History Creator / MichaelKirkbride

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Played straight at first, then averted. A running joke in the Elder Scrolls community was that Kirkbride wrote some of his more esoteric works while under the influence of psychedelics, which he denied, saying the heaviest "drug" he'd done was beer. He would later reveal in 2020 [[https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/hzcfhx/does_vivec_raping_his_kids_to_death_not_sit_well/fzklmr6/ on his Reddit]] that he'd been struggling with alcohol abuse for decades, having written multiple works under the influence. This culminated in his abuse getting so bad he had an 18-month long psychotic break, during which he wrote CODA and displayed some questionable public behaviour. As of writing though, Kirkbride is fully sober and has completely recovered.

* NewWeird: His writing style and the subjects of his writing often qualify. Some of the characters/concepts he created or expanded upon include Pelinal Whitestrake (a [[TimeTravel time-traveling]] {{cyborg}} who is the [[GodInHumanForm manifestation of the spirit]] of a [[GodIsDead dead god]]), Vivec (a {{hermaphrodite}} PhysicalGod who may be aware that [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall the true nature of the world is that he's in video game]]), Numidium (a HumongousMecha powered by the heart of a dead god with an alarming tendency to [[TimeCrash break time]] and [[RealityWarper warp reality]]), Kinmune (an AI from the far future who got caught in the crossfire of a war, was driven insane, and sent back to the late Merethic era where she then acted as a soothsayer for a while) and many more.

* NewWeird: His writing style and the subjects of his writing often qualify. Some of the characters/concepts he created or expanded upon include Pelinal Whitestrake (a [[TimeTravel time-traveling]] {{cyborg}} who is the [[GodInHumanForm manifestation of the spirit]] of a [[GodIsDead dead god]]), Vivec (a DepravedBisexual MagicalGay {{hermaphrodite}} PhysicalGod who may be aware that [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall the true nature of the world is that he's in video game]]), Numidium (a HumongousMecha powered by the heart of a dead god with an alarming tendency to [[TimeCrash break time]] and [[RealityWarper warp reality]]), Kinmune (an AI from the far future who got caught in the crossfire of a war, was driven insane, and sent back to the late Merethic era where she then acted as a soothsayer for a while) and many more.

Kirkbride is credited in particular for [[MyRealDaddy establishing the series' famous "lore"]], essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. He still contributes "[[LooseCanon Obscure Texts]]" to the series, essentially [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary items]] treated as canonical by [[BrokenBase a portion of the fanbase]] (or at least the equivalent of the series' famous in-universe UnreliableCanon). Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]," [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status.

Kirkbride is credited in particular for [[MyRealDaddy establishing the series' famous "lore"]], essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. He still contributes "[[LooseCanon Obscure Texts]]" to the series, essentially [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary items]] treated as canonical by most of the fanbase (or at least the equivalent of the series' famous in-universe UnreliableCanon). Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]," [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status.

* LooseCanon: The most prolific contributor of "Obscure Texts" in the ''Elder Scrolls'' canon. These works are essentially treated as canonical by most of the fanbase (or at least the equivalent of the series' famous in-universe UnreliableCanon), but Bethesda has no official stance. As of ''Skyrim'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in game, moving them to CanonImmigrant status.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: A common trend in many of the characters he writes about is a distinct hatred of the divine (Pelinal, Umaril, the Dwemer) or are themselves divine but who do not get along with other deities (the Tribunal, several of the Daedric Princes).

* SchizoTech: A common element in his writing. The Dwemer, Sotha Sil, Pelinal, Kinmune...all possess (or ''are'') massive technological innovations over their contemporaries in Tamriel.

* HumongousMecha: Numidium, which is one of his most written-about subjects. In addition to in-game works, the 64-page online graphic novel [[https://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/C0DA C0DA]] features it as a major character.

* CensorDecoy: During the ''Morrowind''[='s=] development, Kirkbride got frustrated with director Creator/ToddHoward[='s=] complaints that Kirkbride's character designs were "too weird". Kirkbride started drawing two alternate versions of every design - the one that was the one he wanted to be in the game, and one that was, in his words, "fucking crazy". He would show the "crazy" design to Howard, who would ask him to tone it down, then present the real version, which Howard would say was perfect.

