve helping his followers or simply removing a follower misusing Peryite's gifts rather than anything malevolent.
* OrderVersusChaos: Much like Jyggalag, Peryite is a very Anuic entity, focused on order. In his case, it's the "natural" order things, like the growth and decay of life and the ordering of tasks and duties. Because of this he has very little obvious influence on Nirn, but when his impact is felt, it can be just as potent as any other Prince's.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: He normally appears as a green dragon to those who summon him. His statues are depicted with four legs instead of two (unlike Alduin and the other dragons in ''Skyrim'') as he isn't a true dragon, he just chooses to appear as one as a "primordial and curious jest" toward Akatosh.
* PutOnABus: He doesn't make an appearance in ''Morrowind'', but he is mentioned and Spell Breaker does appear. He returns for ''Oblivion''.
* RedBaron: The Taskmaster, Blighted Lord.
* {{Plaguemaster}}: As the Daedric Prince of pestilence, he is the embodiment of the idea of ThePlague. His idea of a "blessing" toward his followers is to inflict them with disease. The ending of his ''Skyrim'' quest implies that he is preparing a new plague meant to "cover the world" with his "blessing".
* RuleOfPerception: InUniverse, this is one of the reasons why he is considered "weak" by Imperial scholars. Peryite doesn't need to do much to expand his sphere of influence on Nirn, and most of his time is spent ordering parts of Oblivion. Since he's not perceived as doing much on Nirn, the people of Nirn don't consider him to be very powerful.
* YouDirtyRat: In ''Skyrim'', he manifests in the form of a swarm of ghostly skeevers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sanguine]]
!!Sanguine
[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sanguine_6008.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' William Salyers (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Dmitry Tarnover (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Sanguine, Prince of Hedonism, lords over no less than ten times ten thousand pleasure pockets of the Void. As revelry and drunken stupor fall under this Prince’s influence, he has been a favorite of many Emperors since the first foundation."''
-->-- '''''Imperial Census of Daedra Lords'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Debauchery, Hedonism, Revelry, Passion, Indulgence\\
'''''Realm''''': Myriad Realms of Revelry\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Sanguine's Rose, the 27 Threads of the Webspinner (created for Mephala)\\
'''''Servants''''': Unknown

Sanguine is the Daedric Prince of Debauchery, Hedonism, Revelry, and Passion, encompassing the lighter and darker aspects of each. Included within his domain are the darker natures of man, such as lust, sin, sloth, gluttony, and greed. His most common symbol is a rose, while Sanguine himself typically takes the form of a short, portly man with a horned head similar to that of a Dremora. While he is not considered an inherently malevolent Prince, and is in fact quite pleasant during most of his dealings with mortals, his associations numerous vices and tempting mortals into sin tend to cast him in a negative light.

Sanguine possesses thousands of realms within Oblivion, collectively called the Myriad Realms of Revelry. The realms are used mainly as pleasure pockets, refashioned to meet the needs and desires of their visitors. As such, Sanguine himself has very little control over them.

In ''Daggerfall'', Sanguine asks you to kill a monk. He does not appear in ''Morrowind'', but is mentioned as the creator of the 27 Threads of the Webspinner. In ''Oblivion'', he asks you to crash and prank a dinner party. In ''Skyrim'', he gets you black out drunk and leaves you to pick up the pieces of your lost night.
----
* AffablyEvil: Although he is associated with the darker natures of man and tries to tempt mortals with various vices, he tends to be quite pleasant.
* TheAlcoholic: Often seen with some form of drink in his hand, even in his statues. In ''Skyrim'', his quest even begins with a drinking contest at an inn.
* AmbiguousSituation: His artifact is Sanguine's Rose, a rose-looking staff-sized object that allows one to summon a Dremora. It's never made clear if this object is supposed to be a staff-sized rose or a rose-looking staff.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: As "fun" as he might seem, it is important to remember that he represents the "darker" aspects human nature as well. For all the revelry, his actions turn someone into an alcoholic. For all the fulfilled lust, there are broken relationships and failed marriages. One fortress in ''Skyrim'' which is filled with his revelers also includes a room where prisoners were burnt to death by a sadistic mage, and another room has NoodleImplements that strongly implied to be being used on those same prisoners to defile a shrine to Dibella, showing that not all of the excess Sanguine promotes is harmless, and he's ''just'' as dangerous as other Princes.
* BigRedDevil: Or rather, a short, portly devil is his most common form. In ''Daggerfall'', his skin is bright red.
* TheCorrupter: Present, but downplayed. Sanguine loves to tempt mortal into sinful lives... but it's ''his'' sins who, while definitely not necessarily ''harmless'', are on the less malevolent side of things from the mortal perspective.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Played with.
** He is a Daedric Prince and his sphere includes various sins, vices, and the darker natures of man, but he isn't nearly as evil as some would suggest. His quests usually don't involve killing things, causing lasting harm, or spreading suffering in any way, only annoying folks. To put it bluntly, Sanguine is basically a demonic frat boy.
** On the other hand, his personal artifact, Sanguine's Rose, is one of the more dangerous ones, since it summons a random lesser Daedra that is ''not'' under the summoner's control. Martin Septim's reaction to the Rose in ''Oblivion'' implies that toying around with it in his youth got a bunch of his friends killed and soured him on Daedra worship forever.
** His questline in ''Skyrim'' ends in Morvunskar, a fortress where Sanguine's worshippers engage in hedonistic indulgence. two rooms highlight how far this indulgence can go: a room where a sadistic mage is indulging in his fantasies by burning people to death, and another where it is implied that prisoners were being ''used'' to defile a shrine to Dibella. In the rare case that Sanguine himself actually comes through the portal, [[EveryoneHasStandards he will attack and slaughter these mages himself.]]
** It's worth noting that he is not the god of torture or murder, as those lie within the spheres of Vaermina and Molag Bal, respectively. Likewise, the darker aspects of sex such as affairs, orgies, and using sex as blackmail are explicitly stated to be a part of Mephala's sphere.
* EldritchLocation: He possesses thousands of realms of Oblivion, collectively called the Myriad Realms of Revelry. The realms are used mainly as [[HappyPlace pleasure pockets, refashioned to meet the needs and desires of their visitors]]. As such, Sanguine himself has very little control over them.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** Sanguine was said to be a regular in the court of [[TheCaligula Reman Cyrodiil]], at least until Reman's violent decadence went so far as to ''[[TooSpicyForYogSothoth make Sanguine uncomfortable]]'', prompting him to leave and never look back. This is saying something, as Sanguine's most extreme worshippers sometimes indulge in things like torture and murder... though Sanguine himself generally looks down on that kind of behavior. The general rule of thumb is that Sanguine's happy with his followers indulging themselves as much as they want... up until their indulgences start causing serious harm to others.
** Notably, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]] is ''not'' in his sphere of influence. Molag Bal instead has that as part of his domain.
* {{Expy}}:
** Of Dionysus, the god of wine, theatre, ritual madness and religious exctasy in Myth/ClassicalMythology. Much like Dionysus, Sanguine emphasizes debauchery, drunkenness, and the dangerous insanity that accompanies drugs and alcohol. He even sports horns, much like the older versions of Dionysus.
** Basically the Elder Scrolls' answer to Slannesh from Warhammer 40K, but relatively kind compared to the chaos god of excess.
* FunPersonified: Literally, being the very embodiment of hedonism is both the good and bad senses. His thousands of realms of Oblivion reform to cater to the needs of whoever visits.
* GargleBlaster: His special brew in ''Skyrim''.
* GodWasMyCopilot: In ''Skyrim'', the player can meet a man named [[LouisCypher Sam Guivenne]]. Later on, he reveals his [[GodInHumanForm true identity]] as that of Sanguine, and that the two of you went on one ''hell'' of a drunken bender across the entire province.
* GottaCatchEmAll: His 27 threads of the Webspinner, which he created for Mephala and the Morag Tong. They are 27 pieces of enchanted clothing and jewelry.
* GreatGazoo: He mostly plays with and, at worst, annoys mortals. He is definitely one of the less serious Daedric Princes. His influence can push mortals to rather extreme ends, however, and he disapproves of going ''too'' far in one's indulgences.
* HappyPlace: His Myriad Realms of Revelry constantly reform to become the pleasure paradise of whoever is visiting.
* TheHedonist: The Daedric Prince of the trope. He seems to exist to tempt others into becoming hedonists as well. This hedonism can go to amusing places... but also extremely dark ones as well, depending on the individual. One wild hedonist may just party and drink and have wild sex, but another may indulge in rape, torture, or murder.
* HornedHumanoid: His typical form is that of a short, portly man with devil-style horns.
* ItAmusedMe: The motivation for everything he does. His primary goal is to tempt mortals with vices and sins to get them to behave the same way.
-->'''Sanguine''': ''"Let's be honest, here. I don't always think my decisions through."''
* LouisCypher: As Sam Guevenne in ''Skyrim''.
* MeaningfulName: The word "sanguine" can refer to a lively character as well as blood, which fits his patronage over both the light and dark side of pleasure.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The point behind his ''Oblivion'' quest, which involves crashing a dinner party and casting a spell that strips everyone naked. (Including ''you''.)
* PutOnABus: Doesn't appear in ''Morrowind'', but is mentioned. He [[TheBusCameBack returns]] for ''Oblivion''.
* RoyallyScrewedUp: Given his sphere, he has understandably been a favorite of many of the more decadent rulers throughout Tamriellic history.
* SatanicArchetype: Though a less outright evil version than, say, Molag Bal. He "prefers to drag mortals down to sinful lifestyles by means of temptation and humiliation".
* SomethingAboutARose: His most common symbol is a rose and his most famous artifact is Sanguine's Rose, which can take on many forms, including that of an actual rose, a wooden staff carved like a rose, or a [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs staff-sized rose]].
* {{Troll}}: He is basically a god-level troll. He enjoys trying to tempt or trick mortals into sin using various vices, mostly because he finds it fun. Note that like real-life trolls, the "fun" is often from ''his'' perspective; for those he tricks it's not always amusing.
* VillainsOutShopping: In ''Skyrim'', when the Dragonborn finally tracks him down after their little drinking contest leaves them passed out on the other side of Skyrim, he seems to be in the middle of hosting a party with some of his followers. Essentially, you joined him while he was "out shopping" and found him in the middle of his "day job".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sheogorath]]
!!Sheogorath
[[quoteright:307:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sheog_666.jpeg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Jeff Baker (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Craig Sechler (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Wes Johnson (''[=TES=] IV: Shivering Isles'', ''[=TES=] V: Skyrim''), Creator/JBBlanc (''The Elder Scrolls Online'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Nikolai Vereshchenko (''[=TES=] III: Morrowind''), Vsevolod Kuznetsov (''[=TES=] IV: Oblivion''), Dmitry Filimonov (''[=TES=] IV: Shivering Isles''), Vadim Maksimov (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"I'm a mad god. The Mad God, actually. It's a family title. Gets passed down from me to myself every few thousand years. Now you. You can call me Ann Marie. But only if you're partial to being flayed alive and having an angry immortal skip rope with your entrails. If not... Then call me Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness. Charmed."''
-->-- '''''Sheogorath's Dialogue in Skyrim'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Madness, Creativity, Music, Cheese\\
'''''Realm''''': The Shivering Isles\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Wabbajack, Fork of Horripilation, Staff of Everscamp, Gambolpuddy, Folium Discognitum\\
'''''Servants''''': Aureals (Golden Saints), Mazken (Dark Seducers)

Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince of Madness, and is also associated with Creativity, Music, and Cheese. He typically takes the form of a well-dressed man, often carrying a cane. While not inherently malevolent, the nature of his sphere and his unpredictability make him one of the most ''dangerous'' of the Daedric Princes, and thus he is near-universally considered to be one of the "bad" Daedra throughout Tamriel. Despite this, worship of Sheogorath is widespread.

In a time before recorded history, Jyggalag, the Daedric Prince of Order, grew too powerful, making the other Daedric Princes fearful and jealous of him. They came together and cursed him, trapping in the form of Sheogorath. However, at the end of every Era, Jyggalag is allowed to return to his true form in an event known as the Greymarch. During this time, he retakes and destroys the Shivering Isles, only to return to the form of Sheogorath at the end. At the end of the 3rd Era, the Champion of Cyrodiil ended the cycle by defeating Jyggalag and assuming the mantle of Sheogorath. Jyggalag then left to "roam the voids" of Oblivion.

Sheogorath is also connected with both Sithis and Lorkhan. He is said to be a "Sithis-shaped hole" in the world, brought into being when Lorkhan's "divine spark" was removed. From this association comes Sheogorath's title, the "Void Ghost".

His realm is the Shivering Isles, which has also been known as the Madhouse and the Asylum. The realm consists of a main landmass surrounded by a group of smaller islands, and is divided in half: the northern half of these lands is called Mania, and the southern half Dementia. Only Sheogorath himself may grant the privilege of entry, and it is said that mortals who visit lose their sanity forever.

In ''Daggerfall'', Sheogorath asks you to kill a battlemage. In ''Morrowind'', he asks you to slay a giant bull netch with cursed dinner fork. In ''Oblivion'', he asks you to bring the "apocalypse" to a small village. He also plays a prominent role in the main plot of the ''Shivering Isles'' expansion. In ''Skyrim'', he asks you to help cure a former emperor of madness. In ''Online'', he serves as the main villain behind the Mages Guild questline.
----
* AffablyEvil:
** His domains also include creativity and music, and he always has a smile on his face. He loves his worshipers and will always reward a mortal helper... but since he's the Prince of Madness, the blessings he offers may not be entirely, ah, traditional. Or useful. Or healthy.
** According to legend, he gifted humanity music one day when he was travelling the mortal plane and decided it was boring, and a woman commented on the beauty of a songbird's song. Sheogorath agreed and thought it was a pity that humans couldn't make such lovely noises with their voices, so he gave them music by way of crafting them drums, flutes and lutes... from the bones, tendons and other body parts of that same woman, killing her on the spot to get the materials.
** In one myth he drove a follower of Vaermina to madness and eventually execution just to prove a point. Admittedly, he managed to do this by [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing doing nothing at all.]]
* AnimalEyes: Often depicted as a human with cat's eyes. Either the inspiration for, or adopted in honor of, the Khajiiti nickname for him, "The Skooma Cat".
* ArchEnemy: Jyggalag, who appears every era to destroy the Shivering Isles. As revealed in the ''Shivering Isles'', this turns out to be an Arch-EnemyWithin scenario instead.
* AxCrazy: Sheogorath is ''always'' dangerous, because just a passing whim could result in him killing someone in horrific ways [[FateWorseThanDeath ... or worse]]. For instance, when a woman wished that mortals could sing like birds, he agreed and plucked out her organs to create musical instruments. And if he's in a bad mood... well, then you're ''really'' screwed.
* BalefulPolymorph: Cats can be bats can be rats can be hats can be gnats can be thats can be thises. And doors can be boars can be snores can be floors can be roars can be spores can be yours can be mine.
* BatmanGambit: Despite his status as a MadGod and his insistence that it's impossible to tell exactly what any and all beings will do, he's pretty good at them. The series ''16 Accords of Madness'' volumes ''VI'', ''IX'' and ''XII'' involve the humiliation of Hircine, Vaermina, and Malacath, respectively. In each of the stories, he basically has the other Princes defeat themselves. It's even brought up in volume ''IX'', where Vaermina accuses him of doing nothing. And since there are 17 Princes, it can be assumed that the remaining 13 volumes chronicle the humiliation of the rest of the Princes.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: As far as Daedric Princes go, Sheogorath is usually one of the nicer ones if not outright cordial and his quests typically aren't as harmful to mortals as some of his fellows. He's also the literal God of insanity who's fully willing to destroy your mind and body in a hilariously gruesome fashion.
* BewareTheSillyOnes:
** Jovial as the guy can be, he's still a Daedric Prince, and a Daedric Prince with a head full of crazy for that matter. This almost goes without saying: '''tread carefully'''. In ''Shivering Isles'', attacking him will cause him to teleport the Champion of Cyrodiil high above the Shivering Isles, letting gravity do the rest. [[spoiler:[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou Even God Mode won't save you from him.]]]]
** It can even be inferred that he's more powerful than most (if not all) other Daedric Princes. There's a series of myths that consist entirely of him humiliating the other Princes; Jyggalag is only able to break free at the tail end of every era; and any day that storms makes it a holy day for Sheogorath, even if it's supposed to be a ''different'' Prince's holy day.
* BigBad: He is the primary antagonist and obstacle in the Mages Guild questline in ''Online''.
* BigGood: He's the player's main ally, benefactor, and mentor in the ''Shivering Isles'' expansion.
* BrightIsNotGood: His clothing, particularly in ''Skyrim'', despite having a moment of PetTheDog, as noted below. He's notably still thrilled to watch the PC flounder while completing his quest.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
** His brief vocal appearance in ''Morrowind'' sounds and acts absolutely nothing like he does in later games. Rather than the unpredictable, unruly LargeHam he becomes in ''The Shivering Isles'', he's quite calm, formal and collected; acting more like Haskill -- and in fact, he's voiced by Jeff Baker, who would later voice Haskill. (Holding off on doing the Sheogorath quest in vanilla ''Oblivion'' until after completing the expansion reveals that Haskill is perfectly capable of picking up the phone in Sheogorath's stead, and the dialogue in his ''Morrowind'' quest does refer to Sheogorath in the third person. It may very well have been Haskill, or another predecessor, giving you the quest.)
** Before the release of ''The Shivering Isles'' Sheogorath had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj-8nxDsqRA hissing, demonic sounding voice]] when spoken to at his shrine in vanilla ''Oblivion'', giving him a far more overtly sinister vibe than his later jovial, MadHatter-esque characterization seen in ''The Shivering Isles'' and ''Skyrim''.
* CloudCuckoolander: When he's in a good mood. His chamberlain, Haskill, typically does the best he can as Sheogorath's [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder Minder]] and OnlySaneMan within the Shivering Isles.
-->''"I've been waiting for you, or someone like you, or someone not like you."''\\
''"Well, looks like the cat's out of the bag now... who puts cats in bags, anyway? Cats ''hate'' bags."''\\
''"But enough about me. Let's talk about you. I could turn you into a goat. Or a puddle. Or a bad idea. I could make you eat your own fingers. Or fall in love with a cloud. Perhaps... I could make you into something useful."''\\
''"I once dug a pit and filled it with clouds... or was it clowns?... Come to think of it, it began to smell... must have been clowns. Clouds don't smell, they taste of butter. And tears."''
* ColonyDrop:
** He once attempted to destroy the {{Egopolis}} of the Dunmeri [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Tribunal deity]] [[PhysicalGod Vivec]] by hurling the rogue moon Baar Dau at it. Vivec used his power to freeze it in place above the city. [[spoiler:Eventually, after Vivec disappears, Sheogorath's attempt is ''finally'' successful. The moon descends with its original momentum, levels the city, and causes Red Mountain to erupt. The rest of Vvardenfell is destroyed and much of Morrowind is rendered uninhabitable for hundreds of years due to the choking ash]].
** In ''Oblivion''[='s=] ''Shivering Isles'' expansion if you attack him he'll teleport you miles above the Shivering Isles and let you fall to your death. Some fans have jokingly theorized that ''you'' actually remain stationary and Sheogorath hurls the ''[[ImprobableWeaponUser planet]]'' at you. He ''has'' used celestial bodies as weapons in the past... [[note]] This would probably be the more amusing method of executing the player. [[/note]]
* CoolButInefficient: His artifacts tend to fall under this category.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Just because he's insane doesn't mean he's stupid.
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: At the end of ''Shivering Isles'', the Champion of Cyrodiil takes on the mantle of Sheogorath.
* DrivenToMadness: Finding inventive ways to drive mortals to madness is fully within his realm. He (and his followers, quite often) even considers it a ''blessing'':
-->''"Madness is a bitter mercy, perhaps, but a mercy nonetheless. It is better to be seen as mad than hopelessly despondent."''
* EccentricMentor: In ''Shivering Isles''. What do you expect when you answer the summons of ''the'' MadGod?
* {{Expy}}: Sheogorath in many ways reflects older interpretations of the Greek god Dionysus, which placed a much greater emphasis on his ability to inflict madness as well as a theme of death and rebirth (reflected in the Sheogorath and Jyggalag dichotomy). Of course, drugs, music, and partying are things that Sheogorath likes too, but that generally falls under Sanguine's sphere.
* FisherKing: The state of his realm, The Shivering Isles, is directly tied to both his own power, and that of his nemesis Jyggalag, who wants to rule the Isles himself. Whenever Jyggalag grows in power and Sheogorath's power wanes, the Isles become a monochrome wasteland dotted with crystal spires.
* GreatGazoo: He's a madman with incredible power. He ''mostly'' uses it for silly reasons.
* HailfirePeaks: His realm, The Shivering Isles, is split down the middle to represent the dual nature of madness. The northern half of the Isles, Mania, represents to positive aspects of madness, and is [[GhibliHills full of exotic plant life and brightly colored monsters]]. The southern half, Dementia, embodies the negative aspects of madness, and consists mostly of [[SwampsAreEvil dreary swampland]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The other Daedra were fearful of Jyggalag's power, even though he hadn't really done anything. And when they turned him into Sheogorath, the events of the ''Accords of Madness'' ensued, in which each of the Princes was personally humiliated ''by the lunatic '''they''' created''.
* ImAHumanitarian: Implied in some of his remarks. "Mmm... brain pie... ''care to donate''?"
* InsaneEqualsViolent: The living embodiment of the concept. His madness means he can go from friendly and helpful to savage and murderous mid-sentence. In one of his myths he "helped" a woman commenting on the beauty of bird songs by gifting humanity with music... by killing her and using instruments made from her body.
* IronicHell: He ''is'' one - an insane outter shell pieced together from the shattered psyche' of Jyggalag, with just a tiny hint of the original inside and in constant agony from awareness, but next to no control over his insane alter-ego.
* ItAmusedMe: Rains of flaming dogs, the heinous crime of beards, making the player flail around trying to kill a harmless airborne jellyfish with a dinner fork -- none of these are really all that helpful, but they sure are funny! To him, at least.
* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: His idea of vacation is to take one of these within the mind of [[TheCaligula former Emperor Pelagius the Mad]].
* KickTheDog:
** Most notably in the ''16 Accords of Madness''. [[OffingTheOffspring Poor Malacath]]...
** An almost literal case with Barbas, Clavicus Vile's external conscience who takes the form of a BigFriendlyDog. For unexplained reasons, Sheogorath hates Barbas and seeks to poison him (he claims that Barbas chews his slippers and keeps him awake with barking, but considering who's talking [[UnreliableNarrator this should be taken with a pinch of salt]]).
* LargeHam: In speech, in mannerisms...Sheogorath is ''the'' largest ham of the ''ES'' universe.
* LaughablyEvil: Whether antagonistic or not, everything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious.
* MadGod: The very ''embodiment'' of the trope. It's even one of his titles. Notably, Sheogorath seems to embody the ideas of manic instability as well as melancholic depression in equal measure. This is contrasted with Jyggalag, who is obsessed with ordering and controlling everything.
* TheMadHatter: He's insane and loves every moment of it.
* MadnessMantra: "Wabbajack. Wabbajack. Wabbajack. Wabbajack!"
* MagicStaff: The Wabbajack, which randomly transforms things into other things.
* ManipulativeBastard: Pulls shenanigans revolving around this for his own amusement in ''Online'', much to the detriment of Archmage Shalidor.
* MoodSwinger: One of his most prominent traits.
--> "Since you're standing here, I assume you've succeeded. ''Or you're terribly confused.'' '''[[SuddenlyShouting OR REALLY LACKING IN GOOD JUDGMENT!]]'''"
* MoralityPet: Haskill. Given that Haskill's origins are unknown, and Haskill himself claims to have been in the service of Sheogorath "since the beginning", this has led to the theory that Haskill is an external part of Sheogorath, similar to what Barbas is to Clavicus Vile. Haskill reigns in Sheogorath's madness ''just enough'' to keep him and the Shivering Isles functional.
* TheMuse: Creativity and the arts fall under his domain. According to legend, he gifted music to the mortals.
* NoodleImplements:
** The ritual to summon him typically requires these. Included have been a soul gem, a head of lettuce, a spool of yarn, and cheese.
** Shaving a cat at the height of a storm...
* ObfuscatingInsanity:
** Oh, he's definitely insane, that's a ''given'', but since he consistently seems to be [[XanatosSpeedChess ten steps ahead]] of ''everyone else'', it's likely that Sheogorath plays up his madness to hide the fact that he's far more on the ball than he lets on.
** After the Champion of Cyrodiil assumes the mantle of Sheogorath, it begs the question if his behavior in ''Skyrim'' is due to [[BecomingTheMask inheriting the mantle]] of Sheogorath, or if it's [[BeneathTheMask merely an affectation]] for when he deals with mortals.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Sheogorath stops all joking, drops the hamminess, and gets downright serious just before his transformation into Jyggalag near the end of ''Shivering Isles''. He's not yet under the orderly influence of Jyggalag, though, meaning that his despair over the fate of the Isles and his apparent failure to save them is genuine.
* ParanoiaGambit: One of the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Myths_of_Sheogorath myths surrounding Sheogorath]] has a wizard come to him asking for power. Sheogorath says he can have it, ''if'' Sheogorath fails to drive the wizard insane within [[RuleOfThree three days]]. The fear drives said wizard completely bonkers even though Sheogorath hadn't actually bothered ''[[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing doing anything]]''.
* PetTheDog: His quest in ''Skyrim'' is this for Pelagius the Mad, relieving the poor deceased emperor of the madness which has long plagued him.
* PimpDuds: His standard attire, including a [[AnachronismStew pocket watch]] and a cane.
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: Sheogorath in ''Skyrim'' is implied to be the former Champion of Cyrodiil.
* ProphetEyes: In ''Skyrim'' and ''Online''.
* RedBaron: The Mad Star, The Mad Lord, The Mad God, The Mad One, Lord of the Never-There, Gentleman With a Cane, the Void Ghost, the Skooma Cat.
* TheReveal: Is revealed in the ''Shivering Isles'' to actually be the Daedric Prince of Order, Jyggalag, transformed into his current state as a curse.
* SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan: Sheogorath is the "Person Shaped Can", created by the other Daedric Princes to trap Jyggalag.
* ScrewDestiny: Prominent in the ''Shivering Isles''. Sheogorath attempts to avert the Greymarch. At first, it seems his attempt fails, as he turns into Jyggalag again, but then, the PC stops the Greymarch, thus breaking the cycle of fate. The fact that Jyggalag and his old chamberlain keep talking about how everything is preordained makes screwing destiny all the more satisfying. Also, while Sheogorath is a multifaceted being, a large part of what he stands for is free will and the spark of creativity. It would be utterly against the character of Sheogorath to suppose there was a preordained, predictable order in the first place.
* SeinfeldianConversation: He enjoys these, and even has them with himself.
--> ''"Cat's out of the bag on that one, isn't it? Who puts cats in bags, anyway? Cats hate bags!"''
* ShoutOut:
** In the Cthulhu Mythos the Outer God Nyarlathotep is said to often walk the Earth in the form of a tall, slim, joyous man, and was described by Lovecraft himself as "horrible beyond anything you can imagine -- but wonderful". In the Elder Scrolls mythology one of Sheogorath's most favored forms is "Gentleman With a Cane", and he is both reviled as the source of madness and revered as the inspiration for (and original creator of) art, literature, and music.
** Others had suggested in terms of Lovecraftian lore, Sheogorath's name may be derived from Shoggoth, a name of amorphous, shapeshifting beings in H.P. Lovecraft's writings.
** Another possibility, is that Sheogorath 's name and characterisation are a reference to Cegorach from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', with both being trickster god, and noticed as ver similar by fans of both ''Warhammer'' and ''Elder Scrolls''. It helps Cegorach and Sheogorath ([[NoPronunciationGuide may]]) be pronouced the same, or very similary, and that folks at Bethesda are self proclaimed fans of ''Warhammer 40,000''.
** The official explanation is that Sheogorath was named after ex-developer ''Theodore'' 'Ted' Peterson, who even is active on Official Forums under Sheogorath's name. It's possible though that the name Sheogorath, was created by combining 'Theodore', with one or more of the above options.
* SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome: Technically a case of Sudden ''Prequel'' Heel Syndrome since ''Online'' takes place centuries before the main series, but he's ''much'' more malevolent and sinister than he ever was before in ''Online's'' Mages Guild arc.
* TalkativeLoon: He likes to talk and ''is'' the god of madness.
--> ''"Wonderful! Time for a celebration! Cheese for everyone! Wait, scratch that! Cheese for no one! That could be just as much of a celebration if you don't like cheese, true?"''
* TookALevelInKindness: It's suggested in ''Skyrim'' that the current Sheogorath (the Champion of Cyrodil) may be much more benevolent then his predecessor. Rather than causing random chaos like in previous games, Sheogorath's Daedric quest in ''Skyrim'' has you helping to cure the late Emperor Pelagius the Mad of the madness which has long plagued him.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
** Cheese. His Daedric quest in ''Oblivion'' requires it, he constantly speaks about it, including several memorable lines involving "cheese for everyone!" quickly followed by "cheese for no one!" and in his ''Skyrim'' appearance he has cheeses set out on a banquet table before him. Given his overt madness and divine status, this isn't simply a fondness for eating cheese, but more like a surreal, platonic affection for the stuff.
** Since the Princes (like the Aedra) manifest themselves as an AnthropomorphicPersonification of the sphere(s) they govern, and one of Sheogorath's spheres is cheese, he ''is'' cheese. [[MindScrew Whatever that means.]]
* TricksterGod: One of his favorite games is making mortals or even other daedra look like idiots. The lesson is usually "don't underestimate/bargain with/upset/stand near/shirk worship of Sheogorath", but it can be kinder ("there's always room for creativity") or more cruel ("there's madness within us all"), depending on his whims...
* {{Troll}}: Sometimes, it seems he just likes to point and laugh. One story of his has him challenging fellow prince Hircine to combat-by-champion. Hircine fielded a huge, saw-toothed, dagger-clawed, vicious werebeast. Sheogorath revealed his champion to be... a songbird. The tiny bird then proceeded to goad the werebeast into tearing ''itself'' apart by perching on it, singing and then flitting away, over and over. The bird won. Sheogorath's sole reason for any of this was, apparently, that he found Hircine's fury hilarious.
* VillainProtagonist: In ''Skyrim'', his dialogue implies that the Champion of Cyrodil was a member of the ThievesGuild and the [[MurderInc Dark Brotherhood]]. On the other hand, this may be a sign that ''Oblivion'' suffered from another [[TimeCrash Dragon Break]] in which all possible choices of the player base's actions are all true. This would mean Martin Septim's death and the Champion of Cyrodil becoming Sheogorath is the point where the Dragon Break ends and the time lines reconverged.
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent?: In ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'' his voice veers wildly from Irish to Northern Irish to Scottish to British and sometimes American. Perfectly justified; would the God of Madness really be expected to speak in anything resembling a consistent tone of voice?
* WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing:
** His mythical victories over Hircine and Vaermina involved letting their champions or victims destroy themselves. In Hircine's case, Sheogorath's champion (a small bird) simply flitted around next to Hircine's champion, and the weredaedroth destroyed itself trying to attack it. In Vaermina's case, she and Sheogorath made a bargain to see whose dreams could most influence an artist devoted to her. After she infected her worshipper/victim with intense night terrors to enhance his terrifying and disgusting art, Sheogorath did nothing whatsoever when his turn came up to torment the artist, and the man went insane from believing that Vaermina had abandoned him, ending with him being executed for his enraged blasphemies against the Divines, and going on to the Shivering Isles.
** He also does this in another book when a wizard asks him to give him magical powers. Sheogorath agrees, if he cannot drive the wizard insane in three days. The wizard ends up driving himself mad, fearing Sheogorath will do something horrible to him, when in actuality Sheogorath doesn’t do a thing to him.
* WithThisHerring: A frequent feature of his quests, probably for his own amusement. One famous implement is the Fork of Horripilation. "Horripilation" is the anatomical word for... goosebumps. [[spoiler:It's the size of a common kitchen fork, and you're supposed to kill a giant bull netch with it. Have fun.]]
--> ''"Now, I know what you're thinking. Can I still rely on my swords and spells and sneaking and all that nonsense? Sure, sure. Or, you could use... THE WABBAJACK! Eh? Ehhhh? Didn't see that coming, did you?"''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vaermina]]
!!Vaermina
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vaermina.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Statue of Vaermina]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Carla Delaney (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''':Larisa Brochman (''[=TES=] V: Skyrim'') (Russian)[[/note]]

-> ''"Vaernima, Prince of Omen and Dream, shares a special mageographic connection with the Mundus, since mortal sleepers often slip into her realm without any help at all."''
-->-- '''''Imperial Census of Daedra Lords'''''

-->'''''Sphere''''': Dreams, Nightmares, Fear, Omens\\
'''''Realm''''': Quagmire\\
'''''Artifacts''''': Skull of Corruption\\
''''Servants''''': Unknown

Vaermina is the Daedric Prince of Dreams and Nightmares, and is also associated with Fear, Terror, Omens, and Torture. Her most common form is that of a petite woman, typically wearing a headdress or mask, and often holding a staff. She is typically considered to be one of the more "bad" Daedric Princes, perhaps second only to Molag Bal in pure malevolence.

Vaermina's realm is Quagmire, also known the Dreamstride. It is a realm of horrors, where reality shifts upon itself in seemingly impossible ways. Every few minutes, lightning flashes and the realm morphs into a terrifying scene, each one more frightening than the last. It is the realm most commonly visited by mortals, who often slip into it unintentionally while they sleep. Quagmire and Mundus have been known to partially merge where Vaermina's influence is strong, especially in areas near the Skull of Corruption.

In ''Daggerfall'', Vaermina asks you to slay a lich. She does not appear in ''Morrowind'', but is mentioned. In ''Oblivion'', she asks you to kill a wizard who stole her orb. In ''Skyrim'', she is plaguing a town with continuous nightmares and must be dealt with. In ''Online'', she attempts to take over Stormhaven with the help of her cultists, the Supernal Dreamers.
----
* ColdBloodedTorture: Torture is believed to fall within her sphere, particularly torture of the psychological kind.
* CoolMask: In ''Online'', she is often depicted as wearing one of these. Indeed, her emblem consists of her mask, and a [[SnakesAreEvil snake]].
* CuteIsEvil:
** Her voice in ''Skyrim''. When she finally speaks to the player at one point, it's with the sweetest, most adorable voice you could ever hear... while she orders you to murder Erandur, a priest of Mara trying to rescue a village.
** Taken UpToEleven in ''Online'', where she has even more dialogue. Her voice is still adorable, and almost childlike... while [[CuteAndPsycho gleefully describing how]] she is going to spend the next century or so [[MindRape Mind Raping]] you for killing her Champion, whom she was apparently in love with.
* DarkIsEvil: She's definitely one of the more brutal Daedric Princes, to the point that she may be second only to ''Molag Bal'' in some ways.
* DreamStealer: Her most famous artifact, the Skull of Corruption, has this power. It is also theorized that she uses the dreams of mortals as some sort of source of power.
* EldritchLocation: Her realm of Quagmire, which changes for the viewer every few moments in a flash of lightning to something even more horrific than before. It is the source of all nightmares, as mortals may unintentionally enter it while they sleep. Quagmire and Mundus have been known to partially merge where Vaermina's influence is strong, especially in areas near the Skull of Corruption.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: In ''Online'', she is stated to actually be in love with her champion. Her reaction to his death would seem to back this up.
* FriendOrIdolDecision: In her ''Skyrim'' quest: Either kill Erandur and keep the Skull of Corruption, or spare him and gain a companion at the loss of the artifact.
* MagicStaff: Her most (in)famous artifact is the Skull of Corruption, an unholy magic staff which steals the dreams of sleeping people for power. In various instances, it has either allowed the caster to create clones of the staff's target (who then fight for the caster) or it casts a damaging spell which gets stronger if it has stolen dreams.
* MindRape: She can cause this by afflicting mortals with ceaseless, horrific nightmares. For a mortal, simply ''being'' in her Quagmire can be this.
* NightmareFetishist: ''Literally.'' She often kept her champion in Quagmire in ''Online'', seeming not to care of the fact that simply ''being'' there can cause MindRape, or perhaps, actually seeing that as a ''show of affection''.
* NightmareSequence: She exists to cause these in mortals.
* NightmareWeaver: As nightmares fall under her domain, she is this. In fact, it's implied that the act of visiting her plane and the act of having a nightmare are one and the same.
* PutOnABus: She does not appear in ''Morrowind'', but is mentioned. She returns for ''Oblivion''.
* RedBaron: The Gifter, Weaver of the Panoply.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Statues of her often depict her with a snake draped across her shoulders. In ''Online,'' her emblem consists of her CoolMask with a snake wrapped around it.
* UnholyMatrimony: Her champion in ''Online'' is said to also be her lover.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Is sometimes depicted with white hair, and happens to be one of the more outright malevolent Daedric Princes.
* YourWorstNightmare: The ''embodiment'' of the trope. She exists to cause these in mortals, and may in some way draw power from them.
[[/folder]]

!!Lesser Daedra

"Lesser Daedra" is a catch-all term for any Daedric beings who are not Daedric Princes. The lesser Daedra come in many forms and range in intelligence (and thus sentience) from animalistic to somewhat intelligent to full-on sapience. Many of these lesser Daedra are aligned to serve a specific Prince, though several species can be found in service to multiple Princes while others are unaligned. Like their Prince superiors, lesser Daedra are fully immortal as well. While they can have a physical body summoned to Mundus and that physical body can be slain, their spirit simply returns to Oblivion to coalesce in a new form. All manner of lesser Daedra can be summoned to Mundus, often in service to mortal wizards and conjurers.

[[folder:In General]]
!!General Tropes Applicable to the lesser Daedra:
----
* AboveGoodAndEvil: Like the Daedric Princes, along with having their own scale of BlueAndOrangeMorality. While many look down on mortals, and are even quite hostile toward them, none are inherently "evil".
* ArtEvolution: Virtually all of the lesser Daedra to have appeared in multiple games have changed appearance between those games. Specific details can be found in the relevant entries for the individual species below.
* CompleteImmortality: Like the Daedric Princes, the lesser Daedra are fully immortal. If their physical form is slain, their spirit simply returns to Oblivion to coalesce into a new form.
* DeathIsCheap: To the point where it is incorrect to even call a slain Daedra "dead". The terms "banished" or "purged" are preferred. It is implied that coalescing into a new form in Oblivion isn't an instantaneous process, so being slain is at least a mild inconvenience.
* EvilIsNotAToy: There are metaphysical "rules" in place that bar most from being able to summon Daedra, specifically to prevent this sort of thing from happening. This doesn't always work, however. One in-game book, for example, tells the story of a boy who summons a Dremora to practice his Conjuration. The Dremora says the boy will need a soul gem to advance further, and hey! He just happens to have one on him that the boy can use. The boy accepts the soul gem... and the Dremora demonstrates how to use it by tearing the kid's heart out and trapping him in the gem. The book ends with the moral that you never accept a freely given gift from a summoned Daedra, because this breaks the magical bond that keeps them from killing you.
* TheFairFolk: Despite being [[OurDemonsAreDifferent loosely based on traditional demons]]. they are much closer to this, as they are not inherently evil, but almost invariably seem completely insane and rather terrifying to mortals.
* HumansThroughAlienEyes: The Daedra are intrigued and fascinated by mortals, especially by [[ImmortalsFearDeath the mortal acceptance of their inevitable deaths.]] They find it amazing that mortals are able to carry on knowing that they will die eventually, and genuinely respect mortals for this characteristic.
* ImmortalsFearDeath:
** Daedra have the ability to reform themselves whenever they are killed in battle, but this "reincarnation" process is considered torturous and humiliating and they will fight fiercely to avoid being subjected to it. Furthermore, the Daedra's inability to truly die makes it impossible for them to truly understand how mortals think -- mortals live finite lives and face constant reminders of this, and their ability to simply accept this and continue existing without succumbing to despair is something no Daedra can comprehend.
** Although it's unconfirmed, one researcher who interviewed Daedra noted that the Daedra rarely go to Aetherius, and their reactions indicated that they either dislike or fear those realms. Furthermore, their reactions to this question led the researcher to suspect that if a Daedra was to die in one of the Aedric planes, like Sovngarde, that death might be permanent, since the link between Oblivion and Mundus doesn't exist between Oblivion and Aetherius. This prompts the ironic observation that the only way for a Daedra to truly die is once they reach heaven.
* {{Mooks}}: Most lesser Daedra are aligned to serve one or several of the Daedric Princes, and they all may be summoned to Mundus in the service of mortal conjurers. The more powerful lesser Daedra may approach EliteMook status.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: While the term "demon" itself is detested by in-universe scholars, the lesser Daedra are the closest things in the series to the real world concept of demons.
* OrganDrops: Organs or other body parts from lesser Daedra are highly sought after by mortals for their strong magical properties. Most common are Daedra Hearts which are invaluable in creating potions and can be used by extremely skilled smiths to forge Daedric Armor.
* PunyEarthlings: Despite being an extremely varied group, one thing that the lesser Daedra near-universally believe is that they are unquestionably superior to mortals. That being said, they are [[HumansThroughAlienEyes as fascinated by mortals as mortals are by Daedra]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Atronachs]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flame_atronach.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Flame Atronach as seen in ''Skyrim'']]

-> ''"Another type of lesser Daedra often encountered ... is the Atronach, or Elemental Daedra. Atronachs have no binding kinship or alignments with the Daedra Lords, serving one realm or another at whim, shifting sides according to seduction, compulsion, or opportunity."''
-->-- '''''Darkest Darkness'''''

Atronachs (also known collectively as "Elemental Daedra") are an intelligent, elementally aligned form of Daedra who come in many varieties. The most common are the Flame (also known as "Fire"), Frost, and Storm varieties. Others include Air, Flesh, Iron, and Stone. All varieties are at least vaguely humanoid in shape, with some much more humanoid than others. As a group, Atronachs have no particular affinity toward any Daedric Prince, though individual Atronachs may be found in their service. Atronachs are a favored summon of mortal conjurers.

The elemental Atronachs are known to hail from pocket realms of Oblivion which match their natures. For example, Flame Atronachs hail from "Infernace" and Storm Atronachs hail from "Takubar".
----
* ArtEvolution: Each type of Atronach which has appeared more than once in the series has undergone significant art evolution. The Frost and Storm Atronachs have gotten less humanoid looking overall, appearing more like golems made of ice or lightning-rock, respectively. The Flame Atronachs have instead gotten ''more'' humanoid and feminine-looking instead.
* ElementalAbsorption: Each type of Atronach is [[NoSell is immune]] to magic of their respective associated element, and in some cases, can even ''[[FeedItWithFire absorb it]]'' to increase their health/power.
* ElementalEmbodiment: The Flame, Frost, and Storm Atronachs appear as creatures made of fire, ice, and lightning (typically mixed with metal or rock), respectively.
* ElementalPowers: Naturally, all Atronachs can attack with elemental powers in line with the elements they represent. To note:
** Air Atronachs, who are said to possess the [[AllYourPowersCombined combined power]] of Flame, Frost, and Storm Atronachs.
** The forte of Stone Atronachs is [[DishingOutDirt earth]]. The Altmeri Clan Direnni of High Rock once used an "army" of them to build a massive prison out of rubble in a single day.
** [[ExtraOreDinary Iron Atronachs]], who are made up of molten iron. They can absorb shock attacks and have strong physical attacks.
** [[AnIcePerson Frost Atronachs]], who appear to be golems made out of ice and naturally use ice-based attacks.
** [[PlayingWithFire Flame Atronachs]], who are made up of fire and pieces of metal, naturally use fire-based attacks.
** [[PoisonousPerson Flesh Atronachs]], depending on the game, emit a constant damaging aura, are immune to poison, and/or are actually ''healed'' by poison-based spells.
** [[ShockAndAwe Storm Atronachs]], who are made up of rocks held together by electricy. They naturally use lightning-based attacks.
* ElementalRivalry: Flame and Frost Atronachs are said to have a deep mutual hatred of one another.
* EyelessFace: As they've become less humanoid as the series has gone on, Frost and Storm Atronachs no longer have eyes (or really any facial features). Flame Atronachs still have eye-slits or holes in their "masks", but just fire behind them, no actual eyes.
* FireIceLightning: The three most common Atronach varieties follow this pattern. There are other varieties, including the Air, Flesh, Iron, and Stone varieties.
* GiantMook: Frost and Storm Atronachs are quite large and powerful foes, and are favored summons of mortal wizards. However, they subvert it by relying on magic to deal most of their damage.
* NonMammalMammaries: Starting with ''Oblivion'', Flame Atronachs appear to be feminine figures made of fire and glowing hot pieces of armor.
* NoOntologicalInertia: Atronachs summoned by mortals will vanish or disintegrate if the mortal conjurer is killed. They will also vanish if they themselves are killed.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Flesh Atronachs are notably the only type of Atronach that requires creation, since they're literally sewn together from corpses and reanimated.
* RockMonster: Stone Atronachs, naturally. Storm Atronachs also take this appearance, generally looking like a loosely humanoid collection of rocks held together with electricity.
* ShockwaveStomp: A common ability of Frost Atronachs, which stuns nearby enemies.
* TakingYouWithMe: Flame Atronachs will [[DefeatMeansExplosion explode upon being slain]] in ''Skyrim'' and ''Online''. Given [[DeathIsCheap the immortal nature]] of Daedra, they'll recover. Any mortals they take out with them, not so much...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Aureal (Golden Saints)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aureal.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Golden Saint as seen in ''Shivering Isles'']]

-> ''"The immediate image called to mind when hearing the name "Golden Saint" suggests an angelic figure, elegant and benevolent. It is ironic then, that while the Golden Saints embody this image in form, their behavior is in stark contrast to it. The Saints are a proud, arrogant race, quick to anger and cruel in their punishment."''
-->-- '''''Saints and Seducers'''''

Aureals, better known to mortals as "Golden Saints", are an intelligent race of Daedra most frequently found in service to Sheogorath. Their typical appearance is as gold-skinned humanoids clad in golden armor. They are a proud and arrogant race, considering mortals to be highly inferior. They have a highly matriarchal society, with females looking down on both male Aureals as well as male mortals. They typically guard the "Mania" region of the Shivering Isles, and have a significant rivalry with the Mazken (Dark Seducers) who guard the "Dementia" region.
----
* AmazonBrigade: Downplayed. While male Aureal do exist, they are physically inferior and less numerous, leaving the females most fit for combat roles.
* BlingOfWar: They are constantly outfitted in golden armor, often with golden weapons and shields as well.
* ChainmailBikini: Downplayed but extant, in that while female Aureals wear more armor than most examples, it still tends to leave some vulnerable areas (including their upper chests) exposed.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In their first appearance in ''Morrowind'', Golden Saints are powerful female Daedra with extremely potent spells, weapons, and shields at their disposal. (Given the value of their souls, its fair to say that they're the most powerful lesser Daedra in the game.) However, very little background information is given about them save that they are servants of Sheogorath. It's not until ''Shivering Isles'' that they're established to be proud, arrogant, man-hating Amazonian style warriors. They also take a step back in overall power, being more in line with Dremora.
* CoolHelmet: They wear golden helmets adorned with MercurysWings. The males have much smaller wings on their helmets.
* DoesNotLikeMen: The male Aureal are looked down upon (literally and figuratively) by the females. Arguably justified given the fact that male Aureals are both physically and statistically inferior to their female counterparts. This trope extends to males of the mortal races, though with far less justification.
* DumbBlonde: Played straight, though unlike most examples of this trope, they're portrayed as "dumb" in the DumbMuscle or DumbJock sense rather than being TheDitz. They don't always think things through and prefer to attack issues head-on, which, despite their power, isn't always the best course of action. This happens several times in the ''Shivering Isles'', and they often need to be bailed out by the [[PlayerCharacter Champion of Cyrodiil]].
* FantasticCasteSystem: They have a caste system with an eight-tier hierarchy, ascending from lowest to highest in rank as follows: Auren, Auredel, Aurmok, Aurmokel, Aurig, Malaurig, Pelaurig and Aurmazl. An individual's strength and discipline determines their place in this system.
* FantasticSlur: "Dog", for the Mazken, mortals, and even their own race.
* HonorBeforeReason: They are proud and arrogant as a race, which often sees them getting into trouble.
* {{Jerkass}}: In Shivering Isles, they show this in spades, always turning their nose up at the Champion (and really all mortals).
* LeeroyJenkins: They prefer to tackle problems head-on, with force. This can easily get them in over their heads.
* LightIsNotGood: As befitting servants of Sheogorath, the Golden ''Saints'' who maintain bright, happy Mania are rather unlikable and rude.
* MagicKnight: Aureals excel in both combat and in spellcasting.
* {{Matriarchy}}: Their society is extremely matriarchal, with females filling all leadership positions.
* MeaningfulName: The "Aur" in Aureals comes from Aurum, the Latin word for gold. The mortal name for an Aureal is a "Golden Saint".
* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale. "Male" Aureal are significantly weaker and physically smaller than the females.
* NonMammalMammaries: The Female Aureals possess them.
* ProudWarriorRace: They have a heavily militaristic society, thriving on conflict and warfare. They are known to engage in conflicts with the Mazken (Dark Seducers) for both the favor of Sheogorath and simply as an outlet for their aggression.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: The females are considerably taller than the males.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Aurorans]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/auroran.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An Auroran as seen in ''Knights of the Nine'']]

-> ''"And then came the storming of White-Gold, where the Ayleids had made pact with the Aurorans of Meridia, and summoned them, and appointed the terrible and golden-hued "half-Elf" Umaril the Unfeathered as their champion…"''
-->-- '''''The Song of Pelinal'''''

Aurorans are an intelligent race of lesser Daedra most frequently found in service to Meridia. They typically appear as large humanoids encased in golden armor. Their favored weapons are axes and they are known to be "infused" with lightning magic, given them the ability to use Shock spells as well as resist them.

Most infamously, Aurorans served the Ayleid Lord Umaril the Unfeathered, a prominent champion of Meridia, during the Alessian Revolt and again during the events of ''Knights of the Nine''.
----
* AnAxeToGrind: Their favored weapons are battleaxes, which they wield [[OneHandedZweihander one-handed]].
* BlingOfWar: They are encased in golden armor.
* FacelessGoons: All of them wear helmets that conceal their faces.
* GiantMook: They stand at least a full head taller than any of the playable races.
* LightIsNotGood: They dress in gold armor and serve Meridia, typically considered a "good" Daedric Prince, but served the Ayleids during the Alessian Revolt and again during Umaril the Unfeathered's return.
* ShockAndAwe: They are "infused" with lightning magic, which allows them cast Shock spells while also [[AntiMagic resisting them]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clannfear]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clannfear_2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Clannfear as seen in ''Online'']]

-> ''""The clannfear is a fierce, green, lizard-like bipedal Daedric summoning..."''
-->-- '''''Morrowind Dialogue'''''

Clannfear are a form of lesser Daedra possessing animalistic intelligence. They are similar in appearance to therapod dinosaurs with ceratopsid frills as well as sharp beaks and talons. Not unlike the popular perception of raptor-like dinosaurs, they possess agile movements similar to birds and hunt in packs to take down larger prey. They typically stand shorter than the average citizen of Tamriel, though larger varieties have been known to exist.

While they are associated with Mehrunes Dagon, they are frequently found in many other planes of Oblivion and have been known to serve several different Daedric Princes.
----
* ArtEvolution: They've gotten smaller, sleeker, faster, and more dinosaur-like with each appearance in the series.
* AttackAnimal: They serve in this capacity in the armies of the Daedric Princes, most prominently Mehrunes Dagon.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Along with some aspects of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. In their first appearance in ''Battlespire'', they are semi-intelligent and can even be conversed with. They are also larger, slower, and have powerful but clumsy attacks which are easy to dodge. ''Morrowind'' reduces their intelligence but keeps them as slow and somewhat clumsy. They finally settle into their unintelligent "Daedric Raptor" role in ''Oblivion'', which gets further built upon in ''Online''.
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: They are a type of lesser Daedra that takes the form of [[StockDinosaurs Dromaeosaurs with a Protoceratop's head stapled on the neck]] for no apparent reason. As far as can be told, Nirn ''never had'' dinosaurs.
* EvolutionaryLevels: There are several known varieties of Clannfear, ranging from "Runts" at the bottom, to the standard Clannfear, to the larger Dread Clannfear and Clannfear Matrons at the top.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Though not known to use magic, they possess some sort of natural shield which reduces the damage they take from physical attacks.
* RaptorAttack: While deadly on their own, they prefer to attack in packs and can bring down larger/more powerful prey when they do.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: They're hostile reptilian Daedra.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Daedroths]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daedroth.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Daedroth as seen in ''Online'']]

-> ''"The crocodile-headed humanoid Daedra called the Daedroth is a servant of Molag Bal..."''
-->-- '''''Darkest Darkness'''''

Daedroths are a form of lesser Daedra which has variously shown intelligence ranging from animalistic to primitive sapience. They typically take the form of a large, bi-pedal crocodile complete with teeth, claws, and scales. Daedroths are known to be capable of casting spells, with some varieties also able to breath fire. Some have been known to use weapons and wear primitive armor, though most attack with their natural weapons.

Daedroths are primarily associated with Molag Bal, but have known to serve other Princes as well, particularly Mehrunes Dagon.
----
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In their first appearance in ''Daggerfall'', they are shown wearing armor and using weapons, in addition to casting more complex spells such as Silence. ''Morrowind'' makes them more animalistic and took away the weapons and armor, though they're still much smaller than later appearances. ''Oblivion'' makes them massive and even more animalistic. The thing keeping it from straying into EarlyInstallmentWeirdness is that ''Online'' gives them back some intelligence and has instances of Daedroths once again wearing armor.
* DeflectorShields: They are capable of casting a Shield spell upon initiating combat, reducing the amount of physical damage they take.
* GiantMook: The role they tend to fill when serving in Mehrunes Dagon's LegionsOfHell. They're larger (and less intelligent) than all of his other troops save [[EliteMooks Xivilai]].
* MageKiller: Primarily their ''Daggerfall'' appearance, where they can cast [[AntiMagic Spell Shield]] and a [[StatusEffects Silence]] spell, making them the bane of any magic oriented players.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: They have rows of razor sharp teeth.
* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: They take the appearance of large humanoid crocodiles.
* PlayingWithFire: Daedroths are capable of using fire based attacks, be they magical {{Fireballs}} or "natural" [[BreathWeapon fire breath]].
* PoisonousPerson: In ''Morrowind'', where they like to initiate combat by casting a ranged, large AreaOfEffect "Poisonbloom" spell.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: They're hostile reptilian Daedra.
* ShockAndAwe: Some varieties of Daedroth are capable of casting Shock spells.
* SpikesOfVillainy: They tend to have a very spiky appearance, are near-universally hostile to mortals, and are most commonly found in service to the "bad" Daedric Princes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Daedric Titans]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daedric_titan.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Daedric Titan as seen in ''Online'']]

-> ''"From its very first performance in the grueling Test of Fealty it was clear that this new morphotype would be a valuable addition to our Lord and Master's forces of dominion. Its strength was unparalleled, its savagery remarkable even among the war-slaves of Molag Bal, and its native intelligence was impressive."''
-->-- '''''Daedra Dossier: The Titans'''''

Daedric Titans are an intelligent race of lesser Daedra created by corrupting dragons and replacing their Aedric souls with Daedric ones. Anatomically, they are similar to dragons but possess prehensile frontal limbs. Titans are also capable of using powerful Thu'um-like word magic.

The first Titan was created by Molag Bal, and he has the most Titans in his service. However, Titans have also been found in the service of Boethiah and Mehrunes Dagon. Dagon further enhanced the Titans in his service by imbuing them with fire magic, creating the more powerful Ash Titans.
----
* TheCorruption: Molag Bal created the Daedric Titans by corrupting dragons. Titans possess similar anatomical features and abilities as dragons, but were created in mockery of true dragons and serve the Daedric Princes.
* DraconicAbomination: They're Daedra formed by corrupting dragons via twisting their physical forms and giving them Daedric souls.
* DragonsAreDemonic: While even standard dragons qualify to a degree, Titans take it UpToEleven. They were created by corrupting the already destructive and dominating dragons, giving them Daedric souls, and putting them in the service of the Daedric Princes.
* EliteMooks: They serve Molag Bal in this capacity.
* {{Expy}}: Corrupted divine entities who serve a dark lord? They are essentially the ''ES'' equivalent of [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Balrogs]]. Ash Titans make it even clearer.
* FallenAngel: Technically, as they are corrupted versions of standard dragons, who are [[DragonsAreDivine divine]], [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Aedric]] entities.
* MakeMeWannaShout: While stated to be only a "crude imitation" of the "true" [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]], Titans possess the ability to speak a spell of flaming essence-drain that can debilitate an opponent with a single word.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Unlike standard dragons, they have four limbs (two arms and two legs) in addition to their wings.
* PlayingWithFire: Ash Titans are a stronger variant created by Mehrunes Dagon and imbued with fire magic.
* {{Pride}}: After the dragon Boziikkodstrun resisted Molag Bal's ColdBloodedTorture and MindRape through sheer unrelenting pride, Bal decided to bring that power to his side by corrupting Boziikkodstrun into becoming the first Titan.
* SpikesOfVillainy: They are even spikier than the already very spiky standard dragons.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Demiprinces]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fa_nuit_hen.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The Demiprince Fa-Nuit-Hen as seen in ''Online'']]

-> ''"Then the Barons and the Demiprince joined together into a pillar of fighting styles terrible to behold and they danced before the egg and its learning image."''
-->-- '''''The 36 Lessons of Vivec -- Sermon 1'''''

Demiprinces are the scions of Daedra and mortals. Although Demiprinces inherit aspects of their Daedric parent, they are often highly eccentric and often lack mortal characteristics such as foresight, memory, cruelty, or willfulness. Some Demiprinces acquire or are given pocket realms of Oblivion to rule over, and they are known to visit Mundus for the express purpose of interacting with mortals, an act which most Daedra abhor.

The most famous Demiprince is Fa-Nuit-Hen, a scion of Boethiah, also known as the "Multiplier of Motions Known". He rules over the pocket realm of Maelstrom and is said to haunt the warriors who fell and still wonder why. Physically, he resembles a human with some Dremora features, including small horns.
----
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Demiprinces tend to have short attention spans and get bored very easily. Fa-Nuit-Hen, for example, can barely stay focused on questions during his interviews and outright interrupts people so he can answer them before he loses track of what they're saying.
* CloudCuckoolander: Their dual nature gives them an ''odd'' perception of the world and [[TimeDissonance time itself]]. Fa-Nuit-Hen talks of events as happening, happened, and will-or-maybe-happening at some point, all at once. They are even considered "eccentric" by the standards of other Daedra.
* DivineParentage: As the children of Daedra and [[HalfHumanHybrid mortals]]. Fa-Nuit-Hen is the scion of Boetheiah, for example.
* IdiotSavant: In addition to their eccentricities, Demiprinces have an extremely difficult time maintaining knowledge which lies outside their spheres of influence. However, they are the ''[[BunnyEarsLawyer undisputed masters]]'' of whatever lies within their spheres. (For Fa-Nuit-Hen, for example, that would be sword techniques.)
* PocketDimension: They are often given realms of Oblivion to rule over as gifts from their parents. These realms are said to be "bizarre" and "eccentric", even by the [[EldritchLocation standards of the other realms of Oblivion]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dremora]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dremora.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Dremora as seen in ''Skyrim'']]

->''"We are not born; we have not fathers nor mothers, yet we have kin and clans.''\\
->''The clan-form is strong. It shapes body and thought.''\\
->''In the clan-form is strength and purpose.''\\
->''We serve by choice. We serve the strong, so that their strength might shield us.''\\
->''Clans serve by long-practice, but practice may change.''\\
->''Dremora have long served Dagon but not always so.''
-->-- '''''Spirit of the Daedra'''''

Dremora, who refer to themselves as "the Kyn", are an intelligent race of lesser Daedra most frequently found in service to Mehrunes Dagon, though they've been known to serve other Princes as well. Their typical appearance is as tall, dark-skinned humanoids with dark hair and often horns. They are a proud, clan-based race which upholds values of oaths, pride, honor, and loyalty. They detest mortals as beneath them and honor Mehrunes Dagon as a god. They primarily hail from Dagon's Deadlands realm, but can be found throughout many realms of Oblivion.
----
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: As a race, they come across as Always Lawful Evil.
* ArtEvolution: The Dremora in ''Morrowind'' are no bigger than Dunmer or Imperials, and are even dwarfed by Nords and Altmer. This is changed in ''Oblivion'', where they are equal in height to the Altmer race. Also, they were originally very grotesque in terms of facial features. By ''Skyrim'', they've started to look more like heavily-tattooed (though still horned) Dunmer.
* BloodKnight: Dremora exist for combat and killing.
* BossInMookClothing: It can be difficult to tell different ranks of Dremora apart at a distance. It often only becomes apparent when they fire off a stronger than expected spell or whip out a higher quality weapon than the lower level Dremora possess.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: The Dremora in ''Oblivion'' (and too a lesser extent ''Battlespire'') are significantly ''weaker'' than in other games until you reach at least the rank of Kynmarcher. That said, there are also way more of them in this game owing to their status as antagonists.
* DeadpanSnarker: Dremora who become chummy with mortals (whether via forced servitude or voluntarily because the mortal has proven worthy) tend to speak like this.
* DefeatMeansRespect: The Dremora in ''Oblivion'' consider the Hero of Kvatch one of the few mortals worthy of their attention, due to the hero's role in breaking their sieges of the Imperial cities and the retribution meted against them.
* EnemySummoner: Some Dremora are known to summon other lesser Daedra to aid them in battle. Most commonly they summon Scamps, but they've been known to summon Atronachs, Clannfear, Daedroths, and Spider Daedra as well.
* EvilIsHammy: They are an entire race of {{Large Ham}}s.
* EvilSoundsDeep: They speak with deep, distorted voices.
* FacialMarkings: They are known to adorn their faces with red markings and symbols.
* FantasticCasteSystem: They're divided into three "soldier" classes (Churls, Caitiffs, and Kynvals), two "officer" classes (Kynreeves and Kynmarchers), and two "noble" classes (Markynaz and Valkynaz). The former three represent the military ranks of lesser soldiers, with Churls being the untrained disorganized rabble that form the bulk of a clan's fighting force, Caitiffs representing shock troops, and Kynvals being soldiers that distinguished themselves in combat and displaying the potential to be future leaders of their clans, as well as being the equivalent of knights. The other four are more important, politically-oriented roles, as they respectively represent clan officers, grand dukes, lords, and princes. There are also many other ranks, such as Feydnaz, Kyngald and Narkynaz, whose positions in the overall hierarchy is largely unknown.
* HornedHumanoid: Variously have two or four horns on their head. The horns tend to get larger and more pronounced among the higher-ranking Dremora.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: Dremora consider the relationship between themselves and mortals akin to the relationship between a huntsman and his prey, with other lesser daedra assisting the hunt as a trained bird of prey or a pack of dogs would assist a mortal hunter.
* InsistentTerminology: Though they are commonly referred to as Dremora, they prefer to identify themselves as "The Kyn", which translates to "[[OfThePeople The People]]" in the Daedric language. This is because they consider themselves superior and more intelligent than the other lesser Daedra, which they see as little more than mindless beasts.
* LegionsOfHell: Their primary service to Mehrunes Dagon is in this fashion. They are his primary troops while other forms of lesser Daedra serve in other roles.
* MagicKnight: They are capable spell casters in addition to excelling as warriors. They primarily favor Destruction spells and defensive Shield spells.
* MasterRace: Dremora believe themselves to be superior to other lesser Daedra, even go so far as to refer to themselves as "The Kyn". Seeing as most lesser Daedra aren't civilized or sentient, they do have a point. However, it is unknown what their view is on the other lesser Daedra that ''are'' sentient, such as the Mazken and Aureal, despite interacting with both races to some extent in ''Battlespire'' and ''Morrowind'', respectively.
* MonsterLord: Dremora Lords. They have much more health than a standard Dremora, do more damage, have a stronger magical barrier, and almost always come with a higher quality weapon.
* NonMammalMammaries: Female Dremora possess them.
* NoSenseOfDirection: As a general rule, they have a poor sense of direction.
* OneGenderRace: Mistakenly believed to be the case by both mortals in-universe and players. There are rare female Dremora in ''Oblivion'', but seeing as they only appear in one caste and don't have spoken lines, this was probably a mistake. ''Online'' properly introduces female Dremora and gives them some characterization. (Dremora have a male dominated society and strong StayInTheKitchen attitudes, with females only serving in combat roles as support troop mages or skirmishers.)
* PlayingWithFire: Though have been known to use other spells from the Destruction school of magic, Dremora most frequently use fire-based magic attacks.
* PraetorianGuard: The Valkynaz caste are this to Mehrunes Dagon.
* ProudWarriorRace: Dremora are constantly obsessed with honor through combat. However, some are hinted to have joined the mortals and pursued material wealth.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: They have dark skin tones and hair, sometimes outright black, and will adorn themselves with red markings. They also wear the red and black (and spiky) Daedric armor. As for the "evil", they are most often found in service of Mehrunes Dagon and detest mortals as beneath them.
* SpikesOfVillainy: They craft and wear Daedric armor, which features spikes in abundance.
* UhOhEyes: Curiously, their eye color is different in each game, but it's ''always'' one of these.
** In ''Morrowind'' they have [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]].
** In ''Oblivion'' their eyes are [[SupernaturalGoldEyes gold]].
** In ''Skyrim'' their eyes are [[BlackEyesOfEvil black]].
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: It's a series tradition that only the high-level Dremora drop the Daedric armor they wear, probably to avoid a DiskOneNuke situation, as Daedric armor is always the best regular set of heavy armor in the game. Possibly because the armor is part of their bodies, as Daedric armor can be summoned by the player, literally summoning a Daedric spirit in the form of a piece of armor. In ''Oblivion'', their weapons can be looted, but they are nowhere close to the power of regular Daedric weapons.
* TheUsualAdversaries: In ''Oblivion'', where they are the primary {{Mooks}} of Mehrunes Dagon.
* WorthyOpponent: They are typically dismissive of the mortal races, but those who perform well in battle against them can earn their respect.
* YourSoulIsMine: They have been known to capture mortal souls in this fashion. Most infamously, a Dremora captured the soul of St. Jiub the Eradicator during the Oblivion Crisis.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Forces of Order]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knight_of_order.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Knight of Order as seen in ''Shivering Isles'']]

-> ''"Madness always yields to the march of Order!"''
-->-- '''''Priest of Order's Dialogue in Shivering Isles'''''

The Forces of Order are intelligent lesser Daedra in the service of Jyggalag and come in two known forms: Knights and Priests. The Knights wear a full set of metallic armor and are oriented toward melee combat. The Priests wear black robes with metallic armor trim and are oriented toward magical/skirmish combat.

Unlike most forms of lesser Daedra, there are known instances of mortals becoming Priests of Order.
----
* AnimatedArmor: Implied to be the case for the Knights. Their armor ''is'' their body and it cannot be looted.
* EternalRecurrence: Their appearance in the Shivering Isles heralds the beginning of the [[ViciousCycle Greymarch]].
* EvilIsSterile: Like Jyggalag, they are said to have absolutely no original thoughts whatsoever.
* KnightTemplar: They work for their master Jygglag to put the universe into "perfect order", usually by destroying parts of the Shivering Isles and slaying its inhabitants to make way for his return during the Greymarch.
* MagicStaff: Priests of Order are known to wield Crystal Staves which deal magical [[ShockAndAwe Shock]] damage.
* KeystoneArmy: They are connected to Jyggalag's Obelisks of Order. Priests can activate the Obelisks and will resurrect if they are killed as long as the Obelisk remains active. Knights spawn from the Obelisks while active. The only way to deactivate an Obelisk is to overload it (by placing the hearts of the Knights into it).
* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Though classed as Daedra, [[https://www.imperial-library.info/content/interview-two-denizens-shivering-isles according to Dyus]] there's a distinction between the two sorts of beings.
-->'''Dyus''': The limited imaginations of Mundus’ inhabitants are very amusing. There are as many types of servants as stars in the sky. Daedra, as you call them, are but one of the more useful. The Knights of Order are yet another. My Lord Jyggalag is partial to their lack of creativity and independence.
* LightIsNotGood: Despite their associations with order and their shiny metal appearances, they serve a destructive deity who stops at nothing in an attempt to put the universe into his idea of "perfect order".
* OrderVersusChaos: They serve the Daedric Prince of Order to destroy the Shivering Isles, home of the chaotic MadGod Sheogorath.
* SpontaneousWeaponCreation: Priests of Order possess a spell which allows them to temporarily summon an Ebony dagger and will use it if they are engaged in close quarters combat.
* TinTyrant: Knights of Order are fully encased in metallic armor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Herne]]
[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/herne.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:260:A Herne as seen in ''Battlespire'']]

-> ''"Hello little hare. I am a Huntsman. I hunt you in accordance with the laws of the Wild Hunt..."''
-->-- '''''Herne Dialogue in Battlespire'''''

Herne are an intelligent race of lesser Daedra found in service to both Mehrunes Dagon and Hircine. Physically, they are humanoid but possess horns, tails, and cloven feet.

The most famous Herne, Egahirn, was placed in charge of one of Hircine's hunts during the events of ''Battlespire''.
----
* CombatByChampion: Hircine has been known to put Herne in charge of his hunts when he does not personally participate.
* FaunsAndSatyrs: Their design evokes this.
* TheGoomba: They are little better than Scamps, having low health, dealing low damage, and lacking the ability to cast spells.
* HornedHumanoid: They have goat-like horns on their heads.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hungers]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hunger.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Hunger as seen in ''Shivering Isles'']]

-> ''"The hunger is one of the many voracious servants of the Daedra Lord Boethiah."''
-->-- '''''Morrowind Dialogue'''''

Hungers are a powerful animalistic form of lesser Daedra in service to Boethiah. Sheogorath is also known to keep Hungers as free-ranging "pets" within the Shivering Isles. Physically, they possess long, thin humanoid frames with very little mass. They attack with their weaponized tongue, their razor sharp claws, and by using their sucker-like mouth to drain the stamina of their prey. Some varieties are known to be able to paralyze their prey and disintegrate their armor and weapons.
----
* {{Chupacabra}}: Hungers are very similar in appearance to the "alien-style" Chupacabra, complete with claws, spikes, and a "sucker" mouth.
* LeanAndMean: Hungers are very thin, and extremely aggressive.
* OverlyLongTongue: They have extremely long, weaponized tongues.
* SpikesOfVillainy: Their backs are lined with a row of razor sharp spikes.
* TookALevelInBadass: Inverted. In ''Morrowind'', Hungers are one of the toughest Daedric foes around. In addition to their standard strong attack and fatigue drain, they are [[AntiMagic immune]] to all forms of Destruction magic and can use [[BreakableWeapons Disintigrate Armor/Weapon]] spells. Later appearances drop these latter two abilities completely.
* VampiricDraining: Hungers are capable of draining the Fatigue of their prey. In game, this tends to take the form of a spell, but given their appearance (and the fact that the "spell" is immune to Silence), it can be implied that they are really using their sucker-like mouths.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lurkers]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lurker.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Lurker as seen in ''Dragonborn'']]

-> ''"Lurkers are thought to be native to the murky waters of Hermaeus Mora's realm of Apocrypha."''
-->-- '''''Dragonborn Loading Screen'''''

Lurkers are a species of lesser Daedra in service to Hermaeus Mora and are native to Apocrypha's waters. Their appearance is as giant humanoids with various amphibious and fish-like features. They attack with their powerful limbs, as well as their mouth tentacles and can spray acid.
----
* AntiMagic: They have resistances to every type of Destruction magic except for [[ShockAndAwe Shock]] spells.
* CombatTentacles: Both in the form of a stream of tentacles coming from their mouths and a stomp that causes poisonous tentacles to appear.
* GiantMook: Lurkers stand much taller than even the tallest of the playable races, roughly as tall as [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants]], on average.
* {{Expy}}: They are based on the [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Deep Ones]].
* FishPeople: They have numerous fish-like traits, including spiny fins, and their faces appear to be modeled after angler fish.
* HealingFactor: They quickly regenerate lost health.
* KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge: They are often found in close proximity to Hermaeus Mora's Black Books and act as their guardians.
* ShockwaveStomp: They can use one which damages and staggers nearby enemies, as well as summons tentacles from the ground which deal additional damage.
* SuperSpit: Lurkers can spray acid from their mouths as a form of attack. The acid continues to damage targets for several seconds after initial impact.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Lurkers are an immensely powerful foe, but have no resistance against [[StatusEffects Paralysis]]. A simple Paralysis spell or poison can leave them a sitting duck.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mazken (Dark Seducers)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mazken.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Dark Seducer as seen in ''Shivering Isles'']]

-> ''"Dark Seducers also exhibit little beyond their appearance to match their names. While they too assert their superiority over all others in the realm, they appear to have a more patient, introspective nature about them. They often appear humble in their dealings with mortals, and are known to be patient with the "lesser races."''
-->-- '''''Saints and Seducers'''''

Mazken, better known as Dark (or Daedric) Seducers, are an intelligent race of Daedra most frequently found in service to Sheogorath. Their typical appearance is humanoid with skin tones ranging from human-like to shades of blue and purple. Despite their name, they are a humble and introspective race, more willing to deal with mortals than most Daedra. They should still be approached with caution, however, as they are known to be treacherous and deceptive. Mazken typically guard the "Dementia" region of the Shivering Isles, and have a significant rivalry with the Aureal (Golden Saints) who guard the "Mania" region.
----
* AmazonBrigade: Downplayed. While male Mazken do exist, they are physically inferior and less numerous, leaving the females most fit for combat roles.
* CarryABigStick: They primarily use maces and the occassional [[AnAxeToGrind axe]] as their favored weapons.
* ChainmailBikini: Female Mazken wear skimpy, {{Stripperific}} armor.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In ''Daggerfall'', Daedra Seducers are a medium-level spellcaster with no other real distinguishing traits. In ''Battlespire'', they get a major power up ([[GameplayAndStoryIntegration though justified for plot reasons]]). They (or at least the group present in the game) are stated to have formerly been servants of an agent of Nocturnal before joining Mehrunes Dagon. Come the ''Shivering Isles'', they lose their wings, become more sympathetic, and are stated to be servants of Sheogorath.
* DarkIsNotEvil: As befitting servants of Sheogorath, the ''Dark'' Seducers who maintain the dark and dreary Dementia are mostly are polite and sympathetic.
* DoesNotLikeMen: The male Mazken are looked down upon (literally and figuratively) by the females. Arguably justified given the fact that male Mazken are both physically and statistically inferior to their female counterparts. This trope extends to males of the mortal races, though to a lesser degree than with the Aureal.
* FantasticCasteSystem: Similar to the Aureal, they have a caste system with an seven-tier hierarchy, ascending from lowest to highest in rank as follows: Kiskengo, Kiskella, Kiskedrig, Grakendo, Grakella, Grakedrig, Autkendo. An individual's strength and discipline determines their place in this system.
* FantasticSlur: Like the Aureal, a favored insult of theirs is "dog".
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Mazken are said to be a treacherous race that will quickly switch allegiances if it becomes beneficial to them. The group of Dark Seducers fought in ''Battlespire'' betrayed their former master (a lieutenant of Nocturnal) to side with Mehrunes Dagon when he promised them greater power. Because of this, it's difficult to tell if they've always been servants of Sheogorath or if he is simply their race's most recent master of convenience.
* MagicKnight: Mazken excel in both combat and in spellcasting.
* {{Matriarchy}}: Their society is extremely matriarchal, with females filling all leadership positions.
* NonMammalMammaries: The Female Mazken possess them. It is somewhat more justified for them than for other "female" Daedra, as they are known to use their female forms to trick and seduce mortals. (Hence their name.)
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While still a bit haughty, they are far more sympathetic and understanding when dealing with mortals than are the Aureal.
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: The females are considerably taller than the males.
* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: Male Mazken are significantly weaker and physically smaller than the females.
* ProudWarriorRace: They have a heavily militaristic society, thriving on conflict and warfare. They are known to engage in conflicts with the Aureal (Golden Saints) for both the favor of Sheogorath and simply as an outlet for their aggression.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: The Dark Seducers in ''Battlespire'' are said to be a group who willingly shifted their allegiance to Mehrunes Dagon, and were rewarded by being remade in the image of Dagon's own greed and treachery -- becoming not only physically stronger, but also gifted with powerful bat-winged forms.
* WingedHumanoid: In their ''Daggerfall'' and ''Battlespire'' appearances. In ''Battlespire'', this is specifically stated to be part of a SuperMode granted to them by Mehrunes Dagon.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Morphoid Daedra]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morphoid.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Morphoid Daedra as seen in ''Battlespire'']]

-> ''"I hear you are quite the little fireball. They say for us to capture you alive. I tend to get excited in a fight, so please remind me about the ALIVE part if I seem to get too excited."''
-->-- '''''Morphoid Daedra Dialogue in Battlespire'''''

Morphoid Daedra are an intelligent race of lesser Daedra found in service to Mehrunes Dagon. Physically, they are humanoid but possess horns, tails, and cloven feet.
----
* BigRedDevil: Or rather, big orange devils. Their aesthetic plays the trope completely straight.
* HornedHumanoid: Have horns like the Hernes, but are far more demonic in appearance.
* IWantThemAlive: Conversing with one in ''Battlespire'' reveals that they were ordered by their Xivilai commander to take the Hero of Battlespire alive.
* SpikesOfVillainy: They have large spikes on each shoulder and are known to serve Mehrunes Dagon, one of the more malevolent Daedric Princes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ogrim]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ogrim.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:An Ogrim as seen in ''Online'']]

-> ''"Ogrim are massive, powerful, dimly intelligent servants of the Daedra Lord Malacath. Daedra hearts have modest magical properties, but you have to dig through a lot of Daedra to get at an ogrim's heart."''
-->-- '''''Morrowind Dialogue'''''

Ogrim are a brutish form of lesser Daedra with low intelligence, but which possess immense strength. They typically take the form of massive, vaguely reptilian humanoids with large, bulbous stomachs as well as scales, horns, and spikes. Ogrim Titans are an even more powerful type of Ogrim.

Ogrim are primarily associated with Malacath, though they have been known to serve other princes, primarily Molag Bal.
----
* DumbMuscle: Ogrim possess monstrous strength, but are said to be extremely dim-witted.
* {{Expy}}: Ogrims are essentially [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Mancubi]], minus the cybernetics and arm-cannons. Their design in ''Online'' makes them look even more like the Mancubus from ''Doom II''.
* FatBastard: Along with elements of FatSlob and FatIdiot. Ogrim are are among the largest of the lesser Daedra, with heavy set frames and huge bulbous stomachs. They are also extremely dim-witted and near universally hostile to mortals.
* GiantMook: Are among the largest of all lesser Deadra, with more body mass than the taller Lurkers and Xivilai. They border on being {{Smash Mook}}s, with no other means of attack than their strong physical attacks.
* HealingFactor: Ogrim have strong regenerative abilities.
* HornedHumanoid: They have pronounced horns on their heads.
* KungFuProofMook: In ''Morrowind'', Ogrim are completely immune to physical attacks.
* PrimalChestPound: In ''Online'', this is how they activate their rapid healing factor. If interrupted, it temporarily stuns them.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: They are hostile reptilian Daedra. ''Online'' gives them facial features that cross over with PigMan.
* SpikesOfVillainy: They tend to have a very spiky appearance, are near-universally hostile to mortals, and are most commonly found in service to the "bad" Daedric Princes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Scamps]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scamp.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Scamp as seen in ''Online'']]

-> ''"Scamps are small, and they aren’t particularly intelligent, but they’re agile combatants who delight in cruelty just as much as any of the larger Daedra. They’re often summoned to perform simple tasks, and make good (if sometimes unruly) messengers and servants."''
-->-- '''''Online Loading Screen'''''

Scamps are a form of sentient lesser Daedra, though with low intelligence. They are also cowardly, and are the weakest known Daedric being, having been known to flee combat when overmatched, and prefer to attack in large numbers to increase their odds. Physically, they are humanoid, smaller than average humans (roughly the size of goblins), with gray skin, long ears, fangs, claws, and tails. Their ''Morrowind'' concept art mentions they were the result of a bored Daedric Prince attempting to create his own Mer to play around with and failing miserably.

Scamps are primarily associated with Mehrunes Dagon, and are a favored Daedric summon of even the most novice mortal conjurers.
----
* AntiMagic: Scamps have a resistance to fire, both magical and natural. It is said that they are not bothered by heat.
* CannonFodder: Their combat role in [[LegionsOfHell the armies]] of Mehrunes Dagon. Often, they can be found in non-combat roles, such as messengers and servants to perform mundane tasks. Mortals are known to use Scamps in these latter roles as well.
* CreepyLongFingers: Complete with with [[NaturalWeapon claws]] at the end which act as their primary weapon.
* EvilSmellsBad: Scamps are well known and despised for their terrible smell.
* FunSize: They stand much smaller than the average man and are the smallest known Daedric being.
* TheGoomba: Scamps are the weakest of all known lesser Deadra. This is particularly the case in ''Battlespire'', where they are some of the weakest and most easily dispatched enemies in the game.
* LooksLikeOrlok: Checks every box saved for the hooked nose (Scamps have nostril slits instead) and the trenchcoat (Scamps don't wear clothes).
* OurImpsAreDifferent: Scamps, the weakest of Daedra, are small, pointy-eared beings used by Daedric Princes to cause mischief. They're noted to not be all that bright, and not especially dangerous to prepared adventures except in [[ZergRush large numbers]].
* PlayingWithFire: Some Scamps are capable of casting minor fire-based spells.
* PointyEars: Of the extremely long, triangular variety.
* PrimalStance: While they stop short of walking on all fours, Scamps have very hunched over postures. They're also among the less intelligent of the sentient Daedra.
* ServantRace: While almost every variety of lesser Daedra is one toward one or more of the Daedric Princes, Scamps are especially well known for their roles as servants.
* TokenHeroicOrc: In almost every game where they've made an appearance, there is typically at least one non-hostile Scamp who can be conversed with. The Scamp merchant Creeper who appears in ''Morrowind'' and ''Online'' is one prominent example, although he's hinted to be Barbas in disguise, and thus not a real Scamp.
* UhOhEyes:
** In ''Battlespire'' and ''Morrowind'', they have [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]].
** In ''Oblivion'', they instead have creepy EmptyEyes.
** In ''Online'', they have BlackEyesOfEvil.
* YouNoTakeCandle: Scamps who are able to speak Tamriellic tend to do so in this fashion, sometimes crossing over with HulkSpeak.
* ZergRush: They prefer to attack in large numbers to improve their odds.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Seekers]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/seeker.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Seeker as seen in ''Dragonborn'']]

-> ''"Seekers are servants of Hermaeus Mora. They are rarely seen outside his Oblivion realm of Apocrypha."''
-->-- '''''Dragonborn Loading Screen'''''

Seekers are a species of lesser Daedra in service to Hermaeus Mora. Their appearance is as betentacled squid-like creatures with four humanoid arms. They can move as smoky shadows, allowing them to cover distance quickly, and possess a variety of strong magical attacks. Seekers typically act as the guardians and caretakers of Apocrypha, especially over the tomes of forbidden knowledge within.
----
* BadassBookworm: Typically found reading if there aren't any intruders in Apocrypha for them to attack.
* {{Cthulhumanoid}}: Their design evokes Cthulhu.
* EnemySummoner: Seekers can summon a weaker clone of themselves to aid them in battle. The clone will disintegrate if the Seeker is killed first.
* HomingProjectile: Their spells can home-in on their targets, even if they haven't actually ''detected'' the target.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: In addition to their many tentacles, Seekers have four vaguely humanoid arms as well.
* ScaryLibrarian: Squid-like ones that will attack anything that enters Apocrypha.
* SuperSmoke: Seekers can turn into a cloud of "smoky shadows" which allows them to cover distance very quickly and move into close range with enemies. However, they can still be attacked in this state.
* VampiricDraining: All of their spells drain or absorb the health, magicka, and/or fatigue of their targets.
* TheWorfEffect: On a meta level, Seekers are practically ''[[{{Nerf}} designed]]'' as a to counter the "stealth archer" build which is [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome well-known for its dominance]] in ''Skyrim''. A stealth archer attempting to take out a Seeker will find its physical damage resistance absorb most of the damage of the initial stealth shot, while the Seeker then either quickly moves in for a close range fight or fires off powerful spells which home-in on the target even if undetected.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Skaafin]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skaafin_8.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Skaafin as seen in ''Online'']]

Skaafin are an intelligent form of lesser Daedra in service to Clavicus Vile. Physically, they are humanoid with yellow skin and long, curved goat-like horns on their heads. They are known to vary in size rather drastically, from quite small to larger than an average man. They can often be found with weapons and armor that have a bronze-like appearance.
----
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Skaafin Tyrants are fully encased head to toe in thick, heavy armor.
* HornedHumanoid: They possess long, curved goat-like horns on their heads.
* LegionsOfHell: When Clavicus Vile attempts to invade Sotha Sil's Clockwork City in ''Online'', the Skaafin serve as his main fighting force.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Perthan (Spider Daedra)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spiderdaedra.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Spider Daedra as seen in ''Online'']]

-> ''"Spider Daedra are the servants of Mephala, taking the form of spider-humanoid centaurs, with a naked upper head, torso, and arms of human proportions, mounted on the eight legs and armored carapace of a giant spider. Unfortunately, these Daedra are so fierce and irrational that they cannot be trusted to heed the commands of the Spinner. As a consequence, few sorcerers are willing to either summon or bind such creatures"''
-->-- '''''Darkest Darkness'''''

Spider Daedra, also sometimes referred to as "Perthan", are intelligent lesser Daedra in service to Mephala. Physically, they appear as a naked humanoid torso attached below the waist to the abdomen, thorax, and legs of a giant spider. Due to their unpredictability, few mortals, including Mephala's own worshipers, are willing to summon them for fear that they will disobey orders.
----
* EnemySummoner: They can summon Spiderlings to aid them in battle.
* MagicKnight: Spider Daedra are equally formidable with melee attacks and destruction magic, particularly ranged [[PoisonousPerson Poison]] and [[ShockAndAwe Shock]] spells.
* NonMammalMammaries: Female Spider Daedra have them.
* SpidersAreScary: They are powerful and unpredictable lesser Daedra, typically found in service to Mephala, who is one of the more malevolent of the Daedric Princes.
* SpiderPeople: Humanoid torso, GiantSpider legs and lower body.
* WildCard: Extremely unpredictable and just as likely to attack the summoner as they are to attack whatever they're being summoned against.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vermai]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vermai.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Vermai as seen in ''Battlespire'']]

-> ''"The Vermai have no thoughts, and cannot fear."''
-->-- '''''Spirit of the Daedra'''''

Vermai are a blind and aggressive form of lesser Daedra with minimal intelligence, commonly found in the service of Mehrunes Dagon. Physically, they have elongated eyeless faces with humanoid but alien yellowish-green bodies. According to the Dremora, Vermai "have no thoughts". While they can speak, they generally do not do so in any intelligible fashion.
----
* EyelessFace: The Vermai lack eyes.
* PraetorianGuard: A pair of Vermai served the infamous Sload Necromancer N'Gasta in this fashion.
* SmashMook: A somewhat Downplayed version. While not particularly large, their only means of attack is their relatively strong physical attack.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Winged Twilights]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wingedtwilight.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Winged Twilight as seen in ''Morrowind'']]

-> ''"The winged twilight is a messenger of Azura, Goddess of Dusk and Dawn. Winged twilights resemble the feral harpies of the West, though the feminine aspects of the winged twilights are more ravishing, and their long, sharp, hooked tails are immeasurably more deadly."''
-->-- '''''Darkest Darkness'''''

Winged Twilights are an intelligent form of lesser Daedra in service to Azura, whom they often serve as messengers. Physically, they are humanoids with purplish-blue skin, wings attached to their arms, weaponized tails, and bird-like feet complete with sharp talons. Winged Twilights are capable of flight.
----
* AntiMagic: They are highly resistant (though not immune) to every form of Destruction magic.
* AttackReflector: They have the ability to reflect magical attacks back at the caster.
* BatPeople: They resemble large humanoid bats.
* BewareMyStingerTail: Their primary method of attack is to fly slightly above their target and whip around their sharp, hooked tail. Otherwise, they kick with their taloned feet.
* TheCorruption: Grievous Twilights are Winged Twilights which have been corrupted by Molag Bal. They are much more bestial looking and use TeleportSpam when attacking.
* GoodWingsEvilWings: Though they serve the typically "good" Azura, they possess traditionally "evil" bat-like wings.
* HarpingOnAboutHarpies: They resemble standard harpies, though are more bat-like than bird-like, and are unrelated to Tamriel's actual harpies.
* MageKiller: Between their strong physical attacks and their ability to reflect/resist magical attacks, Winged Twilights are extremely tough foes for magic oriented individuals to defeat.
* MakeMeWannaShout: They have the ability to stun opponents with their shrill, high-pitched shrieks.
* NonMammalMammaries: They possess them.
* OneGenderRace: All Winged Twilights encountered by mortals to date have been female.
* WingedHumanoid: They have bat-like wings and are capable of flight.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Xivilai]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xivilai.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A Xivilai as seen in ''Oblivion'']]

Xivilai are an intelligent and powerful form of lesser Daedra, typically found in service to Mehrunes Dagon but have been known to serve Molag Bal as well. Physically, they are tall and massive humanoids with gray skin and horns. They have a strong dislike of subordination and have a strong tendency toward betrayal.

Xivkyn are a hybrid of Xivilai and Dremora ("Kyn") created by Molag Bal during the events of the Planemeld.
----
* AntiMagic: Xivilai possess the ability to absorb incoming spells, negating the spell while increasing their own Magicka reserves.
* BadassArmy: The Xivkyn under Molag Bal. Being an unholy hybrid of elite but unruly Xivilai and ProudWarriorRace Dremora is a good justification. They very nearly succeeded in taking over Mundus during the Planemeld while being an [[ImplacableMan implacable]] fighting force.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Xivilai are noted for their strong tendency toward betrayal.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Xivilai are noted to be skilled torturers who revel in the act, particularly when torturing mortals.
* EliteMooks: The role of Xivilai in Mehrunes Dagon's LegionsOfHell. They also happen to be [[GiantMook gigantic]].
* EnemySummoner: Xivilai have the ability to summon [[AttackAnimal Clannfear]] to aid them in battle.
* FantasticCasteSystem:
** Averted for Xivilai. While culturally similar in many ways to the Dremora, Xivilai have no castes stemming from their hatred of subordination and tendency for betrayal.
** Played straight for Xivkyn, which have a caste system like the Dremora.
* GenderIsNoObject: ''Online'' shows that there are both male and female Xivilai, both of which have similar combat prowess, spellcasting abilities, and status.
* GiantsKnifeHumansGreatsword: Xivilai typically wield weapons that smaller beings require two hands to wield effectively, such as claymores and warhammers. Due to their size and strength, they can wield these weapons one-handed.
* HornedHumanoid: Both Xivilai and Xivkyn have horns similar to Dremora.
* MagicKnight: Xivilai are powerful physical combatants, but also possess the ability to use a variety of damaging magic attacks, including [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and [[ShockAndAwe Shock]] spells.
* NonMammalMammaries: Female Xivilai have them.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Male Xivilai are typically bare-chested.
[[/folder]]

* BadassBeard: In fact, beards more badass than his are outlawed in the Shivering Isles on [[DisproportionateRetribution pain of death]]. The new Sheogorath seems to have done away with this rule, as he's still mostly clean-shaven 200 years later while his follower who gives you his quest in ''Skyrim'' sports a bushy beard.

--> ''"Now, I know what you're thinking. Can I still rely on my swords and spells and sneaking and all that nonsense? Sure, sure. Or, you could use... THE WABBAJACK! Huh? Huh? Didn't see that coming, did you?"''

* MageKiller: Primarily their ''Daggerfall'' appearance, where they can cast [[AntiMagic Spell Shield]] and a [[StandardStatusEffects Silence]] spell, making them the bane of any magic oriented players.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Lurkers are an immensely powerful foe, but have no resistance against [[StandardStatusEffects Paralysis]]. A simple Paralysis spell or poison can leave them a sitting duck.

* TheDreaded: It probably goes without saying that the concept of his return has got the other Princes pissing themselves. He has spent most of his time since the Oblivion Crisis focusing exclusively on Planes of Oblivion instead of on Nirn. Given that his main form of bringing the Shivering Isles to order was through subjugating the land to his will through conquest, this would be a reasonable fear for the other Princes. The Daedric Prince doesn't even need an army to reconquer the Shivering Isles, if he were to gain one... Furthermore, as an insane god and with the fact that he and the Champion of Cyrodil left on good terms, it's possible that they are allied now. Seeing as how Sheogorath sends the Dragonborn to ''cure'' insanity instead of cause it, this is also a reasonable assumption.

* EnemyWithin: He is this to Sheogorath. Jyggalag is the last vestage of sanity with an outline to the original state of Sheogorath's broken psyche'.

* FightingFromTheInside: Played very subtly but consistant. A lot of things about Sheogorath's behavior seem alarmingly calculated for someone who is supposed be the embodiment of insanity, from seaking out and indivdually betting against every other Daedric Prince, to nearly destroying Jyggalag's library but sparing the faithful librarian/living master-record, but most notably planning to train someone to represent him and break the cycle of his curse, but said champion could only end it in a battle with Jyggalag, and being defeated in specifically that state returns him to be reborn as his true self, upon reforming in Oblivion - meaning Sheogorath was not so much planning to stop Jyggalag permanently, as much as free him; Subconsciously, Jyggalag has been pulling the strings the entire time, from avenge himself on those that cursed him, to preserving the last remains of his realm, to masterminding a break in the curse's cycle.

* GodzillaThreshold: All of the other Daedric Princes combined their powers to prevent him from threatening them further. No small feat considering how openly hateful and hostile several of the Princes are toward each other.

%% NotSoDifferent is no longer a trope and has been converted into a disambig as per TRS.

* NotSoDifferent:
** In most tellings of the story of the creation of Mundus, there was originally no difference between the et'Ada who would go on to become the Aedra and those who would become the Daedra. Other versions of the story instead state that the the et'Ada who would become the Aedra rose from the intermingled blood of Anu and Padomay while the et'Ada who would become the Daedra specifically came from the blood of Padomay (the beings who came exclusively from the blood of Anu were called the Magna-ge, but they up and left the world of Mundus soon after it was created). There is still generally no difference made between them in terms of power or ability until after the creation of Mundus.
** Further muddying the whole thing is that at least two of the Princes are beings more in line with Anuic et'Ada (Jyggalag and Peryite), and others were Aedric et'Ada turned into Daedric Princes by other forces: Meridia is a banished Magna-Ge who became a Daedric Prince through reshaping light from Magnus (the Sun) to make her own realm; Mehrunes Dagon was a benevolent spirit cursed by Alduin because he meddled in the kalpic cycles; and Malacath is what resulted when the elven ancestor spirit Trinimac was eaten and excreted back out by Boethiah.

* NotSoDifferent:
** He and Sheogorath are both gods of madness, just in [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} different]] [[SuperOCD ways]].
** He's actually surpsingly similar to "Mehrunes Dagon" of all Daedra: They're both dedicated to a goal that goes against their nature (Dagon wants to reduce reality to a state of nothingness despite embodying change while Jyggalag desires to bring order to Oblivion despite being a Daedra, who are chaotic by nature).

"The Truth in Sequence":

NotSoDifferent:

** He and Sheogorath are both gods of madness, just in [[{{Cloudcukoolander}} different]] [[SuperOCD ways]].
** He's actually surpsingly similar to "Mehrunes Dagon" of all Daedra: They're both dedicated to a goal that goes against their nature(Dagon wants to reduce reality to a state of nothingness despite embodying change while Jyggalag desires to bring order to Oblivion despite being a Daedra, who are chaotic by nature).

* KarmicTransformation: Cursed to become Sheogorath, Prince of Madness and the antithesis of everything he stood for, by the other Princes out of fear and jealousy.

* MadGod: It is suggested by Sotha Sil's priests that Jyggalag is a deity of insanity like Sheogorath, but unlike the chaotic mania and melancholy depression that Sheogorath represents, Jyggalag is the god of [[SuperOCD extreme order and obsessive organization]]. Further, Sotha Sil's priests present a theory is that Jyggalag knew that he was a Daedra and that he was a "flaw" in the Aubris, which drove him to madness.
** Ironic, as he and Sheogorath are the same person before he managed to convince the Champion of Cyrodiil to take up Prince of Madness' mantle. He also has little interest in Nirn, because that world is very static and orderly compared to the rest of Oblivion.
** One implication of the obscure texts is that Jyggalag's extreme obsession with order is, itself, a form of insanity, and that Sheogorath is madness in the expression of manic uncertainty while Jyggalag is madness expressed in the form of an absolute ControlFreak.

** Further muddying the whole thing is that at least two of the Daedric Princes are beings more in line with Anuic et'Ada (Jyggalag and Peryite), and others were Aedric et'Ada turned into Daedric Princes by other forces: Meridia is a banished Magna-Ge who became a Daedric Prince through reshaping light from Magnus (the Sun) to make her own realm; Mehrunes Dagon was a benevolent spirit cursed by Alduin because he meddled in the kalpic cycles; and Malacath is what resulted when the elven ancestor spirit Trinimac was eaten and excreted back out by Boethiah.

* RareCandy: His artifact, the Bitter Cup, plays with it, along with UpgradeArtifact. It automatically increases the drinker's top two attributes significantly, but also drops their lowest two attributes by the same amount. Given Vile's nature, this should not come as a shock.

** He's actually surpsingly similar to "Mehrunes Dagon" of all Daedra: while Dagon is a god of chaos and destruction while Jyggalag embodies absolute order, they've both dedicated themselves to an ImpossibleTask and have paradoxical motives for doing so (Dagon wants to permanently reduce all of reality to a state of nothingness despite embodying ambition and change while Jyggalag desires to bring order to Oblivion despite being a Daedra, who are chaotic by nature).