** ''The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard''

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls:''

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

* Creator/TelltaleGames

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: One of the major sources of lore regarding the Dwemer, he went to great lengths to cleverly Subvert the trope. Yes, the Dwemer do have some classic "Tolkien Dwarf" traits such as living underground, having prominent beards, and conflicting with Elves (Mer). However, they themselves are a sub-species of Mer (Dwemer meaning "Deep Elves" or "Deep Folk"), are of average height (they were called "dwarves" by a race of giants), are masters of technology right up to being able to [[RealityWarper Warp Reality]] with it, and are completely* extinct by the time period of the games.
** One known dwemer remains up to the events of Morrowind; he was planewalking when the Dwemer disappeared, and has no idea what happened to them.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: One of the major sources of lore regarding the Dwemer, he went to great lengths to cleverly Subvert the trope. Yes, the Dwemer do have some classic "Tolkien Dwarf" traits such as living underground, having prominent beards, and conflicting with Elves (Mer). However, they themselves are a sub-species of Mer (Dwemer meaning "Deep Elves" or "Deep Folk"), are of average height, are masters of technology right up to being able to [[RealityWarper Warp Reality]] with it, and are completely extinct by the time period of the games.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: His ''36 Lessons of Vivec'' series, penned from the perspective of PhysicalGod Vivec, explains (drenched in metaphor) that his "godhood" comes from realizing that he was in a video game and using that knowledge to edit the situation around him. He makes vague references to things like the PlayerCharacter ("The ruling king who only he can address as an equal"), pausing the game, console commands, and the Construction Set LevelEditor. His explanation on what happens if he should "die" also sounds a lot like reloading a saved game:

** ''Webcomic/C0DA''

* MultipleChoicePast: A number of his works give alternate histories and explanations for in-game events, with elements of WrittenByTheWinners and HistoricalHeroUpgrade at play. Examples include TheRashomon style storytelling around the Battle of Red Mountain (which results in the death of Nerevar, the disappearance of the Dwemer, and the rise of the Tribunal) and the "heretical" version of [[FounderOfTheKingdom Tiber Septim's]] rise to power and later [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascension to godhood as Talos]] (detailed in ''The Arcturian Heres''). In each case, it is implied that [[CosmicRetcon divine power was used]] to make ''all'' of the versions of events true, [[MindScrew regardless of the contradictions]].

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: His ''36 Lessons of Vivec'' series, penned from the perspective of PhysicalGod Vivec, explains that his "godhood" comes from realizing that he was in a video game and using that knowledge to edit the situation around him. He makes vague references to things like the PlayerCharacter ("The ruling king who only he can address as an equal"), pausing the game, console commands, and the Construction Set LevelEditor. His explanation on what happens if he should "die" also sounds a lot like reloading a saved game:

* MultipleChoicePast: A number of his works give alternate histories and explanations for in-game events, with elements of WrittenByTheWinners and HistoricalHeroUpgrade at play. Examples include TheRashomon style storytelling around the Battle of Red Mountain (which results in the death of Nerevar, the disappearance of the Dwemer, and the rise of the Tribunal) and the "heretical" version of [[FounderOfTheKingdom Tiber Septim's]] rise to power and later [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascension to godhood as Talos]] (detailed in ''The Arcturian Heresy"). In each case, it is implied that [[CosmicRetcon divine power was used]] to make ''all'' of the versions of events true, [[MindScrew regardless of the contradictions]].

* MultipleChoicePast: A number of his works give alternate histories and explanations for in-game events, with elements of WrittenByTheWinners at play. Examples include TheRashomon style storytelling around the Battle of Red Mountain (which results in the death of Nerevar, the disappearance of the Dwemer, and the rise of the Tribunal) and the "heretical" version of [[FounderOfTheKingdom Tiber Septim's]] rise to power and later [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascension to godhood as Talos]] (detailed in ''The Arcturian Heresy"). In each case, it is implied that [[CosmicRetcon divine power was used]] to make ''all'' of the versions of events true, [[MindScrew regardless of the contradictions]].

* UnreliableNarrator: The vast majority of his writings, both in-game and "Obscure Texts", are written from an in-universe perspective. In line with the series' famous UnreliableCanon, these writings offer additional perspectives and interpretations of in-universe events, rather than simply using WordOfGod powers to dictate "what is". This is most evident in any of his works regarding Vivec, especially the ''36 Lessons of Vivec'' series.

Michael Kirkbride is a writer and video game designer, most famous for his time with Creator/{{Bethesda}} working on ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series.

* EldritchAbomination: A number of characters he has written extensively about qualify including the Daedric Princes, Dagoth Ur, and Numidium (which also crosses over with MechanicalAbomination).

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: One of the major sources of lore regarding the Dwemer, he went to great lengths to cleverly Subvert the trope. Yes, the Dwemer do have some classic "Tolkien Dwarf" traits such as living underground, having prominent beards, and conflicting with Elves (Mer). However, they themselves are a sub-species of Mer (Dwemer meaning "Deep Elves" or "Deep Folk"), are masters of technology right up to being able to [[RealityWarper Warp Reality]] with it, and are completely extinct by the time period of the games.

!! Tropes Common in Kirkbride's Works: