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** The Black Hands Dagger is simply an enchanted Daedric dagger acquired through the Morag Tong questline, but is enchanted with a powerful Absorb Health spell on strike. This combination means it can deal the most damage in a single blow of any weapon in the game while transferring part of the damage back to the user as restored health.
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** The Black Hands Dagger is simply an enchanted Daedric dagger acquired through the Morag Tong questline, but is enchanted with a powerful ''powerful'' Absorb Health spell on strike. (10-25 points of damage per second over 30 seconds.) This combination means it can deal the most damage in a single blow of any weapon in the game while transferring part of the damage back to the user as restored health.
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** It is possible to become the leader of two Guilds or Factions which hate each other. For example, take the Mages Guild and House Telvanni. One quest for the Mages Guild requires you to root out a Telvanni spy within Guild leadership. You can be the Archmagister of House Telvanni, root out the spy who now technically works for you, and be rewarded by the Mages Guild for your good work. Another example, the player may be the Mages Guild Archmage, but if he or she joins House Telvanni, they will have to do a quest to get the Mages Guild's monopoly on magical training dropped.
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** It is possible to become the leader of two Guilds or Factions which hate each other. For example, take the Mages Guild and House Telvanni. One quest for the Mages Guild requires you to root out a Telvanni spy within Guild leadership. You can be the Archmagister of House Telvanni, root out the spy who now technically works for you, and be rewarded by the Mages Guild for your good work. Another example, the player you may be the Mages Guild Archmage, but if he or she joins you House Telvanni, they will have to do a quest to get the Mages Guild's monopoly on magical training dropped.
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Changed line(s) 212 (click to see context) from:
** Mistress Dratha, the Telvanni lord of Tel Mora, ''really'' [[DoesNotLikeMen]]. All of the retainers, merchants, and citizens in her city are female, with one exception: a single generic Telvanni Guard. Justified, as there are no female generic Telvanni Guards, and only generic guards can arrest the player if a crime is committed.
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** Mistress Dratha, the Telvanni lord of Tel Mora, ''really'' [[DoesNotLikeMen]].DoesNotLikeMen. All of the retainers, merchants, and citizens in her city are female, with one exception: a single generic Telvanni Guard. Justified, as there are no female generic Telvanni Guards, and only generic guards can arrest the player if a crime is committed.
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** Mistress Dratha, the Telvanni lord of Tel Mora, ''really'' [[DoesNotLikeMen]]. All of the retainers, merchants, and citizens in her city are female, with one exception: a single generic Telvanni Guard. Justified, as there are no female generic Telvanni Guards, and only generic guards can arrest the player if a crime is committed.
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The 36 sermons of Vivec include, among other things, multiple barely-concealed allegorical descriptions of gay sex between Vivec and the Daedric prince of rape.
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The 36 sermons ''36 Lessons of Vivec Vivec'' include, among other things, multiple barely-concealed allegorical descriptions of gay sex between Vivec and the Daedric prince of rape.rape, Molag Bal. "Biting of spears" and "piercing of the second aperture" indeed.
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Changed line(s) 353 (click to see context) from:
** In ''Tribunal'', there is a rivalry and general sense of distrust between Almalexia's High Ordinators and King Helseth's Royal Guards. [[spoiler: When the city is attacked by fabricants, each faction will ask you to report the attack to their side's leadership]].
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** In ''Tribunal'', there is a rivalry and general sense of distrust between Almalexia's High Ordinators and King Helseth's Royal Guards. [[spoiler: When the city is attacked by fabricants, each faction will ask you to report the attack to their side's leadership]].leadership. The quests in the second half of the ''Tribunal'' main quest are slightly different depending on which side you report to, though the ending is ultimately the same]].
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* InterspeciesRomance: One sidequest involves finding a Dunmer thief who stole a Breton noblewoman's jewels. She doesn't really care about the jewels, but rather [[LoveAtFirstSight the man who stole them]]. Should you choose to help her, you discover that her love is, in fact, requited. Depending on your interpretation of the questline, a male Nerevarine's relationship with Ahnassi might also count.
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* InterspeciesRomance: One sidequest involves finding a Dunmer thief who stole a Breton noblewoman's jewels. She doesn't really care about the jewels, but rather [[LoveAtFirstSight the man who stole them]]. Should you choose to help her, you discover that her love is, in fact, requited. Depending on your interpretation of the questline, a male Nerevarine's relationship with Ahnassi might also count.count if the player is not a Khajiit.
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* InterspeciesRomance: One sidequest involves finding a Dunmer thief who stole a Breton noblewoman's jewels. She doesn't really care about the jewels, but rather [[LoveAtFirstSight the man who stole them]]. Should you choose to help her, you discover that her love is, in fact, requited. Depending on your interpretation of the questline, a male Nerevarine's relationship with Ahnassi might also count.
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* TheLittleDetecto: Three spells are available which allow the detection of Creatures, Magic/Enchantments, and ''Keys''. While the last is very handy, one wonders what aspect of keys makes them detectable vice any other particular object. (Although it does serve a kind of MundaneUtility verisimilitude. One can only imagine a wizard inventing it after turning his laboratory inside-out trying to figure out where he left his keys last night.)
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* TheLittleDetecto: Three spells are available which allow the detection of Creatures, Magic/Enchantments, and ''Keys''. While the last is very handy, one wonders what aspect of keys makes them detectable vice versus any other particular object. (Although it does serve a kind of MundaneUtility verisimilitude. One can only imagine a wizard inventing it after turning his laboratory inside-out trying to figure out where he left his keys last night.)
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** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders or temple teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. The following game reintroduced map-based fast travel, while the next would do away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
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** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders striders, boats, or temple Mages Guild teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. The following game reintroduced map-based fast travel, while the next would do away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
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Changed line(s) 92 (click to see context) from:
** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders or temple teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. The following game introduced map-based fast travel, while the next would do away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
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** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders or temple teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. The following game introduced reintroduced map-based fast travel, while the next would do away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
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Replaced 'every game that followed ditched speed' note to clarify that it was only Skyrim that removed it. Speed was present in Oblivion.
Changed line(s) 92 (click to see context) from:
** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders or temple teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. Every following game did away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, introduced map-based fast travel, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
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** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders or temple teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. Every The following game did introduced map-based fast travel, while the next would do away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, introduced map-based fast travel, stat, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
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Changed line(s) 196 (click to see context) from:
* GameBreakingBug: the "Sunder/Keening Bug" which if you have an item that adds attributes to you while wielding and rapidly switch it with another item and back to that item, at enough switching speed the attributes are not removed when unwielding it but instead stacked. You could get insane amounts of attributes. That's how speed runs of less than 5 minutes are possible. The bug was removed in later version though.
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* GameBreakingBug: the GameBreakingBug:
** The "Sunder/Keening Bug" which if you have an item that adds attributes to you while wielding and rapidly switch it with another item and back to that item, at enough switching speed the attributes are not removed when unwielding it but instead stacked. You could get insane amounts of attributes. That's how speed runs of less than 5 minutes are possible. The bug was removed in later version though.
** The "Sunder/Keening Bug" which if you have an item that adds attributes to you while wielding and rapidly switch it with another item and back to that item, at enough switching speed the attributes are not removed when unwielding it but instead stacked. You could get insane amounts of attributes. That's how speed runs of less than 5 minutes are possible. The bug was removed in later version though.
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** The first and most obvious is combat. Specifically, ''combat hit chance'' and there being an RNG element to hitting an opponent on top of having to aim with the mouse/controller. In previous games, an RNG made sense because facing the foe and being in "hit range" was fairly obvious due to the Doom-like control scheme. With the move to full fluid 3D, however, it became often unclear if you were missing the enemy due to the RNG, or if you were actually ''missing'' the enemy's hitbox entirely. Bows had this especially bad. Enemy AI being rather squirrely and moving around a lot didn't help. [[VideoGame/Oblivion The very next game]] addressed all the complaints about this and made accuracy purely twitch-based, a model every game which has followed adheres to.
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** The first and most obvious is combat. Specifically, ''combat hit chance'' and there being an RNG element to hitting an opponent on top of having to aim with the mouse/controller. In previous games, an RNG made sense because facing the foe and being in "hit range" was fairly obvious due to the Doom-like control scheme. With the move to full fluid 3D, however, it became often unclear if you were missing the enemy due to the RNG, or if you were actually ''missing'' the enemy's hitbox entirely. Bows had this especially bad. Enemy AI being rather squirrely and moving around a lot didn't help. [[VideoGame/Oblivion [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion The very next game]] addressed all the complaints about this and made accuracy purely twitch-based, a model every game which has followed adheres to.
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* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Technically perhaps a bit more like "mid-installment weirdness", but as it was ''Morrowind'' that really set how the now-console franchise (and its "Fallout-Scrolls" [[VideoGame/Fallout3 second]] [[VideoGame/Fallout4 cousins]] [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas once-removed]]) would work going forward and was the first game in the franchise to transition to a fully 3D, "Quake-style" rendering scheme instead of the "Doom-style" rendering and control of ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'', there's a number of places where Bethesda was still working out how best to do things:
** The first and most obvious is combat. Specifically, ''combat hit chance'' and there being an RNG element to hitting an opponent on top of having to aim with the mouse/controller. In previous games, an RNG made sense because facing the foe and being in "hit range" was fairly obvious due to the Doom-like control scheme. With the move to full fluid 3D, however, it became often unclear if you were missing the enemy due to the RNG, or if you were actually ''missing'' the enemy's hitbox entirely. Bows had this especially bad. Enemy AI being rather squirrely and moving around a lot didn't help. [[VideoGame/Oblivion The very next game]] addressed all the complaints about this and made accuracy purely twitch-based, a model every game which has followed adheres to.
** Active defense of any sort was also not present; shield blocking was simply something that happened passively based on your Block skill. Needless to say this made combat feel even more single-button and non-reactive. Later games would include active blocking with a mouse or trigger button.
** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders or temple teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. Every following game did away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, introduced map-based fast travel, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
** The first and most obvious is combat. Specifically, ''combat hit chance'' and there being an RNG element to hitting an opponent on top of having to aim with the mouse/controller. In previous games, an RNG made sense because facing the foe and being in "hit range" was fairly obvious due to the Doom-like control scheme. With the move to full fluid 3D, however, it became often unclear if you were missing the enemy due to the RNG, or if you were actually ''missing'' the enemy's hitbox entirely. Bows had this especially bad. Enemy AI being rather squirrely and moving around a lot didn't help. [[VideoGame/Oblivion The very next game]] addressed all the complaints about this and made accuracy purely twitch-based, a model every game which has followed adheres to.
** Active defense of any sort was also not present; shield blocking was simply something that happened passively based on your Block skill. Needless to say this made combat feel even more single-button and non-reactive. Later games would include active blocking with a mouse or trigger button.
** There were only two kinds of movement, walking and running, and the default movement pace was walking. Running consumed low but constant amounts of Fatigue. Combined with the lack of map-based fast travel (you had to use silt striders or temple teleports instead), the lack of mounts and with the fact that movement speed was ''tied to a specific stat'', this meant that getting around Vvardenfell could feel like it took a ''while''. Every following game did away with Speed as a hated numerical, level-tied stat, introduced map-based fast travel, and had player movement divided into ''three'' speeds: a brisk jog as a default speed comparable to the Morrowind run, walking, and a sprint that drains the Fatigue/Stamina bar much faster than Morrowind running did.
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* HomosexualReproduction: According to the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:36_Lessons_of_Vivec,_Sermon_12 Lessons of Vivec]], Vivec and Molag Bal ''somehow'' had sons and daughters, though the Lessons of Vivec are generally allegorical even at their most reliable.
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* HomosexualReproduction: According to the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:36_Lessons_of_Vivec,_Sermon_12 Lessons of Vivec]], Vivec and Molag Bal ''somehow'' had sons and daughters, though the Lessons of Vivec daughters. Both are generally allegorical referred to as male, though Vivec is a hermaphrodite and Molag Bal is a technically genderless deity. Also, as a Daedra, Molag Bal should not be able to create life. It should be noted that the ''Lessons of Vivec'' are [[UnreliableNarrator largely allegorical]], even at their [[MetaphoricallyTrue most reliable.reliable]].
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Changed line(s) 244 (click to see context) from:
* TheGreatWall: After Dagoth Ur re-awakened and cut the Tribunal off from their source of power within Red Mountain, the Tribunal constructed the Ghostfence around Red Mountain. It is not a solid wall, but instead a series of pylons connected by a force field. (Originally powered by the Tribunal's divine power, but later, after they severely weakened, [[spoiler: the [[PoweredByAForsakenChild power of the souls of the Dunmer dead]]. It keeps most of Dagoth Ur's influence contained, however, he can summon blight storms which carry his Blight over the walls, allowing him to grow stronger still.
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* TheGreatWall: After Dagoth Ur re-awakened and cut the Tribunal off from their source of power within Red Mountain, the Tribunal constructed the Ghostfence around Red Mountain. It is not a solid wall, but instead a series of pylons connected by a force field. (Originally powered by the Tribunal's divine power, but later, after they severely weakened, [[spoiler: the [[PoweredByAForsakenChild power of the souls of the Dunmer dead]]. ]] It keeps most of Dagoth Ur's influence contained, however, he can summon blight storms which carry his Blight over the walls, allowing him to grow stronger still.
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Changed line(s) 243 (click to see context) from:
* GreatOffscreenWar: The "War of the First Council" and "Battle of Red Mountain" thousands of years ago set the stage for the plot of the game. The devout, Daedra-worshipping Chimer and atheistic, scientific Dwemer came into conflict in the land now known as Morrowind. After years of fighting, they were [[EnemyMine forced to team up]] to drive out the invading [[ConflictKiller Nords]]. Their alliance remained under the leadership of Chimeri Lord Indoril Nerevar and Dwemer Dumac Dwarfking, known as the "first council." It was a time of great peace and prosperity for both races. However, the Dwemer DugTooDeep beneath Red Mountain and unearthed the Heart of Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead creator god.]] Chief Tonal Architect, Lord Kagrenec, crafted tools to tap into the power of the heart, hoping to allow the Dwemer to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence transcend mortality]]. The Chimer, seeing this as a blasphemy against their gods, the Daedra, attempted to stop the Dwemer. After reigniting their war, forces led by Nerevar and Lord Voryn Dagoth infiltrated the Dwemer Red Mountain stronghold. [[TheRashomon Exactly what happened next is described differently by all the surviving participants]], but the Dwemer disappeared from existence, Nerevar was slain, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal used the tools on the heart to [[AGodAmI achieve godhood]], and Azura cursed the Chimer with dark skin and red eyes, transforming them into the modern Dunmer.
to:
* GreatOffscreenWar: The "War of the First Council" and "Battle of Red Mountain" thousands of years ago set the stage for the plot of the game. The devout, Daedra-worshipping Chimer and atheistic, scientific Dwemer came into conflict in the land now known as Morrowind. After years of fighting, they were [[EnemyMine forced to team up]] to drive out the invading [[ConflictKiller Nords]]. Their alliance remained under the leadership of Chimeri Lord Indoril Nerevar and Dwemer Dumac Dwarfking, known as the "first council." It was a time of great peace and prosperity for both races. However, the Dwemer DugTooDeep beneath Red Mountain and unearthed the Heart of Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead creator god.]] Chief Tonal Architect, Lord Kagrenec, crafted tools to tap into the power of the heart, hoping to allow the Dwemer to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence transcend mortality]]. The Chimer, seeing this as a blasphemy against their gods, the Daedra, attempted to stop the Dwemer. After reigniting their war, forces led by Nerevar and Lord Voryn Dagoth infiltrated the Dwemer Red Mountain stronghold. [[TheRashomon Exactly what happened next is described differently by all the surviving participants]], but the Dwemer disappeared from existence, Nerevar was slain, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal used the tools on the heart to [[AGodAmI achieve godhood]], and Azura ([[UnreliableNarrator possibly]]) cursed the Chimer with dark skin and red eyes, transforming them into the modern Dunmer.
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Changed line(s) 243 (click to see context) from:
* GreatOffscreenWar: The "War of the First Council" and "Battle of Red Mountain" thousands of years ago set the stage for the plot of the game. The devout, Daedra-worshipping Chimer and atheistic, scientific Dwemer came into conflict in the land now known as Morrowind. After years of fighting, they were [[EnemyMine forced to team up]] to drive out the invading [[ConflictKiller Nords]]. Their alliance remained under the leadership of Chimeri Lord Indoril Nerevar and Dwemer Dumac Dwarfking, known as the "first council." It was a time of great peace and prosperity for both races. However, the Dwemer DugTooDeep beneath Red Mountain and unearthed the Heart of Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead creator god.]] Chief Tonal Architect, Lord Kagrenec, crafted tools to tap into the power of the heart, hoping to allow the Dwemer to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence transcend mortality]]. The Chimer, seeing this as a blasphemy against ''their'' gods, attempted to stop the Dwemer, reigniting their war. Forces led by Nerevar and Lord Voryn Dagoth infiltrated the Dwemer Red Mountain stronghold. [[TheRashomon Exactly what happened next is described differently by all the surviving participants]], but the Dwemer disappeared from existence, Nerevar was slain, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal used the tools on the heart to [[AGodAmI achieve godhood]], and Azura cursed the Chimer with dark skin and red eyes, transforming them into the modern Dunmer.
to:
* GreatOffscreenWar: The "War of the First Council" and "Battle of Red Mountain" thousands of years ago set the stage for the plot of the game. The devout, Daedra-worshipping Chimer and atheistic, scientific Dwemer came into conflict in the land now known as Morrowind. After years of fighting, they were [[EnemyMine forced to team up]] to drive out the invading [[ConflictKiller Nords]]. Their alliance remained under the leadership of Chimeri Lord Indoril Nerevar and Dwemer Dumac Dwarfking, known as the "first council." It was a time of great peace and prosperity for both races. However, the Dwemer DugTooDeep beneath Red Mountain and unearthed the Heart of Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead creator god.]] Chief Tonal Architect, Lord Kagrenec, crafted tools to tap into the power of the heart, hoping to allow the Dwemer to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence transcend mortality]]. The Chimer, seeing this as a blasphemy against ''their'' their gods, the Daedra, attempted to stop the Dwemer, Dwemer. After reigniting their war. Forces war, forces led by Nerevar and Lord Voryn Dagoth infiltrated the Dwemer Red Mountain stronghold. [[TheRashomon Exactly what happened next is described differently by all the surviving participants]], but the Dwemer disappeared from existence, Nerevar was slain, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal used the tools on the heart to [[AGodAmI achieve godhood]], and Azura cursed the Chimer with dark skin and red eyes, transforming them into the modern Dunmer.
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Changed line(s) 180 (click to see context) from:
** The very first sound you will hear when loading the game, even before the main menu appears, is the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWuNf4gxwuM rumble of a beating heart.]]
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** The very first sound you will hear when loading the game, even before the main menu appears, is the [[http://www.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWuNf4gxwuM com/watch?v=nJD-Ufi1jGk rumble of a beating heart.]]
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Changed line(s) 151 (click to see context) from:
* FateWorseThanDeath: What the Tribunal Temple considers Vampirism, regardless of what the Vampire him/herself may think. It's why they consider death as the only "cure" for the disease.
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* FateWorseThanDeath: FateWorseThanDeath:
** What the Tribunal Temple considers Vampirism, regardless of what the Vampire him/herself may think. It's why they consider death as the only "cure" for the disease.
** What the Tribunal Temple considers Vampirism, regardless of what the Vampire him/herself may think. It's why they consider death as the only "cure" for the disease.
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Changed line(s) 142,143 (click to see context) from:
* FantasticRacism: Being an Outlander in Morrowind is a bad thing, there are multiple words for it, N'wah and Swit are just two slurs used. You will also occasionally be insulted for your race in a fashion befitting what form of human, lizard, cat, elf you are. Even if you're a Dark Elf you won't be liked because you're not a native.
** That last one has a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation to it. While you are told that this is the case, playing as a Dunmer will still get you the standard +10 disposition increase with members of the same race even if they are native Dunmer.
** That last one has a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation to it. While you are told that this is the case, playing as a Dunmer will still get you the standard +10 disposition increase with members of the same race even if they are native Dunmer.
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* FantasticRacism: Being an Outlander in Morrowind is a bad thing, there are multiple words for it, N'wah and Swit are just two slurs used. You will also occasionally be insulted for your race in a fashion befitting what form of human, lizard, cat, elf you are. Even if you're a Dark Elf you won't be liked because you're not a native.
** Thatnative. (Though this last one has a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation to it. While you are told that this is the case, playing as a Dunmer will still get you the standard +10 disposition increase with members of the same race even if they are native Dunmer.)
** That
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Changed line(s) 95 (click to see context) from:
* {{Egopolis}}: Played straight for the Tribunal deities Vivec and Sotha Sil, who each created their own namesake cities. Averted for Almalexia, who instead chose to settle in the pre-existing capital of Morrowind, Mournhold.
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* {{Egopolis}}: Played straight for the Tribunal deities Vivec and Sotha Sil, who each created their own namesake cities. Averted for Almalexia, who instead chose to settle in the pre-existing capital of Morrowind, Mournhold. (Though some maps and in-game texts do refer to Mournhold as "Almalexia.")
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Changed line(s) 92 (click to see context) from:
** Minor crimes result in the guards demanding that you pay on the spot. More serious stuff may have you living on the run until you can find somebody (often Thieves' Guild) who can, for a substantial fee, make your wanted status 'go away'. But once it does, it never crosses anybody's mind that you might go out and commit more crimes. This is discussed in certain dialogue trees: the money from the fines the guards charge criminals go to the victim of the crime/their surviving family, and if the crime was enough they'll often hire the Morag Tong (a legal assassins' guild) to kill the criminal. However, no one ever sends them against you...
to:
** Minor crimes result in the guards demanding that you pay on the spot. More serious stuff may have you living on the run until you can find somebody (often Thieves' Guild) who can, for a substantial fee, make your wanted status 'go away'. But once it does, it never crosses anybody's mind that you might go out and commit more crimes. This is discussed in certain dialogue trees: the money from the fines the guards charge criminals go to the victim of the crime/their surviving family, and if the crime was enough they'll often hire the Morag Tong (a legal assassins' guild) to kill the criminal. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation However, no one ever sends them against you...you]].
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* EldritchAbomination: Those in House Dagoth. Dagoth Ur is a PhysicalGod who uses the divine power of the Heart of Lorkhan to twist his followers into abominations.
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* TheLittleDetecto: Three spells are available which allow the detection of Creatures, Magic/Enchantments, and ''Keys''. While the last is very handy, one wonders what aspect of keys makes them detectable vice any other particular object. (Although it does serve a kind of MundaneUtility verisimilitude. One can only imagine a wizard inventing it after turning his laboratory inside-out trying to figure out where he left his keys last night.)
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* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: Guards will confiscate any stolen good you have on your person when they arrest you. However, if you drop these items on the ground, even right in front of the guard, then turn yourself in, they will not be confiscated.
* TheHeretic: Dissident Priests are heretics to the Tribunal Temple, disputing several points of dogma (though this appears to have been partly a response to being persecuted for questioning Temple ''policy'', which isn't exactly heresy even if the Temple called it that). The Tribunal Temple also persecutes the Nerevarine Cult as heretics (technically they are, just not really of the Temple, seeing as they developed in parallel in response to the same event and from the same source religion. It's actually the Temple who made the most radical changes of dogma, the Nerevarine Cult just explained away the new gods as false gods and added in a messiah figure). Both of those change towards the end of the main quest, [[spoiler: with the Dissident Priests acknowledged as having had a point with much of what they said and the Nerevarine Cult recognised as being right about the messiah figure thing, both by one of the gods of the Tribunal himself]].
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* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The end game of the ''Bloodmoon'' main quest.
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* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: HuntingTheMostDangerousGame / TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: The end game of the ''Bloodmoon'' main quest.
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* TheLegendOfChekhov: The main quest plays with this, in that the particulars of a certain historical event relevant to the main plot of the game are [[TheRashomon recounted differently by the various involved parties]].
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* TheDeadHaveNames: Unusually for the series, ''Morrowind'' gives nearly every NPC in the game a unique name. (What few exceptions exist are generic guards, Dreamers, and vampire cattle.) The games before and after instead give generic names like "Bandit" to these [=NPCs=], making them feel more like adventuring fodder than people.
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* TheGodsMustBeLazy:
** As per series tradition, the Daedra avert this by regularly influencing the mortal world, though not always directly. (Most often acting through agents.)
** Averted for most of the Tribunal's reign, as they were [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]] who lived and worked among their people. However, Dagoth Ur's re-awakening has cut them off from being able to replenish their divine powers, forcing them to retreat from the affairs of mortals. (By the time of the game, only Vivec remains channeling his power into the Ghostfence, the only thing keeping Dagoth Ur's influence at least somewhat contained.)
** As per series tradition, the Daedra avert this by regularly influencing the mortal world, though not always directly. (Most often acting through agents.)
** Averted for most of the Tribunal's reign, as they were [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]] who lived and worked among their people. However, Dagoth Ur's re-awakening has cut them off from being able to replenish their divine powers, forcing them to retreat from the affairs of mortals. (By the time of the game, only Vivec remains channeling his power into the Ghostfence, the only thing keeping Dagoth Ur's influence at least somewhat contained.)
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* TheGoomba: Rats, Mudcrabs, and Kwama Foragers all fit as very common, very weak enemies.
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* TheGreatWall: After Dagoth Ur re-awakened and cut the Tribunal off from their source of power within Red Mountain, the Tribunal constructed the Ghostfence around Red Mountain. It is not a solid wall, but instead a series of pylons connected by a force field. (Originally powered by the Tribunal's divine power, but later, after they severely weakened, [[spoiler: the [[PoweredByAForsakenChild power of the souls of the Dunmer dead]]. It keeps most of Dagoth Ur's influence contained, however, he can summon blight storms which carry his Blight over the walls, allowing him to grow stronger still.
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* LuckStat: The Luck attribute. It affects the success rate of everything you do, from hitting attacks, to lockpicking, to creating potions, and a lot else.
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* LuckStat: The Luck attribute. It affects the success rate of everything you do, from hitting attacks, to lockpicking, to creating potions, and a lot else.else.
[[Morrowind/TropesMToR Continue to Tropes M to R]]
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[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Return to Morrowind Main Page]]
* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Almalexia has the gold skin of a Chimer with red hair. [=NPCs=] of races with darker skin tones can also have red hair. This is a character creation option for the PC as well.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: The quest to cure Vampirism plays out like this. Molag Bal will only remove the affliction if you kill his daughter, Molag Grunda, who is on Mundus "dating" a lowly Frost Atronach. (Since you can't actually "kill" a daedra, this will merely send her back to Oblivion to await Bal's punishment.)
* DaylightHorror: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Dhaunayne Aundae (the Ancient of the Aundae clan of vampires.) She sends you to kill a vampire hunter in the city of Ald'ruhn... in broad daylight, as a message that not even the light of the sun will protect enemies of the vampires.
* DaywalkingVampire: Averted by the Vvardenfell strand of vampires, as they'll actually burn when exposed to the light of the sun. The above mentioned quest is one of the rare exceptions.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Sotha Sil]].
* DeadCharacterWalking: A particular glitch (substituting a torch or lockpick for a weapon in mid-swing) has the unusual effect of reducing the target to 1 hp but making them immune to all further damage.
* DeadlyDustStorm: There are dust storms in the areas set close to the island's volcano, and they were originally planned to give the player the Blight disease if he wandered into them without a proper protection, but this feature is not present in the final release. They do limit your range of view and walking speed, however.
* DeadpanSnarker: In ''The Horror of Castle Xyr'', which you actually have a chance to perform in the Tribunal expansion:
-->'''Anara:''' ''Please, serjo, go wherever you want. We got nothing to hide. We're loyal Imperial subjects.''
-->'''Clavides:''' ''As, I hear, are all [[EvilSorcerer Telvanni]].''
-->''(Note from the playwright: this line should be delivered without sarcasm. Trust the audience to laugh -- it never fails, regardless of the politics of the locals.)''
* DeathMountain - Red Mountain is this mixed with {{Mordor}}.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The reason that Morrowind did not historically have the presence of Dragons? They were driven out by ''Cliff Racers''... Yes, those weak but hideously annoying creatures that are the bane of players everywhere were able to drive out powerful Aedric (angelic) beings who could command elements into existence with a few words simply through numbers and persistence.
* DeathSeeker - Umbra, who doubles as a BloodKnight. To say nothing of how BadAss he proves himself to be in a close-up fight.
* DebugRoom: Several.
** "Clutter Warehouse - Everything Must Go!" It's an area only accessible via console commands. It was used by the developers to speed up world creation. Since certain arrangements of furniture and items (such as plates on tables and bottles on shelves) are very common in the world, but take a long time to put together, they have been assembled in this area where they can be copied and pasted to where they are needed.
** "Character Stuff Wonderland" A secret room used by the developers for testing which is accessible only through the console. It contains almost all of the armor and weapons in the game and is guarded by some high level monsters.
** "Todd Test" A debug room used by the developers and accssible only through the console. When the player enters the room, a large light brown bowl is seen. This bowl, when activated, will make the player super strong and give him/her necessary items and spells to test various parts of the game. It will also infect the player with Porphyric Hemophilia (Berne variety). There are five leveled beasts, a Steam Centurion and six [=NPCs=], three of whom are Ordinators. There are also multiple treasure chests containing one piece of nearly every item found in the game (Artifacts not included). The room is a copy of the Puzzle Canal underneath Vivec's palace, without the water. Installing Bloodmoon will also add three chests for items only found in that expansion. Several quest items may be found here- there is a chest containing all the books in the game, which can be used to complete quests such as the Telvanni Stronghold quest where you are ordered to find the 'unique' book Secrets of Dwemer Animunculi. You can also find the Bittercup and Azura's Star containing the soul of an Ogrim on a table near the back of the room.
** "Mark's Vampire Test Cell" Another room used by the developers and only accessible via console. It contains two vampires and a bed, presumably for testing the Vampire process and dreams.
* DegradedBoss: Ascended Sleepers. Various named Dagoths encountered in the latter half of the main quest are modified Ascended Sleepers, but they're actually ''downgraded'' from the normal enemy (which only shows up at extremely high levels - it is in fact the highest leveled non-unique monster in the game).
* DemBones: Unsurprisingly, skeletons of varying strengths are favored creations of necromancers, and can be found patrolling many ruins and caves. Bonewalkers are another, but are still rather fleshy.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Normally, if you kill a leader of a Great House, you will offend all of them, making it impossible to be named Hortator of that house and breaking the most straightforward way to finish the main plot. However, House Telvanni practices KlingonPromotion, which means that if you are a member of the house, then kill ''all the other leaders'', you will not be expelled; instead, the game gives you a journal entry in which you dryly note that as the last surviving chancellor of House Telvanni, you have appointed yourself Telvanni Hortator.
* DialogueTree: You can choose what to talk about with [=NPCs=] in a dialogue tree, including "Lore", "Background", and "Race". NPC responses on one topic can contain the names of topics new to the player, allowing the player to select those new topics in dialogue with any NPC having a response to that topic. Certain classes (and individuals) have more responses available: priests will talk about the gods, and savants will talk about pretty much everything in the game, leading to their FanNickname of "Walking Encyclopedias". Additionally, some topics are region-based, and will appear in a given NPC's dialogue tree because they had spawned in that region of the game world.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu - Counting the expansions, the player ends up killing three or four gods.
* DifficultySpike: A big one from the end of the main game into the expansions. ''Bloodmoon'' especially, because even the local wildlife on Solstheim rivals the strength of enemies inside of the Ghostfence on Vvardenfell. Also beware if you start a new game after installing ''Tribunal,'' as a Dark Brotherhood assassin may spawn at any time when you sleep. The assassins do [[LevelScaling level scale]], but even the lowest leveled ones will be a major challenge for a brand new character.
* DimensionalTraveler: Divayth Fyr, ancient Telvanni wizard extraordinaire, is one according to the in game book [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Doors_of_Oblivion The Doors of Oblivion]]. Fyr is one of the few "mortals" who can freely travel between the realms of the [[PhysicalGod Daedra]].
* DiscOneFinalDungeon - Ilunibi has shades of this. It's a vast, sprawling underground dungeon where you will likely face the strongest enemies you have encountered to that point (if you've stuck to the main quest.) It even has its own DiscOneFinalBoss who [[spoiler: gives you the corprus disease and sets the next part of the main quest in motion.]]
** DiscOneFinalBoss - [[spoiler: Dagoth Gares]] takes up residence here.
* DiscOneNuke - The combination of WideOpenSandbox and AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair means that a thorough and/or experienced player can, in many cases, equip themselves with upper-end gear at little or no risk. In a few cases a (cheap) Levitate potion, a nearby key, or a decent Security skill are needed, but little else.
** In a few cases an upper-end item is owned by a relatively weak and non-hostile NPC - if you know [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential who to murder]], you can get unique and powerful items. The Amulet of Shadows makes you nearly invisible for a decent amount of time and is found on a lone archer in the wilderness. The Masque of Clavicus Vile makes everybody like you (in addition to being fine head protection) and can be found on a relatively low-level wizard if you can slip past his guards.
** A character straight off the boat can acquire a Daedric (the best non-artifact grade of equipment) weapon of whatever type he or she favors by setting foot, however briefly, in the Vassir-Didanat Mine (see AbandonedMine) and then tracking down Hlaalu councilor Dram Bero to report the mine's location. He will reward you with your choice in Daedric weaponry. The only true obstacle is the locked door that must be picked (or opened by a spell) to get to Bero.
** Due to a design decision to let buyers of the expansion set start the new content immediately, Dark Brotherhood assassins added by the ''Tribunal'' expansion may show up at any time to kill you in your sleep. This can even happen to brand new starting character. If you manage to defeat one (tricky, but possible for a starting character, because they scale according to your level) you can loot the corpse for an excellent set of light armor and a useful short blade. If you aren't using light armor, the gear is also worth several hundred gold (more useful, in some ways, than the best stuff because it's easier to find a merchant who can afford it.)
* DispelMagic: Exists as a spell and effect. When used, it will immediately end all magical effects on the target.
* DisposingOfABody: An option whenever you are looting a non-permanent corpse. Doing so will move all items in the corpse's inventory to yours and the body will vanish. (Exactly how you dispose of it is left up to your imagination.)
* DisproportionateRetribution - Unlike regular crimes (see EasilyForgiven), there are ways to get all the Ordinators howling for your blood forever. The first is to mention the Nerevarine Prophecy to them - that makes you a heretic. The other is to be wearing the armor of their Order, which is sacrilege to them.
* DoesNotLikeMen: Telvanni Councilor Mistress Dratha. Exactly ''why'' she hates men is never explained, but it is her defining trait nonetheless. Her town of Tel Mora is staffed entirely by female retainers and merchants and completing the main quest as a male Nerevarine requires you to either beg at her feet for her support or kill her. (She'll support a female Nerevarine with no questions asked and even gives her several powerful summoning scrolls.)
* DomesticatedDinosaurs: Guars are vaguely therapod-like dinosaurids, about the size of a cow, which the native Dunmer farm for their hides and use as beasts of burden.
* {{Doorstopper}}
** All of the [[InGameNovel readable books]] in the game all add up to about 1500 pages of material.
** The strategy guide for the Game of the Year addition is roughly the size of a Bible. It contains incredible amounts of details about character creation, game mechanics, locations, quests, items, factions, backstory, and just about everything else there is to do in the game.
* DoorToBefore: Averted for most dungeons and other such locations in the game. You'll need to trek back the long way if you want to get out, or use a teleportation spell.
* DoubleSpeak: The Morag Tong operatives insist that they do not perform "assassinations," rather, they perform "honorable executions." Given that they are the high-class, honorable assassins in contrast to the gangly, thuggish Cammona Tong and the treacherous Dark Brotherhood, they do manage to keep a higher moral ground.
* DownerEnding: For Morrowind itself, caused by HappyEndingOverride. [[spoiler:As ''Oblivion'' and tie-in novels reveal, as a result of the player's actions the Tribunal are missing, the Ministry of Truth lost its power source and resumed its interrupted crash onto Vivec City, and that impact caused Red Mountain to erupt, destroying most of Vvardenfell. Then the Argonians came in and what few Dunmer couldn't flee were slain.]] [[BittersweetEnding But on the bright side]], for the rest of Tamriel, thanks to the Nerevarine, the world isn't a Blighted landscape ruled by an insane PhysicalGod riding a HumongousMecha. You may not have saved [[spoiler:Morrowind]] but you did save the rest of the world.
* DownloadableContent: In addition to the two expansion packs, there are several small pieces of DLC which are offered for free on the official site. This includes several rare armor pieces and weapons (Area Effect Arrows, Helm of Tohan, [=LeFemme Armor=] and Adamantium Armor), two mini-quests (Master Index and Siege at Firemoth) and an ambient sounds pack.
* DownTheDrain: You'll spend quite a bit of time questing in the sewers beneath Vivec and Mournhold. Though they're both justified cases of AbsurdlySpaciousSewer, they still contain the usual hazards of diseased creatures, being dark, and watery areas that can be hard to get back out of.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Haggling is a gameplay mechanic when dealing with merchants. The item's intrinsic value, condition, the disposition of the merchant, and the player's Mercantile skill all play parts when buying/selling items. Making an offer that gets rejected by the merchant will actually lower that merchant's disposition, forcing the player to make a slightly more generous offer next time or break off the negotiation and try to sweet-talk them again. The Mercantile skill is also bugged. After the skill gets to 50, any further increases will actually make haggling ''more'' difficult.
* TheDragon: Dagoth Gares to Dagoth Ur.
* DreamIntro / DreamingOfThingsToCome
** The opening cutscene is a dream the PlayerCharacter is having before being awakened on the prison ship. In it, you see various landscapes of Vvardenfell and receive some cryptic guidance from a mysterious woman, who eventually turns out to be the Daedric Prince Azura.
** When vampirism is first contracted, it will be a trivial common disease for 3 days until it becomes full-blown and incurable. If you rest at any point during this time, you'll have dreams about becoming a vampire (which is a clue that you are infected, in case you missed it when you acquired the infection.)
* DryCrusader: Played with by Antonius Nuncius, the priest at Fort Frostmoth in ''Bloodmoon''. [[spoiler: It turns out he doesn't actually have a moral issue with alcohol, but he's hiding the shipments to the fort in the hopes of sparking a rebellion among the troops so that he can be reassigned to somewhere more hospitable than Solstheim.]]
* DudeWheresMyReward: Master Neloth of House Telvanni gives a quest to retrieve the Robe of Drake's Pride from the servant of another House Telvanni councilor. Killing the servant is the only way to get the robe, and you'll need to taunt her into attacking you first to prevent being expelled from House Telvanni. She turns out to be a moderately powerful spell caster, and the robe gives her several advantages when fighting magic users, which your character likely is if you've advanced in House Telvanni. After you take the robe back to Neloth, he'll reward you with...ten septims. The robe itself is worth 205, and has several enchantments a magic using character would enjoy.
* DuelToTheDeath: Several occur throughout the various questlines in the game. See GladiatorSubquest below for examples which take place in Vivec's arena.
* DugTooDeep: The Dwemer in the backstory. They dug deep beneath Red Mountain, uncovering the Heart of Lorkhan which would eventually be the downfall of their race.
* DummiedOut: Naturally, there are a few things that had to be left out with a game this large.
** The Blight was originally going to be an expanding threat over time, but had to be left out due to technological limitations
** Dagoth Ur and the Sixth House were originally joinable by the player. This had to be left out due to time restrictions.
** Exploration of the Construction Set files reveals several quests that were cut from the game with no real explanation.
*** Hrundi of the Fighter's Guild had a quest for the player to eliminate a lesser Dagoth that didn't make it into the final game.
*** An early Imperial Legion quest has the player rescuing an Orc tax collector from a reclusive Telvanni mage. Another quest was going to have the player actually collect the taxes.
*** Another Legion quest has you searching for a specific set of Dwemer blueprints, but was removed.
*** Two quests, one for House Telvanni and one for the Morag Tong, sent the player to "forcefully retire" Master Neloth. [[spoiler: Perhaps they already knew that Neloth would be appearing in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim a later game in the series]]?]]
*** One Thieves Guild quest had the player stealing a mission report from the Ordinators, but was removed.
*** In true Bethesda fashion, there is a quest which was only ''partly'' removed, potentially causing issues: There was going to be a Legion quest to acquire the plans to Anumidium. The dialogue to acquire the quest is properly blocked off, and the journal entries can't trigger... but the ''completion'' of the quest is only partly removed, so if you bring the plans to the general who would have given you the mission and speak to him about Anumidium you block off the rest of his quests.
** There are several items and objects in the game that seem like they should have a purpose, but do not. Many were likely intended for use in a quest that never made it into the game. For example:
*** There is an alchemy ingredient called "bloat," which can be purchased from merchants or found in random crates. Where bloat comes from is never explained in-game—-but the level editor reveals an unused "bloat spore" plant that was supposed to produce them, but was never placed in-game. Several mods out there deal with this, ranging from placing them in several swampy areas to working them into a House Telvanni quest line as being in a bloat mine.
*** You can find a fountain called the "Pool of Forgetfulness." Players have frustratedly tried to get it to do something, but it apparently does nothing. Perhaps the developers simply forgot about it?
*** To defeat the [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]], players need two special weapons called Sunder and Keening, which are being guarded by the Dagoth Ur's higher-ranked minions. The data files of the game reveal a phony look-alike of Sunder, and a voice file for the Dagoth Ur taunting you when you try to kill him with it. These were never included in-game.
*** "The Wings of the Queen of Bats", Morrowind's Infinity Plus One Axe, isn't actually in the game, but can be obtained through cheat codes or modding the game.
*** Morrowind also has a version of Azura's Star that can be used as a shuriken, but the final game replaces it with a Soul Gem.
** There is a faction in the game files called "Imperial Knights", complete with full rank progression (this isn't actually necessary for a faction to have) and relations to other factions. What it doesn't have is ''any'' members or ways of joining it.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** There are no Trolls in ''Morrowind'', but there is Trollbone Armor. The helmets (which are hollowed out Troll skulls,) have three eye-sockets, just as trolls had from ''Oblivion'' onward.
** Each of the expansions gives a taste of what is coming up in the next two games in the series.
*** The ''Tribunal'' expansion could be seen as a sneak peek of what ''Oblivion'' would be like, since the city of Mournhold bears many similarities to the Imperial City: Multiple districts in closed-off cells as opposed to being in the same cell as the surrounding wilderness, an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer down below, the presence of Goblins, Liches, and the Dark Brotherhood in full-force, no Levitation, and even Royal Guards in plate armor, which was how the Imperial Legion would be portrayed throughout the next game. There's even {{Foreshadowing}} of the Oblivion Crisis at one point in the questline.
*** Solstheim in the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion is essentially a cameo for ''Skyrim'' two games in the future. It's snowy, full of Nords, werewolves, spriggans and mead, all things that show up in ''Skyrim'' prominently. (Solstheim itself then shows up again as the setting for the ''Dragonborn'' expansion to ''Skyrim''.)
* EarlyGameHell: Things are very hellish for a while after leaving the [[EasingIntoTheAdventure easy-going]] [[FirstTown starting town]] of Seyda Neen. Even the standard local wildlife will be a challenge until you increase your skills and acquire better equipment, and anything stronger will serve as a BeefGate. It's encouraged to complete first few assignments in the main quest, as well as the first few missions for the local guilds, as these are largely easier quests and are rewarding enough to purchase training and the aforementioned better equipment. Progression is largely lopsided, however, and once you start increasing in levels, you'll go from schmuck to god-slayer very quickly.
* EarthDrift: For the series, ''Morrowind'' has by far the most alien setting.
* EasingIntoTheAdventure: Probably the best example out of the series, since it is the only one without a true starter/tutorial dungeon you must escape. You simply get off a boat, pick your name, race, class, and birthsign, then get released into a very easy-going starting village. Even the quests you can pick up there and the nearby enemies are extremely easy. [[EarlyGameHell Once you leave that town, however...]]
* EasilyForgiven: Comes up a lot.
** Minor crimes result in the guards demanding that you pay on the spot. More serious stuff may have you living on the run until you can find somebody (often Thieves' Guild) who can, for a substantial fee, make your wanted status 'go away'. But once it does, it never crosses anybody's mind that you might go out and commit more crimes. This is discussed in certain dialogue trees: the money from the fines the guards charge criminals go to the victim of the crime/their surviving family, and if the crime was enough they'll often hire the Morag Tong (a legal assassins' guild) to kill the criminal. However, no one ever sends them against you...
** In the rare event that you are expelled from House Telvanni, rejoining is as simple as talking to a [[QuestGiver Mouth]] and asking to be reinstated. Given that the Telvanni have practically no rules to break, even getting expelled in the first place is a challenge.
** House Redoran will also forgive your expulsion with a simple apology, but only once. Break the rules again and you're out for good.
* {{Egopolis}}: Played straight for the Tribunal deities Vivec and Sotha Sil, who each created their own namesake cities. Averted for Almalexia, who instead chose to settle in the pre-existing capital of Morrowind, Mournhold.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Dozens of caves and grottos exist in the game, some of which get quite elaborate, and are usually home to smugglers, bandits, or worse. Dunmer Ancestral Tombs and Dwemer ruins are also typically build into the ground.
* ElvesVersusDwarves: Prominent in the backstory, though with the "dwarves" in this case being a sub-race of elves known as the Dwemer, in the ''Elder Scrolls'' tradition. Nerevar rose to prominence when he managed to unite the two races in an EnemyMine to drive out the invading Nords who threatened both races.
* EmpathicEnvironment: Since his return to a physical form, Red Mountain has been encased in a permanent Blight storm, which spreads the blight and corprus diseases. [[spoiler: After his defeat, clear skies will be seen over Red Mountain for the first time in centuries.]]
* EmpathicWeapon: The in-universe explanation for why so many legendary artifacts keep finding new masters. The blade Umbra, in particular, is said to have a mind of it's own which takes over the mind of it's wielder until s/he is slain, and it finds a new wielder. Several Daedric artifacts are also said to have natures like this, leaving their bearers when that person begins to abuse the artifact, or becomes too reliant on the artifact.
* TheEmperor: A benevolent one is described but [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen not shown,]] since the game takes place far from the Imperial City.
* EmptyLevels: The leveling system is based on a few of your major/minor skills increasing, but the stat increases are tied to all skills that use that attribute. The result is that if you didn't remember to train your miscellaneous skills in between leveling from using major skills, you could end up with a character with a high level but pitiful attributes. The most effective builds end up tagging many of the least used (or at least hardest to level) skills as primary ones, so that you wont "accidentally" level and cheat yourself out of attribute bonuses.
* EndOfAnAge: After ruling over for Dunmer people for some 4000 years, the main quest ends with the Tribunal losing their divinity. ''Tribunal'' then ends with [[spoiler: two members of the Tribunal dead]].
* EnemyChatter: Through use of stealth, it is possible to initiate conversation with normally hostile-on-sight enemies. Most, like the corprus monsters, just babble incoherently, but some of the stronger ones, such as the ash vampires, have some amusing chatter - among other things, inviting the player for a drink before the fight (from which you actually gain a bottle of the rare and valuable Dagoth brandy.)
* EnemyDetectingRadar: Various "Detect" spells exist and, when used, have the effect of causing enemies to show up on the mini-map.
* AnEntrepreneurIsYou:
** Beyond the standard treasure hunting business of a freelance adventurer, you can put your item crafting skills into great use by making items to sell. Potions and enchantments are two highly profitable ventures. Additionally, many merchants sell damaged weapons and pieces of armor for for less than the items are worth in pristine condition. Buying them, fixing them up via the Armorer skill, and re-selling them can be very profitable.
** ''Bloodmoon'' brings the East Empire Company questline of building up the ebony mining colony of Raven Rock. You get to choose the types of services available and get to pick where to build your own "Factor's Estate" mansion.
** After completing a few side quests, you get the opportunity to run the Thirsk mead hall. You can return every few days to collect your share of the profits.
* EpicFail: The sorcerer Inwold was hired by some smugglers operating out of Palansour to summon Daedra to use as muscle. However, his Ogrim and Scamps got out of control, killed all of the smugglers, and left Inwold imprisoned in nothing but a skirt and a hat ([[AndYourRewardIsClothes which he offers you for freeing him.]])
* EscapeRope: The Divine and Almsivi Intervention spells. When used, they teleport the player to the nearest Imperial or Tribunal Temple shrine, respectively. They're good for making a quick escape in a sticky situation or, perhaps more commonly, transporting more loot that you could otherwise carry.
* EscortMission: Quite a few. The combined ArtificialStupidity and SuicidalOverconfidence of your followers will drive you crazy. You'll be thankful when you have the ability to tell the follower to "wait here" while you run ahead and clear out the path ahead, but that isn't always an option...
* EternalEngine: The {{Steampunk}} machinery in Dwemer ruins is still running some 4000 years after their disappearance. (Justified, as they were known to tinker with the laws of time in order to preserve their creations for a long, long time.)
* EternalEnglish: In the Cavern of the Incarnate, the player will encounter the ghosts of the "failed incarnates," who thought that they were the Nerevarine but were killed before they could fulfill the prophecy. They are each Dunmer from different time periods, yet the player is able to communicate with them all without issue.
* EveryoneIsBi: When using the Admire option in conversation, your part of the dialogue is never seen, but the NPC's responses are, and more often than not they seem to be a response to a pick-up line or a suggestion.
* EverythingFades: Corpses are set to disappear after 3 in-game days have passed. They can also be disposed of immediately by the player while looting them.
* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: The main game isn't too bad with this, as there are at least some enemies that are non-hostile unless you attack them and deadly terrain features (steep falls, lava pits, etc.) are generally easy to avoid. However, ''Bloodmoon'' cranks this way up. You can't travel one map square without facing a pack of 8 wolves, 2 plague bears, a snow bear, 2 Fryse Hags, a Berserker... And due to the nature of the East Empire Company quests only becoming available every couple of days, the local wildlife ''WILL'' respawn as you wait.
* EvilCounterpart: The Camonna Tong to the Thieves Guild. The Dark Brotherhood to the Morag Tong. House Telvanni is regarded as this in comparison to the Mages Guild by most Imperial factions.
* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:Almalexia's]] plot.
* EvilSorcerer: You don't have to be one to join House Telvanni, but Evil Sorcerers thrive there due to its [[MightMakesRight lenient code]] [[KlingonPromotion of conduct.]]
* EvilWeapon: Umbra, a massively powerful soul-stealing blade crafted by an evil witch. It has the nasty habit of driving it's owners into becoming insane [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]].
* EvilerThanThou: The Dark Brotherhood versus the Morag Tong. Both are MurderInc, but the Morag Tong is government contracted and has a strict code of ethics, while the Dark Brotherhood is comprised of AxCrazy criminals who practice a ReligionOfEvil. Ditto, to a lesser degree, for the Thieves Guild and the Camonna Tong: the former has a strict code of ethics as well and favors clean, stealthy burglary and smooth talking, while the latter is made of xenophobic thugs who just kill and plunder.
* EvolvingMusic: ''Morrowind's'' main theme, "Nerevar Rising," has been remixed and used for every main series game since.
* ExcaliburInTheRust: A thorough player may stumble upon a unique "Rusty Dagger" with pitiful stats and that will break after a single hit. However, return it to a specific shrine to Mehrunes Dagon, and the [[GodOfEvil Daedric Prince of Destruction]] will restore it to it's true, ''powerful'' glory.
* ExpansionPackWorld: ''Bloodmoon'' adds the island of Solstheim to Tamriel.
* ExponentialPotential: There are over 100 obtainable spells in the game which use or combine over 100 spell effects all broken down into 6 schools of magic. Get into customized spells, Alchemy, and Enchantment and number of magical possibilities becomes near-infinite.
* ExpospeakGag: "Council of Mages without Digits within Bowels".
* ExtremeOmnivore: The player can eat things such as leprous meat, diamonds, poisonous mushrooms, raw hearts, human flesh, ashes of burned vampires, and animal hides, with varying effects. If you aren't going to carry it with you, you might as well, since partaking makes you better at alchemy on the premise that experiencing their alchemical properties will increase your knowledge on their effects. Particularly jarring with Dwemer scrap metal and ebony ore, since we're talking about wolfing down ten pounds of metal or twenty pounds of rock.
* EyelessFace: Ash Zombies and Ash Ghouls, both lesser minions of the Sixth House. Ash Zombies have had the entire upper section of their faced gouged out. Ash Ghouls have some sort of proboscis sticking out.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: A House Redoran quest has you convincing another member of the house to do this via a duel to the death in the arena. He will almost certainly die (unless you aid him from a distance.)
* FaceDesignShield: The Orcish shield and both varieties of Daedric shield sport nasty looking face designs.
* FallenHero: Depending on [[TheRashomon which version of Nerevar's life]] you believe, Dagoth Ur. Also, [[spoiler:Almalexia]].
* FameGate: More like a [[DungeonBypass Fame Bypass/Backdoor]]: Normally, you need to visit all Great House nobles and Ashlander chiefs to convince them that you are TheMessiah, and only then will the CorruptChurch listen to your claims. But if you are already famous enough (at least level 20, with at least 50 Reputation,) the archcanon will grant you a meeting immediately, allowing you to skip what would otherwise be a very long quest.
* FanRemake: Multiple comprehensive efforts have been made to modernize the game. The Morrowind Overhaul is a complete collection of texture, mesh and gameplay updates for the existing game. Morroblivion is a mostly complete mod that imports Morrowind into the Oblivion engine while Skywind is an ongoing effort to import Morrowind into the Skyrim engine. [=OpenMW=] is an ongoing project to recreate Morrowind's engine.
* FantasticDrug: A few.
** Moon Sugar, which is similar in appearance and effect to real world cocaine. And Skooma, a drink made from refined Moon Sugar. Both are illegal in the Empire and if you have any in your possession, most merchants will outright refuse to do business with you. ([[FailedASpotCheck You can easily just set the drug on the counter in front of them, transact your business, and then pick the drug right back up with no repercussions.]])
** Hackle-Lo Leaf shares some similarities with tobacco and Coca leaves. It is chewed by the natives for a boost of energy, and can be chewed by the player (or brewed into a potion) to restore Fatigue.
* FantasticHonorifics: A slight variation on the gender-neutral "ser" version: The Dunmer use "sera", "muthsera" and "serjo", in increasing order of politeness.
* FantasticRacism: Being an Outlander in Morrowind is a bad thing, there are multiple words for it, N'wah and Swit are just two slurs used. You will also occasionally be insulted for your race in a fashion befitting what form of human, lizard, cat, elf you are. Even if you're a Dark Elf you won't be liked because you're not a native.
** That last one has a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation to it. While you are told that this is the case, playing as a Dunmer will still get you the standard +10 disposition increase with members of the same race even if they are native Dunmer.
* FantasticRankSystem: Every guild and faction in the game has their own set. Details of each are available on the trope page.
* FantasticSlurs: The Dunmer have a few. "Swit" seems to be the least offensive, and is used similarly to calling someone "a shit" or "bitch." "Fetcher" is the next step up, being a derogatory term for a slave seemingly mixed with the "f-word." "N'wah" is at the top of the list, being an incredibly offensive term for a foreigner, along the lines of the "n-word."
* FantasyCounterpartCulture - Imperials are the Romans, Nords are Vikings, and the Dark Elves bear an extremely strong resemblance to the biblical Israelites/Jews, starting with the Abraham/Moses hybrid Veloth and all the way down to the Nerevarine/Messiah prophecies producing lots of wannabes during an occupation by a powerful foreign empire.
* FantasyMetals: Two types are prominently mined in Vvardenfell.
** Ebony is a dark grayish/brownish/purplish mineral with some characteristics of volcanic glass. It's extremely dense, worth more than gold when used as bullion, and forges into some of the most powerful weapons and heavy armor available in Tamriel. Trade of ebony is strictly regulated by the Empire, meaning that a permit to mine Ebony is extremely valuable to any organization in Morrowind that can get one. (Several faction quests involve sabotaging the ebony mines of political rivals via, for instance, igniting a slave uprising.) Lore scholars have long theorized that ebony may in fact be the petrified blood of the dead creator god Lorkhan, as it's greatest deposits are near Red Mountain where Lorkhan's heart fell from the sky.
** Glass is a lightweight greenish mineral which, like ebony, sees its trade also tightly controlled by the Empire. It can also be forged into some fantastic weapons and one of the best light armors available in Tamriel.
* FashionableAsymmetry: As each piece of armor (with the exception of boots) can be equipped individually, some [=NPCs=] wear mismatched sets of pauldrons and gauntlets, leading to this effect. The player is also free to engage in this.
* FastForwardMechanic: The wait and rest features. Waiting can be done anywhere that enemies are not present, but does not restore your health or magicka, nor allow you to level up. Resting must be done in a bed or in the wilderness, but will restore your health/magicka and must be done in order to level up.
* FateWorseThanDeath: What the Tribunal Temple considers Vampirism, regardless of what the Vampire him/herself may think. It's why they consider death as the only "cure" for the disease.
** The non-Sixth House victims of the Corprus disease. In essence, it combines the effects of leprosy, cancer, and dementia. The two "positive" effects of the disease are that you stop aging and become immune to all other diseases. Combine these, and your only hope for relief once the disease has advanced is to be killed mercifully.
* FauxSymbolism: {invoked} [[http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-thirty-six-lessons-vivec-sermon-one The 36 Lessons of Vivec]]. They are a series of 36 books, supposedly penned by the man-god himself. (Game writer Michael Kirkbride is the real life author.) In them, he uses oodles of biblical imagery to make sure that, if you take it seriously, there is NO WAY a person could see Vivec as anything less than the absolute god of The Elder Scrolls universe (which, of course, isn't necessarily true). Doubles with BreakingTheFourthWall, {{Anvilicious}}, TropesAreNotBad, and GettingCrapPastTheRadar with a sprinkling of InJoke.
* FetchQuest: About half the quests in the game it would seem. Some are easy ("Go down the street and purchase a ceramic bowl") while others are a bit more challenging ("Acquire the InfinityMinusOneSword from a hostile, high-level mage.") The game will even invert this on occasion by having you ''deliver'' an item or supplies to a remote location instead.
* FictionalDocument: [[http://www.imperial-library.info/books/morrowind/by-category Loads and loads of them]] that you can simply pick up and read. Some advance the plot, some fill in the {{Backstory}}, and some are just entertaining short stories.
* FighterMageThief:
** The Fighters' Guild, Mages' Guild, and Thieves' Guild are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Exactly What They Say On The Tin]]; the three Great Houses each represent a different archetype: Redoran (Fighter), Telvanni (Mage) and Hlaalu (Thief), and even the three vampire clans represent a different archetype: Quarra (Fighter), Aundae (Mage) and Berne (Thief). This can cause a degree of GameplayAndStorySegregation, especially for magic-oriented characters: from a gameplay perspective, it makes sense to join the Guild/House/Clan that match your character's skills, but in-story many of the factions are opposed to each other (House Telvanni and the Mages' Guild have something of a cold war situation going on, even though you can become head of both at the same time).
** Present in the three members of the Tribunal. Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec fit the Fighter, Mage, and Thief archetypes, respectively.
* FirstTown: Seyda Neen is the town where the player starts, gets initial quests, and acquires his/her first set of equipment. However, Balmora (the second town visited if following the main quest) fits the "central location" part of the trope as there is far more to do there and many reasons to keep coming back to it.
* FiveFingerDiscount: Possible and even encouraged for players in the Thieves Guild. See KleptomaniacHero below for more.
* FiveManBand - During the war between the Chimer and the Dwemer, we had this on the Chimer side:
** TheHero: Nerevar
** TheLancer: Vivec
** TheSmartGuy: Sotha Sil
** TheChick: Almalexia
** TheBigGuy: Voryn Dagoth
* FlatCharacter: Most of the hundreds of {{NPC}}s don't do much but walk back-and-forth (and some not even that) all day and dispense already-known exposition and rumors when spoken to. Fans call them "walking information kiosks."
* FlavorEquipment: There is some extremely low-end gear available which most players will pass over without a second thought. In particular, there are the Chitin weapons. The Chitin dagger, for instance, is even worse than the Iron dagger which you can pick up for free during character generation. It exists mostly to give the Ashlanders a unique form of weaponry. Chitin armor on the other hand is actually fairly decent early-game light armor, putting Netch Leather and Nordic Fur armor into this category. You can buy a (relatively inexpensive) almost-full set of the armor from Arielle in [[FirstTown Seyda Neen]]. Even worse are the ''[[JokeItem cloth]]'' bracers. (Think "shirt-sleeve" level of protection and durability...)
* FloatingContinent: The Ministry of Truth, actually a [[WeirdMoon floating]] ''[[WeirdMoon moon]]'', is this same concept. In the backstory, [[MadGod Sheogorath]] hurled it at Vivec city. Vivec, [[PhysicalGod the Tribunal deity]], froze it in time suspended over the city. [[spoiler: In part due to the player's actions during the game, Vivec disappears early in the 4th era, causing the moon to continue its uninterrupted fall with its original momentum, destroying the city and causing Red Mountain to erupt, destroying most of Vvardenfell.]]
* FlowerFromTheMountaintop:
** One side quest has the player looking for 5 unique flowers known as "Rolands Tears." The good news is, it's not exactly inaccessible — it's actually fairly close. The bad news is that it is a Daedric ruin, and Daedric ruins have a reputation as some of the most dangerous places in all Morrowind.
** One quest in ''Bloodmoon'' has the player seeking a Wolfsbane flower. Only one grows in all of Solstheim, on top of large mountain.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Netch are a LivingGasbag species native to Morrowind. They look like giant, floating jellyfish.
* FollowTheWhiteRabbit: There's a sidequest with that, with a white guar.
* ForcedLevelGrinding: There are a few points in the main quest with sudden jumps in difficulty. Luckily, your quest giver generally tells you that you're about to head into a particularly dangerous situation and recommends training and/or buying new equipment to compensate, so these are easy to see coming.
* ForcedTutorial: A very short and subtle one at the beginning of the game where you learn the various controls and menus during character creation. It can actually be taken advantage of in order to steal multiple valuable items with no repercussions. (See KleptomaniacHero for more.)
* ForeheadOfDoom: A lot of Nord women in this game have it, particularly Heddvild in Balmora.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "In the waning years of the Third Era of Tamriel, a prisoner born on a certain day to uncertain parents was sent under guard, without explanation, to Morrowind, ignorant of the role he was to play in that nation's history." [[spoiler: By the end of the game, you are ''still'' ignorant of the role you were to play, i.e. that you've indirectly caused Morrowind's destruction.]]
** The very first sound you will hear when loading the game, even before the main menu appears, is the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWuNf4gxwuM rumble of a beating heart.]]
** The local Nords of Solstheim are a bit peeved that the Raven Rock mine was built on an ancient burial mound. When Raven Rock is revisited two games later, guess what the player finds in the mine?
** One quest in ''Bloodmoon'' has you rescuing the "friend" of a seer, Geilir the Mumbling. He will reward you for completing the quest by telling you your future. If you complete this quest after completing the ''Bloodmoon'' main quest, he will give you this cryptic fortune:
---> [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion When the dragon dies, the Empire dies. Where is the lost dragon's blood, the Empire's sire? And from the womb of the void, who shall stem the blood tide? So long as the Blood of the Dragon Prince runs strong in her rulers, the glory of the Empire shall extend in unbroken years. His heart's blood bleeds in darkness. For once the portals are opened, who shall shut them upon the rising tide? For Lord Dagon forever reborn in blood and fire from the waters of Oblivion. Find him... and close shut the marble jaws of Oblivion.]] ]]
* ForkFencing: One weapon in the game is the Fork of Horripilation. It's a [[JokeItem pitifully weak weapon]] that drains ''your own magicka'' as you wield it. Of course, it is an artifact of [[MadGod Sheogorath]] and you can trade it in for a much, much better weapon upon completing his quest.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: Lord Indoril Nerevar is treated as this by the Dunmer people as the great unificator of Morrowind. The Tribunal rule in his name ([[TheRashomon even though they very likely may be responsible for his death]]) and he is revered as a saint in the Tribunal Temple.
* FreudianTrio: The members of the tribunal with Almalexia as the id, Vivec the ego, and Sotha Sil the superego.
* FullFrontalAssault: Sixth House Dreamers fight in this fashion, most often using a club or simply their bare fists. If encountered during the day, Solstheim's unaffiliated werewolves will be completely naked [=NPCs=] (who are obviously much easier to kill than when in their night-time forms.) This is also an option for the player should it be chosen.
* FungusHumongous: Tree-sized mushrooms are a common sight in Vvardenfell. Telvanni settlements consist almost exclusively of mushroom houses, and many homes (there and elsewhere) have potted mushrooms as decoration.
* GameBreakingBug: the "Sunder/Keening Bug" which if you have an item that adds attributes to you while wielding and rapidly switch it with another item and back to that item, at enough switching speed the attributes are not removed when unwielding it but instead stacked. You could get insane amounts of attributes. That's how speed runs of less than 5 minutes are possible. The bug was removed in later version though.
** In addition to a number of bugs that could break certain quests, installing ''Bloodmoon'' after ''Tribunal'' would cause a bug with a certain character's dialogue, causing it to loop endlessly and cutting off the rest of the ''Tribunal'' main quest. This bug was thankfully patched.
* GameFavoredGender: Massively [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] overall. A female player character will have a slightly easier time finishing one part of the main quest, as well as when completing another miscellaneous quest not far from the starting village. Conversely, a male player character has access to another miscellaneous quest line that a female player character will not.
* GameMod: Thanks to a strong cult {{fandom}}, a simple but extraordinarily flexible level editor, and over a decade in which they could be developed, there are tens of thousands of ''Morrowind'' mods available on the internet.
* GameplayAllyImmortality: Notably averted, leading to some of the most challenging and frustrating [[EscortMission Escort Missions]] in gaming.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration:
** Ordinators hold their Indorial armor sacred, and consider it blasphemous and punishable by death if someone not of their order wears it. Don't speak to them while wearing it unless you want to have them attack you.
** If you join the Imperial Legion, your superior officers will refuse to speak with you if you are not in uniform.
** Dagoth Ur's growing power works as a form of AntiGrinding. The more you level up, the stronger versions of Ash Creatures you'll have to face in his various strongholds.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** Moon Sugar and Skooma are highly addictive drugs, but the player can consume them will no negative long term consequences.
** It is possible to become the leader of two Guilds or Factions which hate each other. For example, take the Mages Guild and House Telvanni. One quest for the Mages Guild requires you to root out a Telvanni spy within Guild leadership. You can be the Archmagister of House Telvanni, root out the spy who now technically works for you, and be rewarded by the Mages Guild for your good work. Another example, the player may be the Mages Guild Archmage, but if he or she joins House Telvanni, they will have to do a quest to get the Mages Guild's monopoly on magical training dropped.
** Several characters will comment that outlanders are not well liked by the native Dunmer. This supposedly includes foreign-born Dunmer. However, a Dunmer PlayerCharacter will still get the standard +10 "same race" disposition boost when interacting with native Dunmer [=NPCs=].
** The Umbra Sword is described as an evil EmpathicWeapon that slowly corrupts and drives mad the person who wields it. The player can use it for the entire game after earning it and suffer no ill effects.
** One mission during the main quest requires the player to rescue an Argonian being bullied and threatened by racist Dunmer. The Argonian says they refuse to listen to anything he says because of his race. Despite this, the player character can talk to the Dunmer and convince them to leave the Argonian alone, even if the player character is an Argonian him/herself. The racists don't even mention this.
* GargleBlaster: One of Dagoth Ur's top henchmen will offer you a bottle of vintage brandy before you two duke it out. And by "vintage" we mean "brewed so long ago it'll completely sap your Intelligence and Willpower attributes".
* GatelessGhetto: ''Tribunal'' takes place in the city of Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind, which is stated to be massive. However, you're only able to access five sections and the sewers beneath them, [[HandWave supposedly]] because the city is under quarantine from the Blight. Levitation magic is also forbidden by orders of Almalexia in-game (but really, it's because the city is in an [[SkyBox enclosed cell]].) The only way in and out is via teleportation.
* GenderIsNoObject: Gender is purely aesthetic for 99.9% of the game. The only times it matters are some slight differences in starting attributes (small enough to be made up within the first few levels if you choose to do so), for one set of quests in Pelagiad that is only available to male characters, and for one portion of a late-game quest where female characters have easier requirements to finish it and get a slightly bigger bonus for it.
* GenderedOutfit: Initially averted by the game, as the clothing and armor would remain the same in appearance for both genders. After installing ''Tribunal,'' the cuirass for certain armor types (netch leather and steel, amongst others) would change in appearance when equipped to female characters, becoming more form fitting.
* GetOnTheBoat: Inverted at the start of the game, where the player character starts on a boat being transported to the island setting. Other boats are available in the game which provide local transit around the island island
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The 36 sermons of Vivec include, among other things, multiple barely-concealed allegorical descriptions of gay sex between Vivec and the Daedric prince of rape.
* GhostlyChill: In the Sandas Ancestral Tomb you'll find the skeletons of 2 noble guards, you'll find a key on one of the skeletons and a key on a pillar next to the other skeleton which lead to a room and a cursed chest respectively, if you open this chest you'll receive a message saying "You suddenly feel quite cold...". The skeletons become alive and will attack you.
* GiantEnemyCrab: Mudcrabs are a species of crab native to Morrowind, about the size of a large tortoise, and serve as low level enemies along the game's coastal regions.
* GiantMook:
** Dwemer Steam Centurions are large golems made of metal which stand a full head taller than the player character and pack quite a punch when fought.
** Near the end of the ''Tribunal'' main quest, deep inside [[spoiler: Sotha Sil's Clockwork City]], the player will battle the Imperfect, a gigantic machine enemy twice the height of the player character.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: [[spoiler: Karstaag]] feels like this. Unlike the other participants in [[spoiler: Hircine's]] hunt, you don't get to meet him until you have to fight him in in the glacier. [[spoiler: He has a unique model: a giant, four-eyed yeti monster with horns, which is unlike anything else in the game.]] Where he came from or what he actually is never gets discussed in-game. (A popular fan theory from the time stated that he may be a Kamal, one of the Akiviri "snow demons" who staged a failed invasion of Morrowind in the distant past.) [[spoiler: ''Skyrim'' later reveals that Karstaag was a Frost Giant, an offshoot of Giants that are native to a place called The Forgotten Vale. How he got himself to Solstheim? Still a mystery.]]
* GiveMeASword: A Tribunal Temple quest has you visit the shrines of Vivec's virtues. One requires you to reenact a moment when Vivec displayed his courtesy by giving a silver longsword to a Daedra Lord. The other actor in this is a dremora who views the entire thing as demeaning and tedious. He has a chest full of the swords next to him, showing that he has to do this often. He doesn't mind if you take one from the chest and give it to him instead of one brought from the outside.
* GiveMeYourInventoryItem: The ''Tribunal'' expansion has Gaenor, a Bosmer pauper who asks you for increasingly large sums of money (and/or rare items) until he refuses to believe that you'd actually have the cash/item and storms off even if you have the cash. [[spoiler: He then shows up a few days later wearing a full set of one of the most powerful and rare armor sets in the game and tries to kill you - and is nearly invincible due to the armor and his cosmically high Luck score.]]
* GladiatorSubquest: You will need to fight several battles in the Vivec Arena in order to advance through several factions. [[spoiler: In particular, you'll need to do this to achieve guild leader status in the Imperial Legion, House Redoran, and the Mages' Guild. You'll need to battle Dram Bero's champion in order to gain his support in House Hlaalu as well.]]
* GlobalCurrency: The ubiquitous Septim, a simple gold coin. Lampshaded by the Ashlanders, who consider the "settled" people to be fools for trading them useful items in exchange for small chunks of metal with no practical use. Of course, they still accept gold as a form of payment.
* AGodAmI: All three of the Almsivi in the backstory, plus [[spoiler: Dagoth Ur]] to some extent. [[spoiler: Almalexia has this attitude in the expansion.]]
---> [[spoiler: Dagoth Ur]]: "I'm a god! How can you kill a god?"
* AGodIsYou: Notably averted. [[spoiler: Despite coming into the possession of the three tools necessary to become a god in the presence of the Heart of Lorkhan, a godly power source, you are not given the instructions on how to do so. Your only option is to destroy the Heart.]] Not to worry though, as becoming TheAgeless and immune to disease aren't bad consolation prizes.
* GodEmperor:
** While they don't legally count themselves as the emperors, the Dunmer worship the Tribunal, a trio of living, flesh and blood gods. They exert great influence, and each has a royal title, but they aren't officially the government - there's a separate King of Morrowind, who reports to the Emperor. Additionally, the Great Houses retain much of their autonomy as a result of favorable terms in the armistice signed between Morrowind and the Empire.
** Tiber Septim, founder of the current empire, is a more literal example. [[spoiler:A minor character, 'Wulf', can be met late in the game who is actually Tiber Septim - or his avatar - incognito.]]
* GodIsDead: The creator god anyway. There are other gods who are still alive and kicking, some of which die in this game.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: [[spoiler: Almalexia in ''Tribunal.'']] AxeCrazy and [[GoMadFromTheRevelation completely out of her mind]] after [[spoiler: losing her divinity.]]
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Azura and Sheogorath have made a bet about whether or not this is the case using one of Azura's loyal followers as a test subject. Azura's quest given at her shrine sends the player to ensure that Sheogorath doesn't skew the results.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler:Almalexia does ''not'' take the loss of her godhood well.]]
* GoneHorriblyRight: The mage who tried to create a flight spell (and falls from the sky right in front of you) comes to mind. He made tremendously powerful scrolls that boost your jumping ability so that you can leap ''miles...'' but they wear off after three seconds, which means that by the time you're approaching the ground again, you no longer have the power to land safely.
* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: This happens to a miner in Gnisis when a rival steals his pants. He'll reward you if you get them back for him.
* [[TheGoodKing The Good Duke]]: Duke Vedam Dren seems genuinely interested in protecting the people of Vvardenfell, he even says as much when asking him for a construction contract for your stronghold. If the player is in House Hlaalu, the two quests he gives involve getting some overzealous Ordinators to back down and getting his crime boss brother, Orvas, to grant the player control over the Camonna Tong.
* GoodMorningCrono: The game begins with the player being woken up on a ship to Morrowind by another prisoner.
* GoWaitOutside: During Boethiah's quest, it does actually take about two in-game weeks for the sculptor you've hired to complete the statue. You can just Rest/Wait until you get the journal message that the statue is complete, however, you must first leave the building the sculptor is located in, otherwise, the event flag won't trigger and he won't move to the construction site.
* GravityBarrier: Downplayed, as the game attempts this by bracketing many paths with tall hills you can't climb. However, a simple Levitation or Jump spell can still get you over with ease, making them rather trivial barriers at worst.
* GreatOffscreenWar: The "War of the First Council" and "Battle of Red Mountain" thousands of years ago set the stage for the plot of the game. The devout, Daedra-worshipping Chimer and atheistic, scientific Dwemer came into conflict in the land now known as Morrowind. After years of fighting, they were [[EnemyMine forced to team up]] to drive out the invading [[ConflictKiller Nords]]. Their alliance remained under the leadership of Chimeri Lord Indoril Nerevar and Dwemer Dumac Dwarfking, known as the "first council." It was a time of great peace and prosperity for both races. However, the Dwemer DugTooDeep beneath Red Mountain and unearthed the Heart of Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead creator god.]] Chief Tonal Architect, Lord Kagrenec, crafted tools to tap into the power of the heart, hoping to allow the Dwemer to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence transcend mortality]]. The Chimer, seeing this as a blasphemy against ''their'' gods, attempted to stop the Dwemer, reigniting their war. Forces led by Nerevar and Lord Voryn Dagoth infiltrated the Dwemer Red Mountain stronghold. [[TheRashomon Exactly what happened next is described differently by all the surviving participants]], but the Dwemer disappeared from existence, Nerevar was slain, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal used the tools on the heart to [[AGodAmI achieve godhood]], and Azura cursed the Chimer with dark skin and red eyes, transforming them into the modern Dunmer.
* GreenHillZone: The area directly around the starting town of Seyda Neen. It's relatively peaceful, one of the "greener" areas in Vvardenfell in terms of vegetation, and the toughest enemies you will face at that point are likely mudcrabs and kwama foragers. Subverted with the Grasslands region, which ''appears'' green and peaceful, but is full of rogue ashlanders, blighted critters, and the occasional wandering Daedra.
* GreyAndGreyMorality: The only truly evil people in the game are vampires, the Dark Brotherhood, and [[spoiler:Almalexia]]. The Camonna Tong are pretty close with their ultra-nationalist bigotry. On the other side, very few factions are 'pure good', although House Redoran and the Imperial Cult are generally decent.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: In ''Bloodmoon'', after defeating the Uderfrykte monster, you can loot a "Severed Nord Leg" from it's body. The leg can be wielded as a mediocre blunt weapon.
* GrimUpNorth:
** The Sheogorad region is the northernmost part of Vvardenfell, and short of Red Mountain itself, is one of the most untamed and lawless regions in the land. It has only one major settlement (Dagon Fel, a small Imperial settlement populated mostly by Nords,) but has many bandit caves, ancestral tombs, and necromancer lairs dotting its scattered islands.
** ''Bloodmoon'' adds Solstheim, a mostly frozen and barren hunk of rock inhabited only by the Skaal, treacherous Reiklings, and lots of dangerous wildlife. Only after ebony deposits were discovered there did the Empire start caring about it. The soldiers stationed at Fort Frostmoth and the miners at Raven Rock frequently point out just how miserable it is there.
* GuideDangIt: The main quest is relatively straightforward throughout, but certain side quests qualify. This trope is common in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', but for some this game marks the point at which it stopped becoming a matter of 'replay value' and achieved ridiculous proportions. The game provides an in-world, automatic (not player-entered) journal; unfortunately, many quests and other goals are not recorded in that journal.
** The ''Threads of the Webspinner'' quest requires you to track down 26 items (each boosting one of the games skills). 17 of them are either on [=NPCs=] you are assigned to kill / their guards (or in 1 case, given to you) by the same quest giver, but a few require you to kill random peaceful [=NPCs=] that have no indication that they have them or [=NPCs=] in out-of-the-way dungeons that have no quest at all related to them.
** Another (unmarked) quest involves acquiring [[InfinityPlusOneSword Eltonbrand]]. Let's just say you have better odds of being struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day than you do of acquiring this blade [[GuideDangIt without help.]]
** The propylon chambers, an ancient LostTechnology teleportation network. Using them requires collecting propylon indices, tiny grey cylinders about the size of your thumb; in the vanilla game, the indices are scattered over the entire world with no rationale for where they are, generally just lying in some obscure place with no hints whatsoever, and no indication of what they're for or how to use them if you happen to stumble across one of them. An official add-on adds a collection sidequest that gives you general hints of where to go, but without that finding even ''one'' of them (out of ten) without a guide would be a matter of astronomical luck. (As an example, one of them is [[spoiler:hidden between two crates, in a dark, locked room, in the basement of a temple you have no reason to enter, let alone explore.]] And, to reiterate, the vanilla game barely even gives you any hint that the indices ''exist'', let alone where they are or what they are for.) Presumably, the chambers and indices were originally put into the game as an EasterEgg, not something players were normally expected to figure out.
** The master-level Enchanter trainer, while not something the players need to find, falls under this trope, too. You find him in a dungeon filled with evil enemy wizards who attack you on sight; there's no hint that he's there or anything like that. Oh, and he ''is'' one of the many enemy wizards who attacks you on sight; the only way to get him to train you is to use Calm Humanoid or similar magic to approach him without violence. There is absolutely no indication that he is anyone important or any reason why the player would calm him down and try to talk to him, and if you kill him in self-defense, he is LostForever and you will have to grind to 100 Enchantment skill manually.
* GunsInChurch: The player can carry weapons, and even draw them, anywhere he or she pleases.
* GutturalGrowler: The voice for all male Dunmer.
* {{Hammerspace}}: The game version is present in full force. You're only limited in the amount of things you can carry by their weight, not their size or shape. Weapons that are not drawn are invisible, and none of the character models are wearing packs or any other indication that they're carrying around (say) a whole spare suit of armor and thirty potions.
* HammerspacePoliceForce: Averted for the first time in the series. The settled areas each have a set amount of guards present, ranging from just one in rural villages like Hla Oad to dozens for a big city like Vivec. Any guards killed will respawn after three in-game days, but the amount of guards will never exceed the set amount for that settlement.
* HandBehindHead: A common NPC idle animation.
* HardCodedHostility:
** Despite offers to do so, there is no way to actually join the Sixth House, turning them into this.
** The Camonna Tong hate all outlanders, including the player. While they stop short of attacking the player on sight, their disposition is so low that most dialogue options are cut off outright, making interactions with them nearly impossible. Their disposition drops even lower if the player is associated with any of the Imperial Guilds (especially the hated Thieves Guild) or any non-Hlaalu Great House.
* HeartbeatSoundtrack: The game's main theme, "Nerevar Rising," has a deep drum throughout which [[{{Foreshadowing}} sounds just like a heart beat]].
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:You can convince one of Hard-Heart's minions to defect by giving her a certain artifact. However, this minion will try to [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder kill]] you]] when you become master of the guild.
* HelloInsertNameHere: You have the option to name your player character. That name will appear in text form in NPC conversations and even some in-game documents, but never in any of the spoken dialogue.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Jiub, your otherwise unremarkable fellow prisoner aboard the Imperial Prison Ship at the start of the game, goes on to drive Morrowind's much-reviled Cliff Racers to extinction by the time of ''Oblivion'' and is made into a Saint as a result.
* HideYourChildren: No children appear in the game for the [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality standard]] [[WideOpenSandbox Sandbox]] game reason.
* HiredToHuntYourself: One sidequest features a runaway Argonian slave who poses as a local guide to the slave hunter who has been hired to bring him in. The guide uses a direct translation of the name under which he is wanted, as only other members of the race (who obviously aren't going to help), the odd slave trader, and a high Intelligence player character bother to learn the Argonian language. You can choose to rat him out or promise to keep his secret.
* HitboxDissonance: One of the many reasons for the hatred towards Cliff Racers. When alive, their hit box is an inexplicably small portion of their body. Then when they die, this is reversed. You'll need to dispose of their corpse in order to access any items or other corpses nearby because their dead body "container" selection box is inexplicably massive.
* HitPoints: The fairly straightforward "Health."
** CallAHitPointASmeerp: The less straightforward "Magicka" for Mana and "Fatigue" for Stamina.
* HollywoodDarkness: Averted. Most places which don't have living humanoid inhabitants have very little lighting, making them difficult to navigate. The game offers torches and laterns to help light the way, but they are used in the off-hand, so you cannot use them with a shield or two-handed weapon. Additionally, there are Night Eye and Light spells to brighten them up.
* HollywoodDensity:
** Most things have fairly realistic weights, however, your character can still lift an insane amount without being slowed down. Humorously, this means often times it's more practical to steal/loot cheaper stuff (like clothes) than heavy weapons and armor because its value:weight ratio is higher and thus you can walk away with more of it.
** Played straight with gold coins, which are weightless. You can carry around hundreds of thousands of gold coins without issue.
* HolyCity: Each of the three Tribunal deities has a city devoted to them. Vivec has the city named after him where he resides in his palace, and is where the mortal leadership of the Tribunal Temple is housed. Almalexia resides in her temple in the mainland Morrowind capital city of Mournhold. Both are Vatican-style examples. Sotha Sil's Clockwork City is more complicated. Though he does reside there, the city doesn't seem to exist in a place accessible by mortals and, as such, does not have any mortal inhabitants.
* AHomeOwnerIsYou: You get the opportunity to build your own stronghold as you advance through any of the Great House factions. You can also just take over one of the game's many abandoned homes or ruins.
** AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: And you will then fill that place with all of your questing treasures.
* HomosexualReproduction: According to the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:36_Lessons_of_Vivec,_Sermon_12 Lessons of Vivec]], Vivec and Molag Bal ''somehow'' had sons and daughters, though the Lessons of Vivec are generally allegorical even at their most reliable.
* HonorAmongThieves : All of the main joinable factions had an associated book which outlined their basic ideals and made the case for why you should join them. The Thieves' Guild's book is actually called ''Honor Among Thieves'', and indeed part of the author's argumentation is that the Thieves' Guild is this trope made official (the major other part is that they aren't the murderous, drug-dealing xenophobic slaver scum the Camonna Tong are).
* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: The in-game book ''Interspecies Phylogeny'' discusses this topic from a scholarly standpoint as it pertains to the various races of Tamriel. Each species except for the egg-laying Argonians appears to be compatible to breed with one another.
* HubCity: Vivec is the largest and most populous city in the main game, as well as the center of Dunmer politics and culture. (Ebonheart would be the center of Imperial culture and influence on the island.)
* HufflepuffHouse: There are five great houses in Morrowind, though you only get to directly interact with the leadership of three: - Hlaalu, Redoran, and Telvanni - since those are the only three with holdings in Vvardenfell, where the game takes place. You can interact indirectly with House Indorial as they are heavily associated with the Tribunal Temple, and then more in ''Tribunal''. House Dres is never interacted with though, as their holdings are entirely in southern mainland Morrowind. Background references indicate that they are one of the most politically conservative houses of the Dunmer and are heavily involved in the slave trade.
* HumongousMecha:
** Dagoth Ur is constructing one, called Akhulakhan, from the blueprints of the [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Numidium]] and intends to power it with the Heart of Lorkhan. [[spoiler: When the player breaks the enchantment on the Heart, Akhulakhan falls into the lave below]].
** Sotha Sil protects his main chambers with two of these, called the Imperfect. [[spoiler: The player gets to fight one of them at the end of the ''Tribunal'' main quest line]].
* HundredPercentHeroismRating:
** After you complete the main quest, many people will stammer and ask you to forgive them because they don't know how to speak to such an important person. Others will thank you for your heroic deeds. Additionally, when selecting the "Nerevarine" topic with most [=NPCs=], their disposition will raise each time, maxing out in the 60s. This is very helpful when dealing with [=NPCs=] who would otherwise hate you, such as members of rival Great Houses or Guilds.
** Present in a subtle form with the Reputation stat. As you perform quests and rise in the ranks of the various Guilds and Factions, your Reputation stat will grow. The stat is taken into account when calculating an NPC's disposition, so your status as a famous adventurer will make them like you more.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The end game of the ''Bloodmoon'' main quest.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Consumables take effect instantly, and the player can chow down hundreds of pounds of edibles or gallons liquid at once.
* HyperspaceArsenal: The player is only limited by the weight of the items he/she is carrying, and will no longer be able to move once the encumbrance limit (set based on the Strength attribute) is reached. So one can carry multiple suits of armor or several giant weapons without issue as long as that weight limit is not reached.
* IAmWho: [[spoiler:Lord Nerevar reborn, that's who.]]
* ICannotSelfTerminate: A sidequest in ''Bloodmoon'' has Ulfgar the Unending looking for a way into Sovngarde, the Nordic paradise afterlife. He recruits the player to help him find the way in. [[spoiler: As it turns out, you must die in battle. And seeing as how the player is the only person around badass enough to defeat Ulfgar in combat, he asks him/her to do this.]]
* IcarusAllusion: Not far from the starting village, the player can encounter a Bosmer named Tarhiel as he falls from the sky to his death. On his body are three scrolls which allow the user to jump vast distances, but they wear off before the user can safely land. They are appropriately called the "Scrolls of Icarian Flight."
* IcePalace: Castle Karstaag, home to a frost giant of the same name, is a massive glacial ice palace.
* IdealIllnessImmunity: A side effect of the Corprus Disease is immunity to all other diseases.
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: ''Morrowind'' starts the trend for the series of having MinimalisticCoverArt showing an emblem of some sort from the Elder Scrolls universe (in this case, the "Imperial Dragon" symbol in a triangle surrounded by the Daedric letters A, S, and V for the members of the Tribunal) as though it were printed on the cover of a leather-bound book. ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'' would each follow suit.
* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: While the Sixth House bases themselves generally have fairly innocuous names, the rooms within have names like "Black Heart" and "Soul's Rattle."
* ImAHumanitarian: Several pieces of human flesh can be found in the game. You can eat it or mix it into a potion just like any other ingredient. Corprus meat may also count, [[WasOnceAMan since it is the diseased flesh of those afflicted.]]
* ImperfectRitual: At the very end of the main quest, [[spoiler: you bring the tools necessary to tap into the Heart of Lorkhan in order to achieve godhood to the Heart chamber, where Dagoth Ur resides. He believes that you will try to use the tools to achieve godhood yourself, so he toys with you and taunts you. However, you aren't going to strike the Heart in the fashion necessary to achieve godhood. Instead, you perform a different ritual, and use the tools to unbind the Heart, cutting off anyone drawing divine power from it, including Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal.]]
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: M'aiq the Liar's Colovian Fur Helm. "[[MemeticMutation Practical, yet stylish!]]"
* ImprobableAimingSkills: One in-game book tells the story a Bosmer (a race renowned for their marksmanship) slave who coaches his owner's son on how to hit his target by firing ridiculous wild shots, on the basis that one should get a feel for how arrows fly before bothering to try to hit anything in particular. The father is furious that the slave is not training his son the way he asked, so begins beating the slave. The slave, while being beaten, continues to coach the pupil on taking wild shots straight into the air. The son ultimately scores a perfect hit on the slave's intended target... which, to the pupil's dismay, is the father. In other words, this archer is so good he can line up a perfect shot, ''with someone else's bow'', while being beaten with a stick. "Bullseye!" Naturally, the book increases the player's Marskman skill +1 when read.
* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: The expansions, which were geared towards higher level players, tend to lead to this. You'll find common enemies like Spriggans and werewolves in ''Bloodmoon'' putting up a tougher fight than 4000 year old main game PhysicalGod BigBad Dagoth Ur, even though you've likely gained many levels since then.
* InASingleBound: A maxed out Acrobatics skill allows the player to leap about 2 stories straight into the air. This can be augmented further with a "Jump" spell, further increasing jumping ability. The Scrolls of Icarian Flight take UpToEleven though. They allow the player to jump for ''miles'', however, landing can be tricky without proper preparation...
* IneptAptitudeTest: There is an optional one at the beginning of the game during character creation which can be used to determine your class. Since a number of the questions are rather unintuitive, it ends up being fairly inaccurate.
* InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat: Found frequently, even in places explicitly sealed for centuries.
* InfallibleBabble:
** Averted in the main quest when you are figuring out the Nerevarine Prophecies. The most commonly available interpretation is actually incorrect, and several of the prophecies are missing, so you need piece the correct version of the prophecy together.
** Averted with M'aiq the Liar, who has a number of conversation topics available, but nearly all are BlatantLies (Dragons, Multiplayer, Climbing, etc.) Only two actually have truth to them, but the details he gives are vague and inexact, so good luck figuring them out.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The extremely [[GuideDangIt hard to get]] katana, Eltonbrand. It is basically an upgraded form of the legendary blade Goldbrand, keeping Goldbrand's fire damage while increasing it's base damage, adding an additional "Fortify Attack" enchantment, and restoring the user's fatigue with every successful strike. (It's also an EasterEgg, named after former Duke Blue Devils basketball star Elton Brand, of whom one of the game developers was a big fan.)
* InfinityMinusOneSword: Several options:
** Goldbrand, a golden katana which deals fire damage, is given at the completion of Boethiah's [[GuideDangIt hard-to-find]] Daedric quest.
** Chrysamere, "the Paladin's Blade," is the best two-handed blade in the game. It deals massive damage and is also enchanted to cast several protective spells on the user.
** ''Tribunal'' adds the twin blades [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement True Flame]] and Hopes Fire. They were given by the Dwemer as wedding gifts to Nerevar and Almalexia thousands of years ago. True Flame is a FlamingSword while Hopes Fire is the lightning equivalent.
** Auriel's Bow is the most powerful bow in the game, and curiously, comes unenchanted, allowing the player to enchant it how he/she sees fit.
** "Skull Crusher" is the best two-handed blunt weapon in the game, dealing out massive amounts of damage, and is enchanted with a Feather spell which reduces its carry-weight to nothing.
** The "Wings of the Queen of Bats" is the game's best Axe, but is curiously not available in the game itself and requires console commands to acquire. It deals massive damage and is also enchanted to drain the health of enemies it strikes. Several mods have been created adding the Axe to the game proper.
** The Black Hands Dagger is simply an enchanted Daedric dagger acquired through the Morag Tong questline, but is enchanted with a powerful Absorb Health spell on strike. This combination means it can deal the most damage in a single blow of any weapon in the game while transferring part of the damage back to the user as restored health.
* InfoDump: The series has an incredibly rich and complex backstory, so much of the information needed to understand the story of the game is thrown at you in one of these.
* InformedEquipment: Generally averted, as all armor and clothing appear on your character. Played straight, however, with accessories such as rings, amulets and belts which do not appear. Also, arrow quivers and your sheathed weapon do not appear either.
* InGameNovel: Many. Most are short stories which fill maybe a dozen or so pages of an in-game book, but two in particular deserve special mention: [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:2920,_The_Last_Year_of_the_First_Era 2920, the Last Year of the First Era]] and [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_36_Lessons_of_Vivec The 36 Lessons of Vivec]]. Each fills in some of the {{Backstory}}, though the "Lessons" [[UnreliableNarrator should be taken with a grain of salt]].
* InnSecurity:
** Once you've reached a certain point in the main quest, you may start getting attacked by Ash Zombie assassins when you sleep in civilized areas. Your only options are to sleep away from civilized areas (and risk getting attacked in your sleep by wildlife) or locate the area's Sixth House base and kill the leader. (The latter has the added benefit of waking any "Sleepers" in the area as well. Speaking with them will net you a valuable Reputation point.)
** Once ''Tribunal'' is installed, you may be attacked in your sleep at any time by a Dark Brotherhood assassin. The only place you are safe is in the [[GuideDangIt tutorial area bedroll]]. (While inconvenient, it may be wise to sleep there until you've acquired the equipment necessary to fend off an assassin.)
* InstantArmor: The Bound Armor spells allow you to temporarily summon pieces of Daedric Armor. If enchanted as a "Cast when Used" enchantment on a item, it is possible to summon the entire set of armor at once.
* InstantExpert:
** Downplayed in that you can equip any type of weapon or armor as soon as you find it, however, if you don't have the skills to use it properly, you'll find it difficult to actually hit enemies with said weapons and you'll receive far less protection from said armor.
** Played straight with unlimited Training per level. As long as you have the gold to pay for the training, it is possible to be trained from a complete novice to matching your trainer's level of expertise in only a few in-game days. (Each training session takes two in-game hours. If you find a Master trainer who can train your skill to the max, you can go from the minimum skill level of 5 to 100 in 190 in-game hours.)
* InstrumentalThemeTune: The game's main theme, "Nerevar Rising."
* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Averted. Only the steepest mountains cannot be traversed on foot, and for those, you can still get over with a Levitation or Jump spell.
* InterchangeableAntimatterKeys:
** Averted in general, as keys will only open specific doors or containers.
** A quirk occurs when it comes to slave bracers. Normally, you need to find the key in the location with the slaves in order to unlock their bracers. (So, for example, the Addamasartus Slave Key will open the bracers of slaves within Addamasartus.) However, if you bring a slave from another location to a place for which you already have the key (using a Command spell, for example,) you can then unlock that slave's bracers with the key you already have. This is useful for freeing slaves whose bracers do not have a key and normally would not be able to be freed.
* InterfaceScrew: The "Blind" spell darkens the screen by a percentage based on the strength of the spell used. [[UselessUsefulSpell This spell does not, however, affect [=NPCs=]]].
* InterfaceSpoiler: If you find an NPC with unusual dialogue options, even if they don't cause anything to happen at that time, odds are they will be involved with a quest at some point in the future. The same is also true if the NPC simply lacks the usual dialogue options (latest rumors, little advice, little secret, etc.)
* InterserviceRivalry:
** The Ordinators and Buoyant Armigers, both militant wings of the Tribunal Temple, don't really get along.
** In ''Tribunal'', there is a rivalry and general sense of distrust between Almalexia's High Ordinators and King Helseth's Royal Guards. [[spoiler: When the city is attacked by fabricants, each faction will ask you to report the attack to their side's leadership]].
* InvitedAsDinner: One in-game book features a thief mistaken for a "Lady Tressed" at a masquerade dinner party where everyone has weird names. Her partner is already there (asleep at the end of the table), being called "Esruoc Tsrif" by the guests. She eventually realizes that everyone is pronouncing their names backwards, but she waits until the vampires jump her to figure out who "Lady Tressed" is.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: If you become a werewolf, you will transform every night.
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:If the lost prophecies are to be believed, the Nerevarine is an outlander, one of the same group of people the Ashlanders are trying to remove from Morrowind.]]
* IrrelevantImportance: [=NPCs=] essential to completing the main quest are marked with an "Essential" tag, meaning that if you kill them, you will get a message that you've made the game unwinnable by the standard means. This tag remains present permanently, however, so if you kill someone important to the main quest after they've already played their part, you'll still get the message.
* IrrelevantSidequest: Standard for the series, but in a positive way since it's up to the player to decide which quests they want to complete. ''Morrowind'' even takes it a step further than usual by having it explicitly recommended to you to go do things outside the main quest in order to keep up your cover story as a freelance adventurer and as a way to gain money and experience.
* IShallTauntYou:
** This is a game mechanic in conversations. The player can choose to Taunt an NPC, which lowers their disposition and may cause them to attack. If they do, you are within your legal right to kill them with no penalty to you.
** [[spoiler: Dagoth Ur spends much of the final battle doing this to you. He's a god and knows you can't kill him...he doesn't know that you intend to remove his godhood.]]
* ItemCrafting: The Alchemy skill allows you to make your own [[PotionBrewingMechanic potions]] and the Enchant skill allows you to create magic equipment. Mage services also allow the player to [[SpellCrafting make custom spells]]. All three mechanics can easily [[GameBreaker break the game]], even at low or middling levels.
* ItsAlwaysSpring: While in-game months do go by, Morrowind always seems to have a late-spring/early summer feel.
* ItsAWonderfulFailure: If you kill an NPC essential to completing the main quest, you get the following message: "With this character's death, the thread of prophecy is severed. Restore a saved game to restore the weave of fate, or persist in the doomed world you have created."
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Even for an ''Elder Scrolls'' player character, the Nerevarine has to endure a number of significant hardships while trying to save the world. They are an outlander in a place notorious for hating outlanders, get afflicted with a terrible disease (though are at least cured of the negative affects,) declared a heretic and persecuted by the Tribunal Temple, and all of this while being manipulated by the Empire, the local Tribunal deities, Azura, and Dagoth Ur. [[spoiler: And while he/she does manage to save the world at least twice, his/her actions indirectly lead to the destruction of most of Morrowind when Baar Dau resumes it's fall and causes Red Mountain to errupt.]]
* JackOfAllStats: Out of the playable races, it's the Dunmer. They get bonuses to assorted skills spread out between the Combat, Magic, and Stealth specializations. In terms of attributes, they are well balanced with limited deficiencies. With efficient leveling, they can approach MasterOfAll territory.
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of both House Telvanni and the Tribunal Church.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Most of the reasonable Dunmer you meet, [[RousseauWasRight really]]. While the Dunmer in general can be rather secretive, abrassive and xenophobic at face value, many of them will mellow and show a friendly and honourable side to the player. Some of the individual Dunmer [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] will even befriend you and become your trusted allies if you achieve a high enough reputation level with them. All the more impressive when you manage this as an Argonian or a Khajiit, as those two races [[FantasticRacism are usually not taken very seriously by the Dunmer]]. A lot of this applies to many non-Dunmer [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] too, of course.
* JoinTheArmyTheySaid: Troops at Fort Frostmoth in ''Bloodmoon'' will sometimes say a variation of the trope name as idle banter.
--> "Join the Legion! See the world!" Freeze your arse..."
* JokeItem: A smuggler's cave not far from the starting town contains the unique "Fat Lute." It's a slightly bigger and heavier version of the standard lute item found elsewhere in the game, and isn't valuable in the least.
* JumpPhysics: At higher levels of the Acrobatics skill, the player can jump about two stories straight into the air.
* JustBeforeTheEnd: Of the reign of the Tribunal and really, the Dunmer way of life for the past 4000 years.
* JustBetweenYouAndMe:
** Dagoth Ur at the end of the main quest gives you an opportunity to question his plans and motives before the final one-on-one duel.
** [[spoiler: Almalexia]] at the end of ''Tribunal'' as well.
* JustifiedTutorial: A very short one in the beginning of the game as you exit the Imperial Prison Ship and enter the Census and Excise Office where you create your character.
* JustLikeRobinHood: Gentleman Jim Stacy, Grandmaster of the Thieves Guild, offers a set of quests in this vein known as the "Bal Malagmer" quests after an ancient order of thieves who operated in Morrowind.
* KarlMarxHatesYourGuts:
** Goods have the same base price no matter where you go, and that price is only affected by the shopkeeper's disposition toward the player and the player's Mercantile skill. Even when both are maxed out, it is impossible to sell an item to that shopkeeper for the same or greater price than you could buy it for.
** There is one notable aversion: Alchemy. It is possible to buy cheap, infinitely restocking ingredients from an alchemist/apothecary, turn those ingredients into a potion, and then sell the potion back for more gold than the ingredients themselves were worth. The only thing keeping this from being an infinite source of income is having to wait for the merchant's stock of gold to regenerate after 24 in-game hours.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: In terms of one-handed long blades, katanas play the trope straight. Even the game's InfinityPlusOneSword, Goldbrand (as well as its [[GuideDangIt hard-to-get]] upgraded version, Eltonbrand,) is a powerful enchanted katana.
* KeywordsConversation: New keywords are highlighted as hyperlinks in the dialogue window and known keywords are listed to the right (slightly filtered by the NPC's affiliations and story purpose).
* KickedUpstairs: It's implied that this is how Trebonius came to be the head of the Vvardenfell branch of the Mages Guild. His mainland superiors were tired of his incompetence, so they put him in charge of the most backwater province in the empire to keep him from mucking things up elsewhere.
* KillTheGod: The goal of the main quest is to find a way to defeat PhysicalGod BigBad Dagoth Ur. [[spoiler: He is really a god, and you cannot kill him directly...but you can cut him off from the source of his godhood, which has the same basic effect.]] You'll do it again in ''Tribunal'' with [[spoiler: Almalexia]].
* KingArthur: Even if it is not an explicit intention of the writers, numerous parallels exist between Arthur and Nerevar: both were charismatic war-leaders who united their peoples against foreign invasion to great effect, both have numerous conflicting accounts of their passing, both have close groups of followers who's tales and exploits eventually begin to eclipse their own legacies, both became folk heroes to groups who have been marginalised by invasion and progress, and [[spoiler:both have prophesies of their return which may or may not have already occurred if valid]].
* KingIncognito: Toward the very end of the main quest, you may meet an old man named Wulf in Imperial armor hanging out inside of Ghostgate. If you talk to him, he'll ask that you take his "lucky coin" with you to Red Mountain. If you accept, you'll gain a new power which dramatically increases your Luck attribute for a time. Later, you can speak to the Imperial Cult Oracle about your encounter with the old man. She'll tell you that the old man was really an avatar of Tiber Septim, the first emperor of the Septim dynasty who ascended to godhood after his death.
* KingInTheMountain: Dagoth Ur is a villainous version. He was thought to have been vanquished, but having already attained godhood, his defeat was only temporary and he regained his power over several millennia leading up to the events of the game.
* KleptomaniacHero: Pretty much encouraged by the game itself. Especially true for those in the actual Thieves Guild. A few of the prime examples:
** The Census and Excise office where you start the game. There is a built-in area out of sight where the player will acquire their first weapon, lockpicks, food, beverages, light source, and book. Even better, until you are officially released by the Captain and given your orders, you will not get a bounty for anything you steal in plain sight of the guards. Simply pick up anything you wish to steal and then set it on the ground before the guard gets to you. He'll reprimand you for stealing it, but there are no other consequences. Simply pick the stolen item back up when you're done and it's yours! You can acquire a key to the Seyda Neen warehouse with this method. The warehouse contains even more stuff to steal.
** An early Balmora Mages Guild quest will have Ajira call the resident enchanter Galbedeir down to the bottom floor so you can switch out one of her soul gems with a fake. This leaves every other soul gem (including one filled grand soul gem worth 60,000 gold) completely unguarded. The only draw back to stealing them is that Galbedeir will recognize ALL soul gems as stolen after that point, so you will no longer be able to use her enchanting service.
** The ''very first'' Ald-Ruhn Thieves Guild quest will have you stealing an item from the neighboring Mages Guild. All of the mages inside will clear out, leaving only one inept guard who is easily killed by even the lowest leveled players. The mages will stay gone until you complete the quest, so feel free to loot the entire place from top to bottom, making several trips if you have to.
** Unlike later games in the series, all merchants will buy stolen goods (unless you stole it from THEM, in which case they will recognize it as theirs.) The items will be marked as stolen, so they will be confiscated by guards if you are caught. However, [[FailedASpotCheck dropping the stolen items on the ground before the guard gets to you will prevent them from being confiscated.]] Simply pick them back up after you've paid your bounty and you're good to go.
** Unfortunately, a quirk of the game engine discourages stealing stuff that isn't unique or gold (which doesn't count for this): instead of marking a specific incarnation of an item as stolen, it marks the base item as stolen -- in other words, steal a Grand Soul Gem, and ''all Grand Soul Gems you acquire are regarded as stolen''. Luckily, if you avoid run-ins with the law (or, as mentioned above, drop your stolen items before talking to the guards,) this is largely a non-issue unless you attempt to sell the stolen items back to the person you stole them from.
* KlingonPromotion: Morrowind is rather tolerant of this. House Telvanni practice this as a rule, but many factions indulge in it. For bonus points, Tamrielic law even allows for it (within sanctioned limits), citing such matters as ''duels of honorable combat.''
* KnightTemplar: ''The Ordinators'' are shining example of the trope. They are the militant wing of the Tribunal Temple and do not tolerate outsiders. Walking past them will usually net you the "We're watching you...SCUM," response. Even if you become the new head of the Temple, the indirect boss of the Ordinators, they don't become much more tolerant. And may the gods help you if you mention the Nerevarine prophecy around them. Or wear their armor.
* LadyLand: The town of Tel Mora is ruled by Telvanni councilor Mistress Dratha, who despises all men. The town is entirely populated by female staff and residents.
* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:There's only one Dwemer left, deep in the bowels of the Corprusarium.]] And he's not all there anyway (physically or mentally).
* LavaIsBoilingKoolAid: Lava is actually treated fairly realistically. You don't sink in it, can't stand on it, and it doesn't really flow. However, [[ConvectionSchmonvection you can stand next to it for as long as you want]] as long as you aren't actually touching it.
* LavaPit: Plenty around Red Mountain and the Molag Amur region. If you join House Telvanni and raise in rank until you get your own stronghold, you'll have your own personal lava pit, which is very fitting for the EvilSorcerer Great House.
* LawOfCartographicalElegance: Canonically, Vvardenfell is an island separated from the mainland by a strip of water far less than what separates it from Solstheim. However, in-game, the water stretches on indefinitely.
* LegendaryWeapon: Plenty, particularly any weapons of Daedric origin.
* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: The Thieves' Guild and the Camonna Tong both own various taverns and clubs in the major cities that are used as guild halls, and talking to anyone on the street makes it obvious that their function is an OpenSecret. Averted by the Morag Tong, since despite being assassins, their existence is perfectly legal and they have no need to hide their presence (except for their headquarters in Vivec, which is extremely well hidden).
* LethalJokeItem:
** The Boots of Blinding Speed. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin They're boots that let you run really fast, but blind you.]] However, a bit of magicka resistance will negate the blinding effect, leaving you with only the positive effect.
** The scrolls of Icarian Flight, which let you jump all the way across the continent in a single bound, zig-zag this trope; while at first glance they appear straightforwardly awesome, if you use one you find out that they are indeed lethal... to ''you'', since they wear off before you hit the ground and lead to a generally-fatal impact. When combined with a Slow Fall or Levitation spell near the end of your jump, they become amazingly valuable... but there's only three in the entire game, so they also become TooAwesomeToUse.
** ''Tribunal'' adds the Bi-Polar Blade as a reward for completing "the Match Maker" side quest. The two enchantments on the blade cancel each other out, which is fitting given the name of the weapon, but it still a powerful blade in it's own right - dealing damage on the level of the game's other artifact two-handed blades. (It can also be sold to the Mournhold Museum for a cool 20,000 gold if you prefer.)
* LethalJokeCharacter: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mudcrab Merchant.]] He is identical in appearance to other Mudcrabs, he's hidden on a specific island in the Azura's Coast region and is difficult to find, he speaks with a drunken dialect... and he has more available gold for bartering then any other merchant in the game.
* LethalLavaLand: The Molag Amur region southeast of Red Mountain, characterized by the presence of lava pools and rivers on the surface. The land is predominantly dark volcanic rock covered with an overlay of ash and cinder.
* LevelEditor: The PC version of the game comes with the "Construction Set." It is simple to learn and very flexible, allowing you to manipulate the game in a wide variety of ways.
* LevelGrinding: Expect to do it if you want to be come proficient in any skill, particularly the weapon skills. Made easier with unlimited training per level (unlike the later games in the series,) but only if you can afford it.
* LevelScaling: Limited to creatures outside of caves. The items in many containers are also pulled from "leveled lists," give you a better chance at finding good items at higher levels. All of the loot outside of containers is hand placed and never changes, however.
* LighthousePoint: The starting town of Seyda Neen has a lighthouse, and due to the island's quarantine because of the Blight, is the only (legal) port for boats coming from the mainland.
* LightningGun: Shock spells have this appearance, firing a "ball" of electricity at opponents.
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Generally played straight with a few quirks. Any character build is going to have some difficulty in the [[EarlyGameHell very early going]], but warrior types are going to have it a bit easier than magic users. Once magic users gain access to (and have the funds to pay for) custom spells, they become much more powerful. However, late in the game (and especially in the expansions,) most high level foes resist magic to some degree or outright reflect it, suddenly making things very challenging for magic users once again. And there there is the [[GoodBadBugs Alchemy abuse bug]] which, with Alchemy classed as a magic based skill, can turn the "wizard" types into walking [[TheSingularity singularities]].
* LivingGasbag: The Netch are basically giant, flying, gas-filled jellyfish.
* LoadBearingBoss: Dagoth Ur, though indirectly. [[spoiler: He is a god, and you cannot actually kill him, because he'll just immediately resurrect again. However, when you sever his ties to the Heart of Lorkhan, he will die and, due to the bindings on the Heart being removed, the room you are in will collapse into the lava below.]]
* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: When the game first came out, loading times were absolutely ''abysmal'' on both the XBox and PC versions. The overworld would take as long as three minutes to load and doing something as simple as ''running too fast'' could cause the game to grind to a halt. Thankfully, as technology has advanced in the decade plus since the game was released, this is now significantly less of an issue. Even a modern "off the shelf" PC can now play the game with loading times of less than a second. At times, the "Loading..." box at the bottom of the screen appears and disappears so quickly you barely notice it.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests: Dozens of them spread out through the game. The game actually justifies taking the time to do them as well, as it is recommended to you to keep up your cover identity as a freelance adventurer to hide that you are working for the Blades. [[spoiler: And later, after you've been named the Nerevarine/Hortator, you can complete them to fulfill your duty to protect the people of Morrowind.]]
* LockAndKeyPuzzle: In the dungeons of Tel Fyr, there is a series of chests each with a key and some minor treasure in them. Each key unlocks the next chest in the series. Near the end, you can walk away with a few legendary ancient weapons.
* LockedInAFreezer: The in-game book ''The Locked Room'' features this.
* LongLived: Not counting divine beings like the Tribunal or those who have enhanced their lifespans through magic like the Telvanni, there are several instances of particularly long-lived people in Morrowind.
** Nevevar, in the backstory, was in his 200s when he was killed and was still acting as a FrontlineGeneral. Dagoth Ur and Sotha Sil were said to be of "Nerevar's generation," so they were likely of similar age and still quite active before acquiring godhood.
** Barenziah, the Queen Mother, is in her 400s (old enough to have had an affair with Tiber Septim) and is as crafty as ever.
* LostForever:
** The InfinityPlusOneSword Eltonbrand and the legendary shield Spellbreaker can only be acquired if the player is a vampire. If the player gets cured without completing the quests to get these items, they will be impossible to acquire as you cannot contract vampirism a second time.
** The master trainer for enchantment, Qorwynn, is lost if you kill him. Of course, this is true for anyone else, so why is it a problem here? Qorwynn is a hostile Altmer spellcaster in a dungeon filled with nearly-identical hostile Altmer spellcasters, with no indication, anywhere in the game, that there is anything special about him. The only way to get training from him is to use magic to calm him down first, and there is absolutely no reason anyone would do this without a guide. Kill him, and you'll have to grind to 100 enchantment yourself if you want it.
* LostInTranslation:
** A special case occurs in the German version of the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion - in one dialogue, the translator forgot to add the text link leading to a quest start, which results in a (small, but quite helpful) side quest being completely lost.
** In the Polish translation, it's pretty hard to rest in some taverns due to the option, when available, being listed last in the dialogue sidebar, due to Morrowind's topic ordering system not recognizing letters of the Polish alphabet.
* LostTechnology: Nearly anything created by the Dwemer, as per series tradition.
* LostSuperweapon: [[spoiler:Akhulakhan is being built from [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Numidium's]] blueprint, replacing the Mantella with the Heart of Lorkhan as a power source.]]
* LovableSexManiac: Oooh, Crassius Curio is an example, dumpling, but it is soo nice to hear you say it. It is lovely when you list tropes like that, honey. Now give Uncle Curio a kiss. It should be noted that, in our world, much of what Curio does would be sexual harassment punishable by law. Requiring you to strip for him so he will promote you, anyone? Also, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar how did ESRB not notice?]] Also note that Uncle Crassius does not [[DepravedBisexual discriminate between genders]]. Or [[InterspeciesRomance species.]] He has also written a play called ''The Lusty Argonian Maid''. "Polish my spear!" indeed.
* LoveBeforeFirstSight: The in-game two-part novel "Palla" is an example. The story's narrator falls in love with Pal La after seeing a statue of her fighting the monster that ultimately killed her; being a necromancer, he sets about the monumental task of bringing Pal La back to life, so they can live happily and in love ever after. [[spoiler: He finally succeeds, but before he can join his beloved, he finds out that Pal La was the monster. Who is happy to meet him]].
* LowLevelAdvantage: Generally averted in the game, but there is one Imperial Cult quest where you will get a better reward if a certain skill is below level 40. (Specifically, your blunt weapon skill.)
* LowLevelRun: Possible by abusing the game-breaking Alchemy exploit. Because the game is paused when the player stopped to brew potions, the player can brew an INT boosting potion that lasts a short time, drink it, and then immediately brew another potion that provides an even greater bonus (as alchemy stat bonuses are affected by your INT stat), and it would stack to absurd levels until you can create a potion that restored your entire health pool many times over each second for a real-life hour. This then allows the player to wield the Tools of Kagrenac, Keening and Sunder, without Wraithguard, the protective gauntlet needed to use them. (Otherwise, the tools quickly drain the health of the wielder.) By doing this, it's possible to complete the game's main quest in under 10 minutes.
* LuckStat: The Luck attribute. It affects the success rate of everything you do, from hitting attacks, to lockpicking, to creating potions, and a lot else.
* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Almalexia has the gold skin of a Chimer with red hair. [=NPCs=] of races with darker skin tones can also have red hair. This is a character creation option for the PC as well.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: The quest to cure Vampirism plays out like this. Molag Bal will only remove the affliction if you kill his daughter, Molag Grunda, who is on Mundus "dating" a lowly Frost Atronach. (Since you can't actually "kill" a daedra, this will merely send her back to Oblivion to await Bal's punishment.)
* DaylightHorror: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Dhaunayne Aundae (the Ancient of the Aundae clan of vampires.) She sends you to kill a vampire hunter in the city of Ald'ruhn... in broad daylight, as a message that not even the light of the sun will protect enemies of the vampires.
* DaywalkingVampire: Averted by the Vvardenfell strand of vampires, as they'll actually burn when exposed to the light of the sun. The above mentioned quest is one of the rare exceptions.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Sotha Sil]].
* DeadCharacterWalking: A particular glitch (substituting a torch or lockpick for a weapon in mid-swing) has the unusual effect of reducing the target to 1 hp but making them immune to all further damage.
* DeadlyDustStorm: There are dust storms in the areas set close to the island's volcano, and they were originally planned to give the player the Blight disease if he wandered into them without a proper protection, but this feature is not present in the final release. They do limit your range of view and walking speed, however.
* DeadpanSnarker: In ''The Horror of Castle Xyr'', which you actually have a chance to perform in the Tribunal expansion:
-->'''Anara:''' ''Please, serjo, go wherever you want. We got nothing to hide. We're loyal Imperial subjects.''
-->'''Clavides:''' ''As, I hear, are all [[EvilSorcerer Telvanni]].''
-->''(Note from the playwright: this line should be delivered without sarcasm. Trust the audience to laugh -- it never fails, regardless of the politics of the locals.)''
* DeathMountain - Red Mountain is this mixed with {{Mordor}}.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The reason that Morrowind did not historically have the presence of Dragons? They were driven out by ''Cliff Racers''... Yes, those weak but hideously annoying creatures that are the bane of players everywhere were able to drive out powerful Aedric (angelic) beings who could command elements into existence with a few words simply through numbers and persistence.
* DeathSeeker - Umbra, who doubles as a BloodKnight. To say nothing of how BadAss he proves himself to be in a close-up fight.
* DebugRoom: Several.
** "Clutter Warehouse - Everything Must Go!" It's an area only accessible via console commands. It was used by the developers to speed up world creation. Since certain arrangements of furniture and items (such as plates on tables and bottles on shelves) are very common in the world, but take a long time to put together, they have been assembled in this area where they can be copied and pasted to where they are needed.
** "Character Stuff Wonderland" A secret room used by the developers for testing which is accessible only through the console. It contains almost all of the armor and weapons in the game and is guarded by some high level monsters.
** "Todd Test" A debug room used by the developers and accssible only through the console. When the player enters the room, a large light brown bowl is seen. This bowl, when activated, will make the player super strong and give him/her necessary items and spells to test various parts of the game. It will also infect the player with Porphyric Hemophilia (Berne variety). There are five leveled beasts, a Steam Centurion and six [=NPCs=], three of whom are Ordinators. There are also multiple treasure chests containing one piece of nearly every item found in the game (Artifacts not included). The room is a copy of the Puzzle Canal underneath Vivec's palace, without the water. Installing Bloodmoon will also add three chests for items only found in that expansion. Several quest items may be found here- there is a chest containing all the books in the game, which can be used to complete quests such as the Telvanni Stronghold quest where you are ordered to find the 'unique' book Secrets of Dwemer Animunculi. You can also find the Bittercup and Azura's Star containing the soul of an Ogrim on a table near the back of the room.
** "Mark's Vampire Test Cell" Another room used by the developers and only accessible via console. It contains two vampires and a bed, presumably for testing the Vampire process and dreams.
* DegradedBoss: Ascended Sleepers. Various named Dagoths encountered in the latter half of the main quest are modified Ascended Sleepers, but they're actually ''downgraded'' from the normal enemy (which only shows up at extremely high levels - it is in fact the highest leveled non-unique monster in the game).
* DemBones: Unsurprisingly, skeletons of varying strengths are favored creations of necromancers, and can be found patrolling many ruins and caves. Bonewalkers are another, but are still rather fleshy.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Normally, if you kill a leader of a Great House, you will offend all of them, making it impossible to be named Hortator of that house and breaking the most straightforward way to finish the main plot. However, House Telvanni practices KlingonPromotion, which means that if you are a member of the house, then kill ''all the other leaders'', you will not be expelled; instead, the game gives you a journal entry in which you dryly note that as the last surviving chancellor of House Telvanni, you have appointed yourself Telvanni Hortator.
* DialogueTree: You can choose what to talk about with [=NPCs=] in a dialogue tree, including "Lore", "Background", and "Race". NPC responses on one topic can contain the names of topics new to the player, allowing the player to select those new topics in dialogue with any NPC having a response to that topic. Certain classes (and individuals) have more responses available: priests will talk about the gods, and savants will talk about pretty much everything in the game, leading to their FanNickname of "Walking Encyclopedias". Additionally, some topics are region-based, and will appear in a given NPC's dialogue tree because they had spawned in that region of the game world.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu - Counting the expansions, the player ends up killing three or four gods.
* DifficultySpike: A big one from the end of the main game into the expansions. ''Bloodmoon'' especially, because even the local wildlife on Solstheim rivals the strength of enemies inside of the Ghostfence on Vvardenfell. Also beware if you start a new game after installing ''Tribunal,'' as a Dark Brotherhood assassin may spawn at any time when you sleep. The assassins do [[LevelScaling level scale]], but even the lowest leveled ones will be a major challenge for a brand new character.
* DimensionalTraveler: Divayth Fyr, ancient Telvanni wizard extraordinaire, is one according to the in game book [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Doors_of_Oblivion The Doors of Oblivion]]. Fyr is one of the few "mortals" who can freely travel between the realms of the [[PhysicalGod Daedra]].
* DiscOneFinalDungeon - Ilunibi has shades of this. It's a vast, sprawling underground dungeon where you will likely face the strongest enemies you have encountered to that point (if you've stuck to the main quest.) It even has its own DiscOneFinalBoss who [[spoiler: gives you the corprus disease and sets the next part of the main quest in motion.]]
** DiscOneFinalBoss - [[spoiler: Dagoth Gares]] takes up residence here.
* DiscOneNuke - The combination of WideOpenSandbox and AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair means that a thorough and/or experienced player can, in many cases, equip themselves with upper-end gear at little or no risk. In a few cases a (cheap) Levitate potion, a nearby key, or a decent Security skill are needed, but little else.
** In a few cases an upper-end item is owned by a relatively weak and non-hostile NPC - if you know [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential who to murder]], you can get unique and powerful items. The Amulet of Shadows makes you nearly invisible for a decent amount of time and is found on a lone archer in the wilderness. The Masque of Clavicus Vile makes everybody like you (in addition to being fine head protection) and can be found on a relatively low-level wizard if you can slip past his guards.
** A character straight off the boat can acquire a Daedric (the best non-artifact grade of equipment) weapon of whatever type he or she favors by setting foot, however briefly, in the Vassir-Didanat Mine (see AbandonedMine) and then tracking down Hlaalu councilor Dram Bero to report the mine's location. He will reward you with your choice in Daedric weaponry. The only true obstacle is the locked door that must be picked (or opened by a spell) to get to Bero.
** Due to a design decision to let buyers of the expansion set start the new content immediately, Dark Brotherhood assassins added by the ''Tribunal'' expansion may show up at any time to kill you in your sleep. This can even happen to brand new starting character. If you manage to defeat one (tricky, but possible for a starting character, because they scale according to your level) you can loot the corpse for an excellent set of light armor and a useful short blade. If you aren't using light armor, the gear is also worth several hundred gold (more useful, in some ways, than the best stuff because it's easier to find a merchant who can afford it.)
* DispelMagic: Exists as a spell and effect. When used, it will immediately end all magical effects on the target.
* DisposingOfABody: An option whenever you are looting a non-permanent corpse. Doing so will move all items in the corpse's inventory to yours and the body will vanish. (Exactly how you dispose of it is left up to your imagination.)
* DisproportionateRetribution - Unlike regular crimes (see EasilyForgiven), there are ways to get all the Ordinators howling for your blood forever. The first is to mention the Nerevarine Prophecy to them - that makes you a heretic. The other is to be wearing the armor of their Order, which is sacrilege to them.
* DoesNotLikeMen: Telvanni Councilor Mistress Dratha. Exactly ''why'' she hates men is never explained, but it is her defining trait nonetheless. Her town of Tel Mora is staffed entirely by female retainers and merchants and completing the main quest as a male Nerevarine requires you to either beg at her feet for her support or kill her. (She'll support a female Nerevarine with no questions asked and even gives her several powerful summoning scrolls.)
* DomesticatedDinosaurs: Guars are vaguely therapod-like dinosaurids, about the size of a cow, which the native Dunmer farm for their hides and use as beasts of burden.
* {{Doorstopper}}
** All of the [[InGameNovel readable books]] in the game all add up to about 1500 pages of material.
** The strategy guide for the Game of the Year addition is roughly the size of a Bible. It contains incredible amounts of details about character creation, game mechanics, locations, quests, items, factions, backstory, and just about everything else there is to do in the game.
* DoorToBefore: Averted for most dungeons and other such locations in the game. You'll need to trek back the long way if you want to get out, or use a teleportation spell.
* DoubleSpeak: The Morag Tong operatives insist that they do not perform "assassinations," rather, they perform "honorable executions." Given that they are the high-class, honorable assassins in contrast to the gangly, thuggish Cammona Tong and the treacherous Dark Brotherhood, they do manage to keep a higher moral ground.
* DownerEnding: For Morrowind itself, caused by HappyEndingOverride. [[spoiler:As ''Oblivion'' and tie-in novels reveal, as a result of the player's actions the Tribunal are missing, the Ministry of Truth lost its power source and resumed its interrupted crash onto Vivec City, and that impact caused Red Mountain to erupt, destroying most of Vvardenfell. Then the Argonians came in and what few Dunmer couldn't flee were slain.]] [[BittersweetEnding But on the bright side]], for the rest of Tamriel, thanks to the Nerevarine, the world isn't a Blighted landscape ruled by an insane PhysicalGod riding a HumongousMecha. You may not have saved [[spoiler:Morrowind]] but you did save the rest of the world.
* DownloadableContent: In addition to the two expansion packs, there are several small pieces of DLC which are offered for free on the official site. This includes several rare armor pieces and weapons (Area Effect Arrows, Helm of Tohan, [=LeFemme Armor=] and Adamantium Armor), two mini-quests (Master Index and Siege at Firemoth) and an ambient sounds pack.
* DownTheDrain: You'll spend quite a bit of time questing in the sewers beneath Vivec and Mournhold. Though they're both justified cases of AbsurdlySpaciousSewer, they still contain the usual hazards of diseased creatures, being dark, and watery areas that can be hard to get back out of.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Haggling is a gameplay mechanic when dealing with merchants. The item's intrinsic value, condition, the disposition of the merchant, and the player's Mercantile skill all play parts when buying/selling items. Making an offer that gets rejected by the merchant will actually lower that merchant's disposition, forcing the player to make a slightly more generous offer next time or break off the negotiation and try to sweet-talk them again. The Mercantile skill is also bugged. After the skill gets to 50, any further increases will actually make haggling ''more'' difficult.
* TheDragon: Dagoth Gares to Dagoth Ur.
* DreamIntro / DreamingOfThingsToCome
** The opening cutscene is a dream the PlayerCharacter is having before being awakened on the prison ship. In it, you see various landscapes of Vvardenfell and receive some cryptic guidance from a mysterious woman, who eventually turns out to be the Daedric Prince Azura.
** When vampirism is first contracted, it will be a trivial common disease for 3 days until it becomes full-blown and incurable. If you rest at any point during this time, you'll have dreams about becoming a vampire (which is a clue that you are infected, in case you missed it when you acquired the infection.)
* DryCrusader: Played with by Antonius Nuncius, the priest at Fort Frostmoth in ''Bloodmoon''. [[spoiler: It turns out he doesn't actually have a moral issue with alcohol, but he's hiding the shipments to the fort in the hopes of sparking a rebellion among the troops so that he can be reassigned to somewhere more hospitable than Solstheim.]]
* DudeWheresMyReward: Master Neloth of House Telvanni gives a quest to retrieve the Robe of Drake's Pride from the servant of another House Telvanni councilor. Killing the servant is the only way to get the robe, and you'll need to taunt her into attacking you first to prevent being expelled from House Telvanni. She turns out to be a moderately powerful spell caster, and the robe gives her several advantages when fighting magic users, which your character likely is if you've advanced in House Telvanni. After you take the robe back to Neloth, he'll reward you with...ten septims. The robe itself is worth 205, and has several enchantments a magic using character would enjoy.
* DuelToTheDeath: Several occur throughout the various questlines in the game. See GladiatorSubquest below for examples which take place in Vivec's arena.
* DugTooDeep: The Dwemer in the backstory. They dug deep beneath Red Mountain, uncovering the Heart of Lorkhan which would eventually be the downfall of their race.
* DummiedOut: Naturally, there are a few things that had to be left out with a game this large.
** The Blight was originally going to be an expanding threat over time, but had to be left out due to technological limitations
** Dagoth Ur and the Sixth House were originally joinable by the player. This had to be left out due to time restrictions.
** Exploration of the Construction Set files reveals several quests that were cut from the game with no real explanation.
*** Hrundi of the Fighter's Guild had a quest for the player to eliminate a lesser Dagoth that didn't make it into the final game.
*** An early Imperial Legion quest has the player rescuing an Orc tax collector from a reclusive Telvanni mage. Another quest was going to have the player actually collect the taxes.
*** Another Legion quest has you searching for a specific set of Dwemer blueprints, but was removed.
*** Two quests, one for House Telvanni and one for the Morag Tong, sent the player to "forcefully retire" Master Neloth. [[spoiler: Perhaps they already knew that Neloth would be appearing in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim a later game in the series]]?]]
*** One Thieves Guild quest had the player stealing a mission report from the Ordinators, but was removed.
*** In true Bethesda fashion, there is a quest which was only ''partly'' removed, potentially causing issues: There was going to be a Legion quest to acquire the plans to Anumidium. The dialogue to acquire the quest is properly blocked off, and the journal entries can't trigger... but the ''completion'' of the quest is only partly removed, so if you bring the plans to the general who would have given you the mission and speak to him about Anumidium you block off the rest of his quests.
** There are several items and objects in the game that seem like they should have a purpose, but do not. Many were likely intended for use in a quest that never made it into the game. For example:
*** There is an alchemy ingredient called "bloat," which can be purchased from merchants or found in random crates. Where bloat comes from is never explained in-game—-but the level editor reveals an unused "bloat spore" plant that was supposed to produce them, but was never placed in-game. Several mods out there deal with this, ranging from placing them in several swampy areas to working them into a House Telvanni quest line as being in a bloat mine.
*** You can find a fountain called the "Pool of Forgetfulness." Players have frustratedly tried to get it to do something, but it apparently does nothing. Perhaps the developers simply forgot about it?
*** To defeat the [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]], players need two special weapons called Sunder and Keening, which are being guarded by the Dagoth Ur's higher-ranked minions. The data files of the game reveal a phony look-alike of Sunder, and a voice file for the Dagoth Ur taunting you when you try to kill him with it. These were never included in-game.
*** "The Wings of the Queen of Bats", Morrowind's Infinity Plus One Axe, isn't actually in the game, but can be obtained through cheat codes or modding the game.
*** Morrowind also has a version of Azura's Star that can be used as a shuriken, but the final game replaces it with a Soul Gem.
** There is a faction in the game files called "Imperial Knights", complete with full rank progression (this isn't actually necessary for a faction to have) and relations to other factions. What it doesn't have is ''any'' members or ways of joining it.
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** There are no Trolls in ''Morrowind'', but there is Trollbone Armor. The helmets (which are hollowed out Troll skulls,) have three eye-sockets, just as trolls had from ''Oblivion'' onward.
** Each of the expansions gives a taste of what is coming up in the next two games in the series.
*** The ''Tribunal'' expansion could be seen as a sneak peek of what ''Oblivion'' would be like, since the city of Mournhold bears many similarities to the Imperial City: Multiple districts in closed-off cells as opposed to being in the same cell as the surrounding wilderness, an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer down below, the presence of Goblins, Liches, and the Dark Brotherhood in full-force, no Levitation, and even Royal Guards in plate armor, which was how the Imperial Legion would be portrayed throughout the next game. There's even {{Foreshadowing}} of the Oblivion Crisis at one point in the questline.
*** Solstheim in the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion is essentially a cameo for ''Skyrim'' two games in the future. It's snowy, full of Nords, werewolves, spriggans and mead, all things that show up in ''Skyrim'' prominently. (Solstheim itself then shows up again as the setting for the ''Dragonborn'' expansion to ''Skyrim''.)
* EarlyGameHell: Things are very hellish for a while after leaving the [[EasingIntoTheAdventure easy-going]] [[FirstTown starting town]] of Seyda Neen. Even the standard local wildlife will be a challenge until you increase your skills and acquire better equipment, and anything stronger will serve as a BeefGate. It's encouraged to complete first few assignments in the main quest, as well as the first few missions for the local guilds, as these are largely easier quests and are rewarding enough to purchase training and the aforementioned better equipment. Progression is largely lopsided, however, and once you start increasing in levels, you'll go from schmuck to god-slayer very quickly.
* EarthDrift: For the series, ''Morrowind'' has by far the most alien setting.
* EasingIntoTheAdventure: Probably the best example out of the series, since it is the only one without a true starter/tutorial dungeon you must escape. You simply get off a boat, pick your name, race, class, and birthsign, then get released into a very easy-going starting village. Even the quests you can pick up there and the nearby enemies are extremely easy. [[EarlyGameHell Once you leave that town, however...]]
* EasilyForgiven: Comes up a lot.
** Minor crimes result in the guards demanding that you pay on the spot. More serious stuff may have you living on the run until you can find somebody (often Thieves' Guild) who can, for a substantial fee, make your wanted status 'go away'. But once it does, it never crosses anybody's mind that you might go out and commit more crimes. This is discussed in certain dialogue trees: the money from the fines the guards charge criminals go to the victim of the crime/their surviving family, and if the crime was enough they'll often hire the Morag Tong (a legal assassins' guild) to kill the criminal. However, no one ever sends them against you...
** In the rare event that you are expelled from House Telvanni, rejoining is as simple as talking to a [[QuestGiver Mouth]] and asking to be reinstated. Given that the Telvanni have practically no rules to break, even getting expelled in the first place is a challenge.
** House Redoran will also forgive your expulsion with a simple apology, but only once. Break the rules again and you're out for good.
* {{Egopolis}}: Played straight for the Tribunal deities Vivec and Sotha Sil, who each created their own namesake cities. Averted for Almalexia, who instead chose to settle in the pre-existing capital of Morrowind, Mournhold.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Dozens of caves and grottos exist in the game, some of which get quite elaborate, and are usually home to smugglers, bandits, or worse. Dunmer Ancestral Tombs and Dwemer ruins are also typically build into the ground.
* ElvesVersusDwarves: Prominent in the backstory, though with the "dwarves" in this case being a sub-race of elves known as the Dwemer, in the ''Elder Scrolls'' tradition. Nerevar rose to prominence when he managed to unite the two races in an EnemyMine to drive out the invading Nords who threatened both races.
* EmpathicEnvironment: Since his return to a physical form, Red Mountain has been encased in a permanent Blight storm, which spreads the blight and corprus diseases. [[spoiler: After his defeat, clear skies will be seen over Red Mountain for the first time in centuries.]]
* EmpathicWeapon: The in-universe explanation for why so many legendary artifacts keep finding new masters. The blade Umbra, in particular, is said to have a mind of it's own which takes over the mind of it's wielder until s/he is slain, and it finds a new wielder. Several Daedric artifacts are also said to have natures like this, leaving their bearers when that person begins to abuse the artifact, or becomes too reliant on the artifact.
* TheEmperor: A benevolent one is described but [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen not shown,]] since the game takes place far from the Imperial City.
* EmptyLevels: The leveling system is based on a few of your major/minor skills increasing, but the stat increases are tied to all skills that use that attribute. The result is that if you didn't remember to train your miscellaneous skills in between leveling from using major skills, you could end up with a character with a high level but pitiful attributes. The most effective builds end up tagging many of the least used (or at least hardest to level) skills as primary ones, so that you wont "accidentally" level and cheat yourself out of attribute bonuses.
* EndOfAnAge: After ruling over for Dunmer people for some 4000 years, the main quest ends with the Tribunal losing their divinity. ''Tribunal'' then ends with [[spoiler: two members of the Tribunal dead]].
* EnemyChatter: Through use of stealth, it is possible to initiate conversation with normally hostile-on-sight enemies. Most, like the corprus monsters, just babble incoherently, but some of the stronger ones, such as the ash vampires, have some amusing chatter - among other things, inviting the player for a drink before the fight (from which you actually gain a bottle of the rare and valuable Dagoth brandy.)
* EnemyDetectingRadar: Various "Detect" spells exist and, when used, have the effect of causing enemies to show up on the mini-map.
* AnEntrepreneurIsYou:
** Beyond the standard treasure hunting business of a freelance adventurer, you can put your item crafting skills into great use by making items to sell. Potions and enchantments are two highly profitable ventures. Additionally, many merchants sell damaged weapons and pieces of armor for for less than the items are worth in pristine condition. Buying them, fixing them up via the Armorer skill, and re-selling them can be very profitable.
** ''Bloodmoon'' brings the East Empire Company questline of building up the ebony mining colony of Raven Rock. You get to choose the types of services available and get to pick where to build your own "Factor's Estate" mansion.
** After completing a few side quests, you get the opportunity to run the Thirsk mead hall. You can return every few days to collect your share of the profits.
* EpicFail: The sorcerer Inwold was hired by some smugglers operating out of Palansour to summon Daedra to use as muscle. However, his Ogrim and Scamps got out of control, killed all of the smugglers, and left Inwold imprisoned in nothing but a skirt and a hat ([[AndYourRewardIsClothes which he offers you for freeing him.]])
* EscapeRope: The Divine and Almsivi Intervention spells. When used, they teleport the player to the nearest Imperial or Tribunal Temple shrine, respectively. They're good for making a quick escape in a sticky situation or, perhaps more commonly, transporting more loot that you could otherwise carry.
* EscortMission: Quite a few. The combined ArtificialStupidity and SuicidalOverconfidence of your followers will drive you crazy. You'll be thankful when you have the ability to tell the follower to "wait here" while you run ahead and clear out the path ahead, but that isn't always an option...
* EternalEngine: The {{Steampunk}} machinery in Dwemer ruins is still running some 4000 years after their disappearance. (Justified, as they were known to tinker with the laws of time in order to preserve their creations for a long, long time.)
* EternalEnglish: In the Cavern of the Incarnate, the player will encounter the ghosts of the "failed incarnates," who thought that they were the Nerevarine but were killed before they could fulfill the prophecy. They are each Dunmer from different time periods, yet the player is able to communicate with them all without issue.
* EveryoneIsBi: When using the Admire option in conversation, your part of the dialogue is never seen, but the NPC's responses are, and more often than not they seem to be a response to a pick-up line or a suggestion.
* EverythingFades: Corpses are set to disappear after 3 in-game days have passed. They can also be disposed of immediately by the player while looting them.
* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: The main game isn't too bad with this, as there are at least some enemies that are non-hostile unless you attack them and deadly terrain features (steep falls, lava pits, etc.) are generally easy to avoid. However, ''Bloodmoon'' cranks this way up. You can't travel one map square without facing a pack of 8 wolves, 2 plague bears, a snow bear, 2 Fryse Hags, a Berserker... And due to the nature of the East Empire Company quests only becoming available every couple of days, the local wildlife ''WILL'' respawn as you wait.
* EvilCounterpart: The Camonna Tong to the Thieves Guild. The Dark Brotherhood to the Morag Tong. House Telvanni is regarded as this in comparison to the Mages Guild by most Imperial factions.
* EvilPlan: [[spoiler:Almalexia's]] plot.
* EvilSorcerer: You don't have to be one to join House Telvanni, but Evil Sorcerers thrive there due to its [[MightMakesRight lenient code]] [[KlingonPromotion of conduct.]]
* EvilWeapon: Umbra, a massively powerful soul-stealing blade crafted by an evil witch. It has the nasty habit of driving it's owners into becoming insane [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]].
* EvilerThanThou: The Dark Brotherhood versus the Morag Tong. Both are MurderInc, but the Morag Tong is government contracted and has a strict code of ethics, while the Dark Brotherhood is comprised of AxCrazy criminals who practice a ReligionOfEvil. Ditto, to a lesser degree, for the Thieves Guild and the Camonna Tong: the former has a strict code of ethics as well and favors clean, stealthy burglary and smooth talking, while the latter is made of xenophobic thugs who just kill and plunder.
* EvolvingMusic: ''Morrowind's'' main theme, "Nerevar Rising," has been remixed and used for every main series game since.
* ExcaliburInTheRust: A thorough player may stumble upon a unique "Rusty Dagger" with pitiful stats and that will break after a single hit. However, return it to a specific shrine to Mehrunes Dagon, and the [[GodOfEvil Daedric Prince of Destruction]] will restore it to it's true, ''powerful'' glory.
* ExpansionPackWorld: ''Bloodmoon'' adds the island of Solstheim to Tamriel.
* ExponentialPotential: There are over 100 obtainable spells in the game which use or combine over 100 spell effects all broken down into 6 schools of magic. Get into customized spells, Alchemy, and Enchantment and number of magical possibilities becomes near-infinite.
* ExpospeakGag: "Council of Mages without Digits within Bowels".
* ExtremeOmnivore: The player can eat things such as leprous meat, diamonds, poisonous mushrooms, raw hearts, human flesh, ashes of burned vampires, and animal hides, with varying effects. If you aren't going to carry it with you, you might as well, since partaking makes you better at alchemy on the premise that experiencing their alchemical properties will increase your knowledge on their effects. Particularly jarring with Dwemer scrap metal and ebony ore, since we're talking about wolfing down ten pounds of metal or twenty pounds of rock.
* EyelessFace: Ash Zombies and Ash Ghouls, both lesser minions of the Sixth House. Ash Zombies have had the entire upper section of their faced gouged out. Ash Ghouls have some sort of proboscis sticking out.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: A House Redoran quest has you convincing another member of the house to do this via a duel to the death in the arena. He will almost certainly die (unless you aid him from a distance.)
* FaceDesignShield: The Orcish shield and both varieties of Daedric shield sport nasty looking face designs.
* FallenHero: Depending on [[TheRashomon which version of Nerevar's life]] you believe, Dagoth Ur. Also, [[spoiler:Almalexia]].
* FameGate: More like a [[DungeonBypass Fame Bypass/Backdoor]]: Normally, you need to visit all Great House nobles and Ashlander chiefs to convince them that you are TheMessiah, and only then will the CorruptChurch listen to your claims. But if you are already famous enough (at least level 20, with at least 50 Reputation,) the archcanon will grant you a meeting immediately, allowing you to skip what would otherwise be a very long quest.
* FanRemake: Multiple comprehensive efforts have been made to modernize the game. The Morrowind Overhaul is a complete collection of texture, mesh and gameplay updates for the existing game. Morroblivion is a mostly complete mod that imports Morrowind into the Oblivion engine while Skywind is an ongoing effort to import Morrowind into the Skyrim engine. [=OpenMW=] is an ongoing project to recreate Morrowind's engine.
* FantasticDrug: A few.
** Moon Sugar, which is similar in appearance and effect to real world cocaine. And Skooma, a drink made from refined Moon Sugar. Both are illegal in the Empire and if you have any in your possession, most merchants will outright refuse to do business with you. ([[FailedASpotCheck You can easily just set the drug on the counter in front of them, transact your business, and then pick the drug right back up with no repercussions.]])
** Hackle-Lo Leaf shares some similarities with tobacco and Coca leaves. It is chewed by the natives for a boost of energy, and can be chewed by the player (or brewed into a potion) to restore Fatigue.
* FantasticHonorifics: A slight variation on the gender-neutral "ser" version: The Dunmer use "sera", "muthsera" and "serjo", in increasing order of politeness.
* FantasticRacism: Being an Outlander in Morrowind is a bad thing, there are multiple words for it, N'wah and Swit are just two slurs used. You will also occasionally be insulted for your race in a fashion befitting what form of human, lizard, cat, elf you are. Even if you're a Dark Elf you won't be liked because you're not a native.
** That last one has a bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation to it. While you are told that this is the case, playing as a Dunmer will still get you the standard +10 disposition increase with members of the same race even if they are native Dunmer.
* FantasticRankSystem: Every guild and faction in the game has their own set. Details of each are available on the trope page.
* FantasticSlurs: The Dunmer have a few. "Swit" seems to be the least offensive, and is used similarly to calling someone "a shit" or "bitch." "Fetcher" is the next step up, being a derogatory term for a slave seemingly mixed with the "f-word." "N'wah" is at the top of the list, being an incredibly offensive term for a foreigner, along the lines of the "n-word."
* FantasyCounterpartCulture - Imperials are the Romans, Nords are Vikings, and the Dark Elves bear an extremely strong resemblance to the biblical Israelites/Jews, starting with the Abraham/Moses hybrid Veloth and all the way down to the Nerevarine/Messiah prophecies producing lots of wannabes during an occupation by a powerful foreign empire.
* FantasyMetals: Two types are prominently mined in Vvardenfell.
** Ebony is a dark grayish/brownish/purplish mineral with some characteristics of volcanic glass. It's extremely dense, worth more than gold when used as bullion, and forges into some of the most powerful weapons and heavy armor available in Tamriel. Trade of ebony is strictly regulated by the Empire, meaning that a permit to mine Ebony is extremely valuable to any organization in Morrowind that can get one. (Several faction quests involve sabotaging the ebony mines of political rivals via, for instance, igniting a slave uprising.) Lore scholars have long theorized that ebony may in fact be the petrified blood of the dead creator god Lorkhan, as it's greatest deposits are near Red Mountain where Lorkhan's heart fell from the sky.
** Glass is a lightweight greenish mineral which, like ebony, sees its trade also tightly controlled by the Empire. It can also be forged into some fantastic weapons and one of the best light armors available in Tamriel.
* FashionableAsymmetry: As each piece of armor (with the exception of boots) can be equipped individually, some [=NPCs=] wear mismatched sets of pauldrons and gauntlets, leading to this effect. The player is also free to engage in this.
* FastForwardMechanic: The wait and rest features. Waiting can be done anywhere that enemies are not present, but does not restore your health or magicka, nor allow you to level up. Resting must be done in a bed or in the wilderness, but will restore your health/magicka and must be done in order to level up.
* FateWorseThanDeath: What the Tribunal Temple considers Vampirism, regardless of what the Vampire him/herself may think. It's why they consider death as the only "cure" for the disease.
** The non-Sixth House victims of the Corprus disease. In essence, it combines the effects of leprosy, cancer, and dementia. The two "positive" effects of the disease are that you stop aging and become immune to all other diseases. Combine these, and your only hope for relief once the disease has advanced is to be killed mercifully.
* FauxSymbolism: {invoked} [[http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-thirty-six-lessons-vivec-sermon-one The 36 Lessons of Vivec]]. They are a series of 36 books, supposedly penned by the man-god himself. (Game writer Michael Kirkbride is the real life author.) In them, he uses oodles of biblical imagery to make sure that, if you take it seriously, there is NO WAY a person could see Vivec as anything less than the absolute god of The Elder Scrolls universe (which, of course, isn't necessarily true). Doubles with BreakingTheFourthWall, {{Anvilicious}}, TropesAreNotBad, and GettingCrapPastTheRadar with a sprinkling of InJoke.
* FetchQuest: About half the quests in the game it would seem. Some are easy ("Go down the street and purchase a ceramic bowl") while others are a bit more challenging ("Acquire the InfinityMinusOneSword from a hostile, high-level mage.") The game will even invert this on occasion by having you ''deliver'' an item or supplies to a remote location instead.
* FictionalDocument: [[http://www.imperial-library.info/books/morrowind/by-category Loads and loads of them]] that you can simply pick up and read. Some advance the plot, some fill in the {{Backstory}}, and some are just entertaining short stories.
* FighterMageThief:
** The Fighters' Guild, Mages' Guild, and Thieves' Guild are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Exactly What They Say On The Tin]]; the three Great Houses each represent a different archetype: Redoran (Fighter), Telvanni (Mage) and Hlaalu (Thief), and even the three vampire clans represent a different archetype: Quarra (Fighter), Aundae (Mage) and Berne (Thief). This can cause a degree of GameplayAndStorySegregation, especially for magic-oriented characters: from a gameplay perspective, it makes sense to join the Guild/House/Clan that match your character's skills, but in-story many of the factions are opposed to each other (House Telvanni and the Mages' Guild have something of a cold war situation going on, even though you can become head of both at the same time).
** Present in the three members of the Tribunal. Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec fit the Fighter, Mage, and Thief archetypes, respectively.
* FirstTown: Seyda Neen is the town where the player starts, gets initial quests, and acquires his/her first set of equipment. However, Balmora (the second town visited if following the main quest) fits the "central location" part of the trope as there is far more to do there and many reasons to keep coming back to it.
* FiveFingerDiscount: Possible and even encouraged for players in the Thieves Guild. See KleptomaniacHero below for more.
* FiveManBand - During the war between the Chimer and the Dwemer, we had this on the Chimer side:
** TheHero: Nerevar
** TheLancer: Vivec
** TheSmartGuy: Sotha Sil
** TheChick: Almalexia
** TheBigGuy: Voryn Dagoth
* FlatCharacter: Most of the hundreds of {{NPC}}s don't do much but walk back-and-forth (and some not even that) all day and dispense already-known exposition and rumors when spoken to. Fans call them "walking information kiosks."
* FlavorEquipment: There is some extremely low-end gear available which most players will pass over without a second thought. In particular, there are the Chitin weapons. The Chitin dagger, for instance, is even worse than the Iron dagger which you can pick up for free during character generation. It exists mostly to give the Ashlanders a unique form of weaponry. Chitin armor on the other hand is actually fairly decent early-game light armor, putting Netch Leather and Nordic Fur armor into this category. You can buy a (relatively inexpensive) almost-full set of the armor from Arielle in [[FirstTown Seyda Neen]]. Even worse are the ''[[JokeItem cloth]]'' bracers. (Think "shirt-sleeve" level of protection and durability...)
* FloatingContinent: The Ministry of Truth, actually a [[WeirdMoon floating]] ''[[WeirdMoon moon]]'', is this same concept. In the backstory, [[MadGod Sheogorath]] hurled it at Vivec city. Vivec, [[PhysicalGod the Tribunal deity]], froze it in time suspended over the city. [[spoiler: In part due to the player's actions during the game, Vivec disappears early in the 4th era, causing the moon to continue its uninterrupted fall with its original momentum, destroying the city and causing Red Mountain to erupt, destroying most of Vvardenfell.]]
* FlowerFromTheMountaintop:
** One side quest has the player looking for 5 unique flowers known as "Rolands Tears." The good news is, it's not exactly inaccessible — it's actually fairly close. The bad news is that it is a Daedric ruin, and Daedric ruins have a reputation as some of the most dangerous places in all Morrowind.
** One quest in ''Bloodmoon'' has the player seeking a Wolfsbane flower. Only one grows in all of Solstheim, on top of large mountain.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Netch are a LivingGasbag species native to Morrowind. They look like giant, floating jellyfish.
* FollowTheWhiteRabbit: There's a sidequest with that, with a white guar.
* ForcedLevelGrinding: There are a few points in the main quest with sudden jumps in difficulty. Luckily, your quest giver generally tells you that you're about to head into a particularly dangerous situation and recommends training and/or buying new equipment to compensate, so these are easy to see coming.
* ForcedTutorial: A very short and subtle one at the beginning of the game where you learn the various controls and menus during character creation. It can actually be taken advantage of in order to steal multiple valuable items with no repercussions. (See KleptomaniacHero for more.)
* ForeheadOfDoom: A lot of Nord women in this game have it, particularly Heddvild in Balmora.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "In the waning years of the Third Era of Tamriel, a prisoner born on a certain day to uncertain parents was sent under guard, without explanation, to Morrowind, ignorant of the role he was to play in that nation's history." [[spoiler: By the end of the game, you are ''still'' ignorant of the role you were to play, i.e. that you've indirectly caused Morrowind's destruction.]]
** The very first sound you will hear when loading the game, even before the main menu appears, is the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWuNf4gxwuM rumble of a beating heart.]]
** The local Nords of Solstheim are a bit peeved that the Raven Rock mine was built on an ancient burial mound. When Raven Rock is revisited two games later, guess what the player finds in the mine?
** One quest in ''Bloodmoon'' has you rescuing the "friend" of a seer, Geilir the Mumbling. He will reward you for completing the quest by telling you your future. If you complete this quest after completing the ''Bloodmoon'' main quest, he will give you this cryptic fortune:
---> [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion When the dragon dies, the Empire dies. Where is the lost dragon's blood, the Empire's sire? And from the womb of the void, who shall stem the blood tide? So long as the Blood of the Dragon Prince runs strong in her rulers, the glory of the Empire shall extend in unbroken years. His heart's blood bleeds in darkness. For once the portals are opened, who shall shut them upon the rising tide? For Lord Dagon forever reborn in blood and fire from the waters of Oblivion. Find him... and close shut the marble jaws of Oblivion.]] ]]
* ForkFencing: One weapon in the game is the Fork of Horripilation. It's a [[JokeItem pitifully weak weapon]] that drains ''your own magicka'' as you wield it. Of course, it is an artifact of [[MadGod Sheogorath]] and you can trade it in for a much, much better weapon upon completing his quest.
* FounderOfTheKingdom: Lord Indoril Nerevar is treated as this by the Dunmer people as the great unificator of Morrowind. The Tribunal rule in his name ([[TheRashomon even though they very likely may be responsible for his death]]) and he is revered as a saint in the Tribunal Temple.
* FreudianTrio: The members of the tribunal with Almalexia as the id, Vivec the ego, and Sotha Sil the superego.
* FullFrontalAssault: Sixth House Dreamers fight in this fashion, most often using a club or simply their bare fists. If encountered during the day, Solstheim's unaffiliated werewolves will be completely naked [=NPCs=] (who are obviously much easier to kill than when in their night-time forms.) This is also an option for the player should it be chosen.
* FungusHumongous: Tree-sized mushrooms are a common sight in Vvardenfell. Telvanni settlements consist almost exclusively of mushroom houses, and many homes (there and elsewhere) have potted mushrooms as decoration.
* GameBreakingBug: the "Sunder/Keening Bug" which if you have an item that adds attributes to you while wielding and rapidly switch it with another item and back to that item, at enough switching speed the attributes are not removed when unwielding it but instead stacked. You could get insane amounts of attributes. That's how speed runs of less than 5 minutes are possible. The bug was removed in later version though.
** In addition to a number of bugs that could break certain quests, installing ''Bloodmoon'' after ''Tribunal'' would cause a bug with a certain character's dialogue, causing it to loop endlessly and cutting off the rest of the ''Tribunal'' main quest. This bug was thankfully patched.
* GameFavoredGender: Massively [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] overall. A female player character will have a slightly easier time finishing one part of the main quest, as well as when completing another miscellaneous quest not far from the starting village. Conversely, a male player character has access to another miscellaneous quest line that a female player character will not.
* GameMod: Thanks to a strong cult {{fandom}}, a simple but extraordinarily flexible level editor, and over a decade in which they could be developed, there are tens of thousands of ''Morrowind'' mods available on the internet.
* GameplayAllyImmortality: Notably averted, leading to some of the most challenging and frustrating [[EscortMission Escort Missions]] in gaming.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration:
** Ordinators hold their Indorial armor sacred, and consider it blasphemous and punishable by death if someone not of their order wears it. Don't speak to them while wearing it unless you want to have them attack you.
** If you join the Imperial Legion, your superior officers will refuse to speak with you if you are not in uniform.
** Dagoth Ur's growing power works as a form of AntiGrinding. The more you level up, the stronger versions of Ash Creatures you'll have to face in his various strongholds.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** Moon Sugar and Skooma are highly addictive drugs, but the player can consume them will no negative long term consequences.
** It is possible to become the leader of two Guilds or Factions which hate each other. For example, take the Mages Guild and House Telvanni. One quest for the Mages Guild requires you to root out a Telvanni spy within Guild leadership. You can be the Archmagister of House Telvanni, root out the spy who now technically works for you, and be rewarded by the Mages Guild for your good work. Another example, the player may be the Mages Guild Archmage, but if he or she joins House Telvanni, they will have to do a quest to get the Mages Guild's monopoly on magical training dropped.
** Several characters will comment that outlanders are not well liked by the native Dunmer. This supposedly includes foreign-born Dunmer. However, a Dunmer PlayerCharacter will still get the standard +10 "same race" disposition boost when interacting with native Dunmer [=NPCs=].
** The Umbra Sword is described as an evil EmpathicWeapon that slowly corrupts and drives mad the person who wields it. The player can use it for the entire game after earning it and suffer no ill effects.
** One mission during the main quest requires the player to rescue an Argonian being bullied and threatened by racist Dunmer. The Argonian says they refuse to listen to anything he says because of his race. Despite this, the player character can talk to the Dunmer and convince them to leave the Argonian alone, even if the player character is an Argonian him/herself. The racists don't even mention this.
* GargleBlaster: One of Dagoth Ur's top henchmen will offer you a bottle of vintage brandy before you two duke it out. And by "vintage" we mean "brewed so long ago it'll completely sap your Intelligence and Willpower attributes".
* GatelessGhetto: ''Tribunal'' takes place in the city of Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind, which is stated to be massive. However, you're only able to access five sections and the sewers beneath them, [[HandWave supposedly]] because the city is under quarantine from the Blight. Levitation magic is also forbidden by orders of Almalexia in-game (but really, it's because the city is in an [[SkyBox enclosed cell]].) The only way in and out is via teleportation.
* GenderIsNoObject: Gender is purely aesthetic for 99.9% of the game. The only times it matters are some slight differences in starting attributes (small enough to be made up within the first few levels if you choose to do so), for one set of quests in Pelagiad that is only available to male characters, and for one portion of a late-game quest where female characters have easier requirements to finish it and get a slightly bigger bonus for it.
* GenderedOutfit: Initially averted by the game, as the clothing and armor would remain the same in appearance for both genders. After installing ''Tribunal,'' the cuirass for certain armor types (netch leather and steel, amongst others) would change in appearance when equipped to female characters, becoming more form fitting.
* GetOnTheBoat: Inverted at the start of the game, where the player character starts on a boat being transported to the island setting. Other boats are available in the game which provide local transit around the island island
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The 36 sermons of Vivec include, among other things, multiple barely-concealed allegorical descriptions of gay sex between Vivec and the Daedric prince of rape.
* GhostlyChill: In the Sandas Ancestral Tomb you'll find the skeletons of 2 noble guards, you'll find a key on one of the skeletons and a key on a pillar next to the other skeleton which lead to a room and a cursed chest respectively, if you open this chest you'll receive a message saying "You suddenly feel quite cold...". The skeletons become alive and will attack you.
* GiantEnemyCrab: Mudcrabs are a species of crab native to Morrowind, about the size of a large tortoise, and serve as low level enemies along the game's coastal regions.
* GiantMook:
** Dwemer Steam Centurions are large golems made of metal which stand a full head taller than the player character and pack quite a punch when fought.
** Near the end of the ''Tribunal'' main quest, deep inside [[spoiler: Sotha Sil's Clockwork City]], the player will battle the Imperfect, a gigantic machine enemy twice the height of the player character.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: [[spoiler: Karstaag]] feels like this. Unlike the other participants in [[spoiler: Hircine's]] hunt, you don't get to meet him until you have to fight him in in the glacier. [[spoiler: He has a unique model: a giant, four-eyed yeti monster with horns, which is unlike anything else in the game.]] Where he came from or what he actually is never gets discussed in-game. (A popular fan theory from the time stated that he may be a Kamal, one of the Akiviri "snow demons" who staged a failed invasion of Morrowind in the distant past.) [[spoiler: ''Skyrim'' later reveals that Karstaag was a Frost Giant, an offshoot of Giants that are native to a place called The Forgotten Vale. How he got himself to Solstheim? Still a mystery.]]
* GiveMeASword: A Tribunal Temple quest has you visit the shrines of Vivec's virtues. One requires you to reenact a moment when Vivec displayed his courtesy by giving a silver longsword to a Daedra Lord. The other actor in this is a dremora who views the entire thing as demeaning and tedious. He has a chest full of the swords next to him, showing that he has to do this often. He doesn't mind if you take one from the chest and give it to him instead of one brought from the outside.
* GiveMeYourInventoryItem: The ''Tribunal'' expansion has Gaenor, a Bosmer pauper who asks you for increasingly large sums of money (and/or rare items) until he refuses to believe that you'd actually have the cash/item and storms off even if you have the cash. [[spoiler: He then shows up a few days later wearing a full set of one of the most powerful and rare armor sets in the game and tries to kill you - and is nearly invincible due to the armor and his cosmically high Luck score.]]
* GladiatorSubquest: You will need to fight several battles in the Vivec Arena in order to advance through several factions. [[spoiler: In particular, you'll need to do this to achieve guild leader status in the Imperial Legion, House Redoran, and the Mages' Guild. You'll need to battle Dram Bero's champion in order to gain his support in House Hlaalu as well.]]
* GlobalCurrency: The ubiquitous Septim, a simple gold coin. Lampshaded by the Ashlanders, who consider the "settled" people to be fools for trading them useful items in exchange for small chunks of metal with no practical use. Of course, they still accept gold as a form of payment.
* AGodAmI: All three of the Almsivi in the backstory, plus [[spoiler: Dagoth Ur]] to some extent. [[spoiler: Almalexia has this attitude in the expansion.]]
---> [[spoiler: Dagoth Ur]]: "I'm a god! How can you kill a god?"
* AGodIsYou: Notably averted. [[spoiler: Despite coming into the possession of the three tools necessary to become a god in the presence of the Heart of Lorkhan, a godly power source, you are not given the instructions on how to do so. Your only option is to destroy the Heart.]] Not to worry though, as becoming TheAgeless and immune to disease aren't bad consolation prizes.
* GodEmperor:
** While they don't legally count themselves as the emperors, the Dunmer worship the Tribunal, a trio of living, flesh and blood gods. They exert great influence, and each has a royal title, but they aren't officially the government - there's a separate King of Morrowind, who reports to the Emperor. Additionally, the Great Houses retain much of their autonomy as a result of favorable terms in the armistice signed between Morrowind and the Empire.
** Tiber Septim, founder of the current empire, is a more literal example. [[spoiler:A minor character, 'Wulf', can be met late in the game who is actually Tiber Septim - or his avatar - incognito.]]
* GodIsDead: The creator god anyway. There are other gods who are still alive and kicking, some of which die in this game.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: [[spoiler: Almalexia in ''Tribunal.'']] AxeCrazy and [[GoMadFromTheRevelation completely out of her mind]] after [[spoiler: losing her divinity.]]
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Azura and Sheogorath have made a bet about whether or not this is the case using one of Azura's loyal followers as a test subject. Azura's quest given at her shrine sends the player to ensure that Sheogorath doesn't skew the results.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler:Almalexia does ''not'' take the loss of her godhood well.]]
* GoneHorriblyRight: The mage who tried to create a flight spell (and falls from the sky right in front of you) comes to mind. He made tremendously powerful scrolls that boost your jumping ability so that you can leap ''miles...'' but they wear off after three seconds, which means that by the time you're approaching the ground again, you no longer have the power to land safely.
* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: This happens to a miner in Gnisis when a rival steals his pants. He'll reward you if you get them back for him.
* [[TheGoodKing The Good Duke]]: Duke Vedam Dren seems genuinely interested in protecting the people of Vvardenfell, he even says as much when asking him for a construction contract for your stronghold. If the player is in House Hlaalu, the two quests he gives involve getting some overzealous Ordinators to back down and getting his crime boss brother, Orvas, to grant the player control over the Camonna Tong.
* GoodMorningCrono: The game begins with the player being woken up on a ship to Morrowind by another prisoner.
* GoWaitOutside: During Boethiah's quest, it does actually take about two in-game weeks for the sculptor you've hired to complete the statue. You can just Rest/Wait until you get the journal message that the statue is complete, however, you must first leave the building the sculptor is located in, otherwise, the event flag won't trigger and he won't move to the construction site.
* GravityBarrier: Downplayed, as the game attempts this by bracketing many paths with tall hills you can't climb. However, a simple Levitation or Jump spell can still get you over with ease, making them rather trivial barriers at worst.
* GreatOffscreenWar: The "War of the First Council" and "Battle of Red Mountain" thousands of years ago set the stage for the plot of the game. The devout, Daedra-worshipping Chimer and atheistic, scientific Dwemer came into conflict in the land now known as Morrowind. After years of fighting, they were [[EnemyMine forced to team up]] to drive out the invading [[ConflictKiller Nords]]. Their alliance remained under the leadership of Chimeri Lord Indoril Nerevar and Dwemer Dumac Dwarfking, known as the "first council." It was a time of great peace and prosperity for both races. However, the Dwemer DugTooDeep beneath Red Mountain and unearthed the Heart of Lorkhan, the [[GodIsDead creator god.]] Chief Tonal Architect, Lord Kagrenec, crafted tools to tap into the power of the heart, hoping to allow the Dwemer to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence transcend mortality]]. The Chimer, seeing this as a blasphemy against ''their'' gods, attempted to stop the Dwemer, reigniting their war. Forces led by Nerevar and Lord Voryn Dagoth infiltrated the Dwemer Red Mountain stronghold. [[TheRashomon Exactly what happened next is described differently by all the surviving participants]], but the Dwemer disappeared from existence, Nerevar was slain, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal used the tools on the heart to [[AGodAmI achieve godhood]], and Azura cursed the Chimer with dark skin and red eyes, transforming them into the modern Dunmer.
* GreenHillZone: The area directly around the starting town of Seyda Neen. It's relatively peaceful, one of the "greener" areas in Vvardenfell in terms of vegetation, and the toughest enemies you will face at that point are likely mudcrabs and kwama foragers. Subverted with the Grasslands region, which ''appears'' green and peaceful, but is full of rogue ashlanders, blighted critters, and the occasional wandering Daedra.
* GreyAndGreyMorality: The only truly evil people in the game are vampires, the Dark Brotherhood, and [[spoiler:Almalexia]]. The Camonna Tong are pretty close with their ultra-nationalist bigotry. On the other side, very few factions are 'pure good', although House Redoran and the Imperial Cult are generally decent.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: In ''Bloodmoon'', after defeating the Uderfrykte monster, you can loot a "Severed Nord Leg" from it's body. The leg can be wielded as a mediocre blunt weapon.
* GrimUpNorth:
** The Sheogorad region is the northernmost part of Vvardenfell, and short of Red Mountain itself, is one of the most untamed and lawless regions in the land. It has only one major settlement (Dagon Fel, a small Imperial settlement populated mostly by Nords,) but has many bandit caves, ancestral tombs, and necromancer lairs dotting its scattered islands.
** ''Bloodmoon'' adds Solstheim, a mostly frozen and barren hunk of rock inhabited only by the Skaal, treacherous Reiklings, and lots of dangerous wildlife. Only after ebony deposits were discovered there did the Empire start caring about it. The soldiers stationed at Fort Frostmoth and the miners at Raven Rock frequently point out just how miserable it is there.
* GuideDangIt: The main quest is relatively straightforward throughout, but certain side quests qualify. This trope is common in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', but for some this game marks the point at which it stopped becoming a matter of 'replay value' and achieved ridiculous proportions. The game provides an in-world, automatic (not player-entered) journal; unfortunately, many quests and other goals are not recorded in that journal.
** The ''Threads of the Webspinner'' quest requires you to track down 26 items (each boosting one of the games skills). 17 of them are either on [=NPCs=] you are assigned to kill / their guards (or in 1 case, given to you) by the same quest giver, but a few require you to kill random peaceful [=NPCs=] that have no indication that they have them or [=NPCs=] in out-of-the-way dungeons that have no quest at all related to them.
** Another (unmarked) quest involves acquiring [[InfinityPlusOneSword Eltonbrand]]. Let's just say you have better odds of being struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day than you do of acquiring this blade [[GuideDangIt without help.]]
** The propylon chambers, an ancient LostTechnology teleportation network. Using them requires collecting propylon indices, tiny grey cylinders about the size of your thumb; in the vanilla game, the indices are scattered over the entire world with no rationale for where they are, generally just lying in some obscure place with no hints whatsoever, and no indication of what they're for or how to use them if you happen to stumble across one of them. An official add-on adds a collection sidequest that gives you general hints of where to go, but without that finding even ''one'' of them (out of ten) without a guide would be a matter of astronomical luck. (As an example, one of them is [[spoiler:hidden between two crates, in a dark, locked room, in the basement of a temple you have no reason to enter, let alone explore.]] And, to reiterate, the vanilla game barely even gives you any hint that the indices ''exist'', let alone where they are or what they are for.) Presumably, the chambers and indices were originally put into the game as an EasterEgg, not something players were normally expected to figure out.
** The master-level Enchanter trainer, while not something the players need to find, falls under this trope, too. You find him in a dungeon filled with evil enemy wizards who attack you on sight; there's no hint that he's there or anything like that. Oh, and he ''is'' one of the many enemy wizards who attacks you on sight; the only way to get him to train you is to use Calm Humanoid or similar magic to approach him without violence. There is absolutely no indication that he is anyone important or any reason why the player would calm him down and try to talk to him, and if you kill him in self-defense, he is LostForever and you will have to grind to 100 Enchantment skill manually.
* GunsInChurch: The player can carry weapons, and even draw them, anywhere he or she pleases.
* GutturalGrowler: The voice for all male Dunmer.
* {{Hammerspace}}: The game version is present in full force. You're only limited in the amount of things you can carry by their weight, not their size or shape. Weapons that are not drawn are invisible, and none of the character models are wearing packs or any other indication that they're carrying around (say) a whole spare suit of armor and thirty potions.
* HammerspacePoliceForce: Averted for the first time in the series. The settled areas each have a set amount of guards present, ranging from just one in rural villages like Hla Oad to dozens for a big city like Vivec. Any guards killed will respawn after three in-game days, but the amount of guards will never exceed the set amount for that settlement.
* HandBehindHead: A common NPC idle animation.
* HardCodedHostility:
** Despite offers to do so, there is no way to actually join the Sixth House, turning them into this.
** The Camonna Tong hate all outlanders, including the player. While they stop short of attacking the player on sight, their disposition is so low that most dialogue options are cut off outright, making interactions with them nearly impossible. Their disposition drops even lower if the player is associated with any of the Imperial Guilds (especially the hated Thieves Guild) or any non-Hlaalu Great House.
* HeartbeatSoundtrack: The game's main theme, "Nerevar Rising," has a deep drum throughout which [[{{Foreshadowing}} sounds just like a heart beat]].
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:You can convince one of Hard-Heart's minions to defect by giving her a certain artifact. However, this minion will try to [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder kill]] you]] when you become master of the guild.
* HelloInsertNameHere: You have the option to name your player character. That name will appear in text form in NPC conversations and even some in-game documents, but never in any of the spoken dialogue.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Jiub, your otherwise unremarkable fellow prisoner aboard the Imperial Prison Ship at the start of the game, goes on to drive Morrowind's much-reviled Cliff Racers to extinction by the time of ''Oblivion'' and is made into a Saint as a result.
* HideYourChildren: No children appear in the game for the [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality standard]] [[WideOpenSandbox Sandbox]] game reason.
* HiredToHuntYourself: One sidequest features a runaway Argonian slave who poses as a local guide to the slave hunter who has been hired to bring him in. The guide uses a direct translation of the name under which he is wanted, as only other members of the race (who obviously aren't going to help), the odd slave trader, and a high Intelligence player character bother to learn the Argonian language. You can choose to rat him out or promise to keep his secret.
* HitboxDissonance: One of the many reasons for the hatred towards Cliff Racers. When alive, their hit box is an inexplicably small portion of their body. Then when they die, this is reversed. You'll need to dispose of their corpse in order to access any items or other corpses nearby because their dead body "container" selection box is inexplicably massive.
* HitPoints: The fairly straightforward "Health."
** CallAHitPointASmeerp: The less straightforward "Magicka" for Mana and "Fatigue" for Stamina.
* HollywoodDarkness: Averted. Most places which don't have living humanoid inhabitants have very little lighting, making them difficult to navigate. The game offers torches and laterns to help light the way, but they are used in the off-hand, so you cannot use them with a shield or two-handed weapon. Additionally, there are Night Eye and Light spells to brighten them up.
* HollywoodDensity:
** Most things have fairly realistic weights, however, your character can still lift an insane amount without being slowed down. Humorously, this means often times it's more practical to steal/loot cheaper stuff (like clothes) than heavy weapons and armor because its value:weight ratio is higher and thus you can walk away with more of it.
** Played straight with gold coins, which are weightless. You can carry around hundreds of thousands of gold coins without issue.
* HolyCity: Each of the three Tribunal deities has a city devoted to them. Vivec has the city named after him where he resides in his palace, and is where the mortal leadership of the Tribunal Temple is housed. Almalexia resides in her temple in the mainland Morrowind capital city of Mournhold. Both are Vatican-style examples. Sotha Sil's Clockwork City is more complicated. Though he does reside there, the city doesn't seem to exist in a place accessible by mortals and, as such, does not have any mortal inhabitants.
* AHomeOwnerIsYou: You get the opportunity to build your own stronghold as you advance through any of the Great House factions. You can also just take over one of the game's many abandoned homes or ruins.
** AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: And you will then fill that place with all of your questing treasures.
* HomosexualReproduction: According to the [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:36_Lessons_of_Vivec,_Sermon_12 Lessons of Vivec]], Vivec and Molag Bal ''somehow'' had sons and daughters, though the Lessons of Vivec are generally allegorical even at their most reliable.
* HonorAmongThieves : All of the main joinable factions had an associated book which outlined their basic ideals and made the case for why you should join them. The Thieves' Guild's book is actually called ''Honor Among Thieves'', and indeed part of the author's argumentation is that the Thieves' Guild is this trope made official (the major other part is that they aren't the murderous, drug-dealing xenophobic slaver scum the Camonna Tong are).
* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: The in-game book ''Interspecies Phylogeny'' discusses this topic from a scholarly standpoint as it pertains to the various races of Tamriel. Each species except for the egg-laying Argonians appears to be compatible to breed with one another.
* HubCity: Vivec is the largest and most populous city in the main game, as well as the center of Dunmer politics and culture. (Ebonheart would be the center of Imperial culture and influence on the island.)
* HufflepuffHouse: There are five great houses in Morrowind, though you only get to directly interact with the leadership of three: - Hlaalu, Redoran, and Telvanni - since those are the only three with holdings in Vvardenfell, where the game takes place. You can interact indirectly with House Indorial as they are heavily associated with the Tribunal Temple, and then more in ''Tribunal''. House Dres is never interacted with though, as their holdings are entirely in southern mainland Morrowind. Background references indicate that they are one of the most politically conservative houses of the Dunmer and are heavily involved in the slave trade.
* HumongousMecha:
** Dagoth Ur is constructing one, called Akhulakhan, from the blueprints of the [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Numidium]] and intends to power it with the Heart of Lorkhan. [[spoiler: When the player breaks the enchantment on the Heart, Akhulakhan falls into the lave below]].
** Sotha Sil protects his main chambers with two of these, called the Imperfect. [[spoiler: The player gets to fight one of them at the end of the ''Tribunal'' main quest line]].
* HundredPercentHeroismRating:
** After you complete the main quest, many people will stammer and ask you to forgive them because they don't know how to speak to such an important person. Others will thank you for your heroic deeds. Additionally, when selecting the "Nerevarine" topic with most [=NPCs=], their disposition will raise each time, maxing out in the 60s. This is very helpful when dealing with [=NPCs=] who would otherwise hate you, such as members of rival Great Houses or Guilds.
** Present in a subtle form with the Reputation stat. As you perform quests and rise in the ranks of the various Guilds and Factions, your Reputation stat will grow. The stat is taken into account when calculating an NPC's disposition, so your status as a famous adventurer will make them like you more.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: The end game of the ''Bloodmoon'' main quest.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Consumables take effect instantly, and the player can chow down hundreds of pounds of edibles or gallons liquid at once.
* HyperspaceArsenal: The player is only limited by the weight of the items he/she is carrying, and will no longer be able to move once the encumbrance limit (set based on the Strength attribute) is reached. So one can carry multiple suits of armor or several giant weapons without issue as long as that weight limit is not reached.
* IAmWho: [[spoiler:Lord Nerevar reborn, that's who.]]
* ICannotSelfTerminate: A sidequest in ''Bloodmoon'' has Ulfgar the Unending looking for a way into Sovngarde, the Nordic paradise afterlife. He recruits the player to help him find the way in. [[spoiler: As it turns out, you must die in battle. And seeing as how the player is the only person around badass enough to defeat Ulfgar in combat, he asks him/her to do this.]]
* IcarusAllusion: Not far from the starting village, the player can encounter a Bosmer named Tarhiel as he falls from the sky to his death. On his body are three scrolls which allow the user to jump vast distances, but they wear off before the user can safely land. They are appropriately called the "Scrolls of Icarian Flight."
* IcePalace: Castle Karstaag, home to a frost giant of the same name, is a massive glacial ice palace.
* IdealIllnessImmunity: A side effect of the Corprus Disease is immunity to all other diseases.
* IdiosyncraticCoverArt: ''Morrowind'' starts the trend for the series of having MinimalisticCoverArt showing an emblem of some sort from the Elder Scrolls universe (in this case, the "Imperial Dragon" symbol in a triangle surrounded by the Daedric letters A, S, and V for the members of the Tribunal) as though it were printed on the cover of a leather-bound book. ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim'' would each follow suit.
* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: While the Sixth House bases themselves generally have fairly innocuous names, the rooms within have names like "Black Heart" and "Soul's Rattle."
* ImAHumanitarian: Several pieces of human flesh can be found in the game. You can eat it or mix it into a potion just like any other ingredient. Corprus meat may also count, [[WasOnceAMan since it is the diseased flesh of those afflicted.]]
* ImperfectRitual: At the very end of the main quest, [[spoiler: you bring the tools necessary to tap into the Heart of Lorkhan in order to achieve godhood to the Heart chamber, where Dagoth Ur resides. He believes that you will try to use the tools to achieve godhood yourself, so he toys with you and taunts you. However, you aren't going to strike the Heart in the fashion necessary to achieve godhood. Instead, you perform a different ritual, and use the tools to unbind the Heart, cutting off anyone drawing divine power from it, including Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal.]]
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: M'aiq the Liar's Colovian Fur Helm. "[[MemeticMutation Practical, yet stylish!]]"
* ImprobableAimingSkills: One in-game book tells the story a Bosmer (a race renowned for their marksmanship) slave who coaches his owner's son on how to hit his target by firing ridiculous wild shots, on the basis that one should get a feel for how arrows fly before bothering to try to hit anything in particular. The father is furious that the slave is not training his son the way he asked, so begins beating the slave. The slave, while being beaten, continues to coach the pupil on taking wild shots straight into the air. The son ultimately scores a perfect hit on the slave's intended target... which, to the pupil's dismay, is the father. In other words, this archer is so good he can line up a perfect shot, ''with someone else's bow'', while being beaten with a stick. "Bullseye!" Naturally, the book increases the player's Marskman skill +1 when read.
* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: The expansions, which were geared towards higher level players, tend to lead to this. You'll find common enemies like Spriggans and werewolves in ''Bloodmoon'' putting up a tougher fight than 4000 year old main game PhysicalGod BigBad Dagoth Ur, even though you've likely gained many levels since then.
* InASingleBound: A maxed out Acrobatics skill allows the player to leap about 2 stories straight into the air. This can be augmented further with a "Jump" spell, further increasing jumping ability. The Scrolls of Icarian Flight take UpToEleven though. They allow the player to jump for ''miles'', however, landing can be tricky without proper preparation...
* IneptAptitudeTest: There is an optional one at the beginning of the game during character creation which can be used to determine your class. Since a number of the questions are rather unintuitive, it ends up being fairly inaccurate.
* InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat: Found frequently, even in places explicitly sealed for centuries.
* InfallibleBabble:
** Averted in the main quest when you are figuring out the Nerevarine Prophecies. The most commonly available interpretation is actually incorrect, and several of the prophecies are missing, so you need piece the correct version of the prophecy together.
** Averted with M'aiq the Liar, who has a number of conversation topics available, but nearly all are BlatantLies (Dragons, Multiplayer, Climbing, etc.) Only two actually have truth to them, but the details he gives are vague and inexact, so good luck figuring them out.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The extremely [[GuideDangIt hard to get]] katana, Eltonbrand. It is basically an upgraded form of the legendary blade Goldbrand, keeping Goldbrand's fire damage while increasing it's base damage, adding an additional "Fortify Attack" enchantment, and restoring the user's fatigue with every successful strike. (It's also an EasterEgg, named after former Duke Blue Devils basketball star Elton Brand, of whom one of the game developers was a big fan.)
* InfinityMinusOneSword: Several options:
** Goldbrand, a golden katana which deals fire damage, is given at the completion of Boethiah's [[GuideDangIt hard-to-find]] Daedric quest.
** Chrysamere, "the Paladin's Blade," is the best two-handed blade in the game. It deals massive damage and is also enchanted to cast several protective spells on the user.
** ''Tribunal'' adds the twin blades [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement True Flame]] and Hopes Fire. They were given by the Dwemer as wedding gifts to Nerevar and Almalexia thousands of years ago. True Flame is a FlamingSword while Hopes Fire is the lightning equivalent.
** Auriel's Bow is the most powerful bow in the game, and curiously, comes unenchanted, allowing the player to enchant it how he/she sees fit.
** "Skull Crusher" is the best two-handed blunt weapon in the game, dealing out massive amounts of damage, and is enchanted with a Feather spell which reduces its carry-weight to nothing.
** The "Wings of the Queen of Bats" is the game's best Axe, but is curiously not available in the game itself and requires console commands to acquire. It deals massive damage and is also enchanted to drain the health of enemies it strikes. Several mods have been created adding the Axe to the game proper.
** The Black Hands Dagger is simply an enchanted Daedric dagger acquired through the Morag Tong questline, but is enchanted with a powerful Absorb Health spell on strike. This combination means it can deal the most damage in a single blow of any weapon in the game while transferring part of the damage back to the user as restored health.
* InfoDump: The series has an incredibly rich and complex backstory, so much of the information needed to understand the story of the game is thrown at you in one of these.
* InformedEquipment: Generally averted, as all armor and clothing appear on your character. Played straight, however, with accessories such as rings, amulets and belts which do not appear. Also, arrow quivers and your sheathed weapon do not appear either.
* InGameNovel: Many. Most are short stories which fill maybe a dozen or so pages of an in-game book, but two in particular deserve special mention: [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:2920,_The_Last_Year_of_the_First_Era 2920, the Last Year of the First Era]] and [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_36_Lessons_of_Vivec The 36 Lessons of Vivec]]. Each fills in some of the {{Backstory}}, though the "Lessons" [[UnreliableNarrator should be taken with a grain of salt]].
* InnSecurity:
** Once you've reached a certain point in the main quest, you may start getting attacked by Ash Zombie assassins when you sleep in civilized areas. Your only options are to sleep away from civilized areas (and risk getting attacked in your sleep by wildlife) or locate the area's Sixth House base and kill the leader. (The latter has the added benefit of waking any "Sleepers" in the area as well. Speaking with them will net you a valuable Reputation point.)
** Once ''Tribunal'' is installed, you may be attacked in your sleep at any time by a Dark Brotherhood assassin. The only place you are safe is in the [[GuideDangIt tutorial area bedroll]]. (While inconvenient, it may be wise to sleep there until you've acquired the equipment necessary to fend off an assassin.)
* InstantArmor: The Bound Armor spells allow you to temporarily summon pieces of Daedric Armor. If enchanted as a "Cast when Used" enchantment on a item, it is possible to summon the entire set of armor at once.
* InstantExpert:
** Downplayed in that you can equip any type of weapon or armor as soon as you find it, however, if you don't have the skills to use it properly, you'll find it difficult to actually hit enemies with said weapons and you'll receive far less protection from said armor.
** Played straight with unlimited Training per level. As long as you have the gold to pay for the training, it is possible to be trained from a complete novice to matching your trainer's level of expertise in only a few in-game days. (Each training session takes two in-game hours. If you find a Master trainer who can train your skill to the max, you can go from the minimum skill level of 5 to 100 in 190 in-game hours.)
* InstrumentalThemeTune: The game's main theme, "Nerevar Rising."
* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Averted. Only the steepest mountains cannot be traversed on foot, and for those, you can still get over with a Levitation or Jump spell.
* InterchangeableAntimatterKeys:
** Averted in general, as keys will only open specific doors or containers.
** A quirk occurs when it comes to slave bracers. Normally, you need to find the key in the location with the slaves in order to unlock their bracers. (So, for example, the Addamasartus Slave Key will open the bracers of slaves within Addamasartus.) However, if you bring a slave from another location to a place for which you already have the key (using a Command spell, for example,) you can then unlock that slave's bracers with the key you already have. This is useful for freeing slaves whose bracers do not have a key and normally would not be able to be freed.
* InterfaceScrew: The "Blind" spell darkens the screen by a percentage based on the strength of the spell used. [[UselessUsefulSpell This spell does not, however, affect [=NPCs=]]].
* InterfaceSpoiler: If you find an NPC with unusual dialogue options, even if they don't cause anything to happen at that time, odds are they will be involved with a quest at some point in the future. The same is also true if the NPC simply lacks the usual dialogue options (latest rumors, little advice, little secret, etc.)
* InterserviceRivalry:
** The Ordinators and Buoyant Armigers, both militant wings of the Tribunal Temple, don't really get along.
** In ''Tribunal'', there is a rivalry and general sense of distrust between Almalexia's High Ordinators and King Helseth's Royal Guards. [[spoiler: When the city is attacked by fabricants, each faction will ask you to report the attack to their side's leadership]].
* InvitedAsDinner: One in-game book features a thief mistaken for a "Lady Tressed" at a masquerade dinner party where everyone has weird names. Her partner is already there (asleep at the end of the table), being called "Esruoc Tsrif" by the guests. She eventually realizes that everyone is pronouncing their names backwards, but she waits until the vampires jump her to figure out who "Lady Tressed" is.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifter: If you become a werewolf, you will transform every night.
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:If the lost prophecies are to be believed, the Nerevarine is an outlander, one of the same group of people the Ashlanders are trying to remove from Morrowind.]]
* IrrelevantImportance: [=NPCs=] essential to completing the main quest are marked with an "Essential" tag, meaning that if you kill them, you will get a message that you've made the game unwinnable by the standard means. This tag remains present permanently, however, so if you kill someone important to the main quest after they've already played their part, you'll still get the message.
* IrrelevantSidequest: Standard for the series, but in a positive way since it's up to the player to decide which quests they want to complete. ''Morrowind'' even takes it a step further than usual by having it explicitly recommended to you to go do things outside the main quest in order to keep up your cover story as a freelance adventurer and as a way to gain money and experience.
* IShallTauntYou:
** This is a game mechanic in conversations. The player can choose to Taunt an NPC, which lowers their disposition and may cause them to attack. If they do, you are within your legal right to kill them with no penalty to you.
** [[spoiler: Dagoth Ur spends much of the final battle doing this to you. He's a god and knows you can't kill him...he doesn't know that you intend to remove his godhood.]]
* ItemCrafting: The Alchemy skill allows you to make your own [[PotionBrewingMechanic potions]] and the Enchant skill allows you to create magic equipment. Mage services also allow the player to [[SpellCrafting make custom spells]]. All three mechanics can easily [[GameBreaker break the game]], even at low or middling levels.
* ItsAlwaysSpring: While in-game months do go by, Morrowind always seems to have a late-spring/early summer feel.
* ItsAWonderfulFailure: If you kill an NPC essential to completing the main quest, you get the following message: "With this character's death, the thread of prophecy is severed. Restore a saved game to restore the weave of fate, or persist in the doomed world you have created."
* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Even for an ''Elder Scrolls'' player character, the Nerevarine has to endure a number of significant hardships while trying to save the world. They are an outlander in a place notorious for hating outlanders, get afflicted with a terrible disease (though are at least cured of the negative affects,) declared a heretic and persecuted by the Tribunal Temple, and all of this while being manipulated by the Empire, the local Tribunal deities, Azura, and Dagoth Ur. [[spoiler: And while he/she does manage to save the world at least twice, his/her actions indirectly lead to the destruction of most of Morrowind when Baar Dau resumes it's fall and causes Red Mountain to errupt.]]
* JackOfAllStats: Out of the playable races, it's the Dunmer. They get bonuses to assorted skills spread out between the Combat, Magic, and Stealth specializations. In terms of attributes, they are well balanced with limited deficiencies. With efficient leveling, they can approach MasterOfAll territory.
* {{Jerkass}}: Most of both House Telvanni and the Tribunal Church.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Most of the reasonable Dunmer you meet, [[RousseauWasRight really]]. While the Dunmer in general can be rather secretive, abrassive and xenophobic at face value, many of them will mellow and show a friendly and honourable side to the player. Some of the individual Dunmer [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] will even befriend you and become your trusted allies if you achieve a high enough reputation level with them. All the more impressive when you manage this as an Argonian or a Khajiit, as those two races [[FantasticRacism are usually not taken very seriously by the Dunmer]]. A lot of this applies to many non-Dunmer [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] too, of course.
* JoinTheArmyTheySaid: Troops at Fort Frostmoth in ''Bloodmoon'' will sometimes say a variation of the trope name as idle banter.
--> "Join the Legion! See the world!" Freeze your arse..."
* JokeItem: A smuggler's cave not far from the starting town contains the unique "Fat Lute." It's a slightly bigger and heavier version of the standard lute item found elsewhere in the game, and isn't valuable in the least.
* JumpPhysics: At higher levels of the Acrobatics skill, the player can jump about two stories straight into the air.
* JustBeforeTheEnd: Of the reign of the Tribunal and really, the Dunmer way of life for the past 4000 years.
* JustBetweenYouAndMe:
** Dagoth Ur at the end of the main quest gives you an opportunity to question his plans and motives before the final one-on-one duel.
** [[spoiler: Almalexia]] at the end of ''Tribunal'' as well.
* JustifiedTutorial: A very short one in the beginning of the game as you exit the Imperial Prison Ship and enter the Census and Excise Office where you create your character.
* JustLikeRobinHood: Gentleman Jim Stacy, Grandmaster of the Thieves Guild, offers a set of quests in this vein known as the "Bal Malagmer" quests after an ancient order of thieves who operated in Morrowind.
* KarlMarxHatesYourGuts:
** Goods have the same base price no matter where you go, and that price is only affected by the shopkeeper's disposition toward the player and the player's Mercantile skill. Even when both are maxed out, it is impossible to sell an item to that shopkeeper for the same or greater price than you could buy it for.
** There is one notable aversion: Alchemy. It is possible to buy cheap, infinitely restocking ingredients from an alchemist/apothecary, turn those ingredients into a potion, and then sell the potion back for more gold than the ingredients themselves were worth. The only thing keeping this from being an infinite source of income is having to wait for the merchant's stock of gold to regenerate after 24 in-game hours.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: In terms of one-handed long blades, katanas play the trope straight. Even the game's InfinityPlusOneSword, Goldbrand (as well as its [[GuideDangIt hard-to-get]] upgraded version, Eltonbrand,) is a powerful enchanted katana.
* KeywordsConversation: New keywords are highlighted as hyperlinks in the dialogue window and known keywords are listed to the right (slightly filtered by the NPC's affiliations and story purpose).
* KickedUpstairs: It's implied that this is how Trebonius came to be the head of the Vvardenfell branch of the Mages Guild. His mainland superiors were tired of his incompetence, so they put him in charge of the most backwater province in the empire to keep him from mucking things up elsewhere.
* KillTheGod: The goal of the main quest is to find a way to defeat PhysicalGod BigBad Dagoth Ur. [[spoiler: He is really a god, and you cannot kill him directly...but you can cut him off from the source of his godhood, which has the same basic effect.]] You'll do it again in ''Tribunal'' with [[spoiler: Almalexia]].
* KingArthur: Even if it is not an explicit intention of the writers, numerous parallels exist between Arthur and Nerevar: both were charismatic war-leaders who united their peoples against foreign invasion to great effect, both have numerous conflicting accounts of their passing, both have close groups of followers who's tales and exploits eventually begin to eclipse their own legacies, both became folk heroes to groups who have been marginalised by invasion and progress, and [[spoiler:both have prophesies of their return which may or may not have already occurred if valid]].
* KingIncognito: Toward the very end of the main quest, you may meet an old man named Wulf in Imperial armor hanging out inside of Ghostgate. If you talk to him, he'll ask that you take his "lucky coin" with you to Red Mountain. If you accept, you'll gain a new power which dramatically increases your Luck attribute for a time. Later, you can speak to the Imperial Cult Oracle about your encounter with the old man. She'll tell you that the old man was really an avatar of Tiber Septim, the first emperor of the Septim dynasty who ascended to godhood after his death.
* KingInTheMountain: Dagoth Ur is a villainous version. He was thought to have been vanquished, but having already attained godhood, his defeat was only temporary and he regained his power over several millennia leading up to the events of the game.
* KleptomaniacHero: Pretty much encouraged by the game itself. Especially true for those in the actual Thieves Guild. A few of the prime examples:
** The Census and Excise office where you start the game. There is a built-in area out of sight where the player will acquire their first weapon, lockpicks, food, beverages, light source, and book. Even better, until you are officially released by the Captain and given your orders, you will not get a bounty for anything you steal in plain sight of the guards. Simply pick up anything you wish to steal and then set it on the ground before the guard gets to you. He'll reprimand you for stealing it, but there are no other consequences. Simply pick the stolen item back up when you're done and it's yours! You can acquire a key to the Seyda Neen warehouse with this method. The warehouse contains even more stuff to steal.
** An early Balmora Mages Guild quest will have Ajira call the resident enchanter Galbedeir down to the bottom floor so you can switch out one of her soul gems with a fake. This leaves every other soul gem (including one filled grand soul gem worth 60,000 gold) completely unguarded. The only draw back to stealing them is that Galbedeir will recognize ALL soul gems as stolen after that point, so you will no longer be able to use her enchanting service.
** The ''very first'' Ald-Ruhn Thieves Guild quest will have you stealing an item from the neighboring Mages Guild. All of the mages inside will clear out, leaving only one inept guard who is easily killed by even the lowest leveled players. The mages will stay gone until you complete the quest, so feel free to loot the entire place from top to bottom, making several trips if you have to.
** Unlike later games in the series, all merchants will buy stolen goods (unless you stole it from THEM, in which case they will recognize it as theirs.) The items will be marked as stolen, so they will be confiscated by guards if you are caught. However, [[FailedASpotCheck dropping the stolen items on the ground before the guard gets to you will prevent them from being confiscated.]] Simply pick them back up after you've paid your bounty and you're good to go.
** Unfortunately, a quirk of the game engine discourages stealing stuff that isn't unique or gold (which doesn't count for this): instead of marking a specific incarnation of an item as stolen, it marks the base item as stolen -- in other words, steal a Grand Soul Gem, and ''all Grand Soul Gems you acquire are regarded as stolen''. Luckily, if you avoid run-ins with the law (or, as mentioned above, drop your stolen items before talking to the guards,) this is largely a non-issue unless you attempt to sell the stolen items back to the person you stole them from.
* KlingonPromotion: Morrowind is rather tolerant of this. House Telvanni practice this as a rule, but many factions indulge in it. For bonus points, Tamrielic law even allows for it (within sanctioned limits), citing such matters as ''duels of honorable combat.''
* KnightTemplar: ''The Ordinators'' are shining example of the trope. They are the militant wing of the Tribunal Temple and do not tolerate outsiders. Walking past them will usually net you the "We're watching you...SCUM," response. Even if you become the new head of the Temple, the indirect boss of the Ordinators, they don't become much more tolerant. And may the gods help you if you mention the Nerevarine prophecy around them. Or wear their armor.
* LadyLand: The town of Tel Mora is ruled by Telvanni councilor Mistress Dratha, who despises all men. The town is entirely populated by female staff and residents.
* LastOfHisKind: [[spoiler:There's only one Dwemer left, deep in the bowels of the Corprusarium.]] And he's not all there anyway (physically or mentally).
* LavaIsBoilingKoolAid: Lava is actually treated fairly realistically. You don't sink in it, can't stand on it, and it doesn't really flow. However, [[ConvectionSchmonvection you can stand next to it for as long as you want]] as long as you aren't actually touching it.
* LavaPit: Plenty around Red Mountain and the Molag Amur region. If you join House Telvanni and raise in rank until you get your own stronghold, you'll have your own personal lava pit, which is very fitting for the EvilSorcerer Great House.
* LawOfCartographicalElegance: Canonically, Vvardenfell is an island separated from the mainland by a strip of water far less than what separates it from Solstheim. However, in-game, the water stretches on indefinitely.
* LegendaryWeapon: Plenty, particularly any weapons of Daedric origin.
* LegitimateBusinessmensSocialClub: The Thieves' Guild and the Camonna Tong both own various taverns and clubs in the major cities that are used as guild halls, and talking to anyone on the street makes it obvious that their function is an OpenSecret. Averted by the Morag Tong, since despite being assassins, their existence is perfectly legal and they have no need to hide their presence (except for their headquarters in Vivec, which is extremely well hidden).
* LethalJokeItem:
** The Boots of Blinding Speed. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin They're boots that let you run really fast, but blind you.]] However, a bit of magicka resistance will negate the blinding effect, leaving you with only the positive effect.
** The scrolls of Icarian Flight, which let you jump all the way across the continent in a single bound, zig-zag this trope; while at first glance they appear straightforwardly awesome, if you use one you find out that they are indeed lethal... to ''you'', since they wear off before you hit the ground and lead to a generally-fatal impact. When combined with a Slow Fall or Levitation spell near the end of your jump, they become amazingly valuable... but there's only three in the entire game, so they also become TooAwesomeToUse.
** ''Tribunal'' adds the Bi-Polar Blade as a reward for completing "the Match Maker" side quest. The two enchantments on the blade cancel each other out, which is fitting given the name of the weapon, but it still a powerful blade in it's own right - dealing damage on the level of the game's other artifact two-handed blades. (It can also be sold to the Mournhold Museum for a cool 20,000 gold if you prefer.)
* LethalJokeCharacter: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mudcrab Merchant.]] He is identical in appearance to other Mudcrabs, he's hidden on a specific island in the Azura's Coast region and is difficult to find, he speaks with a drunken dialect... and he has more available gold for bartering then any other merchant in the game.
* LethalLavaLand: The Molag Amur region southeast of Red Mountain, characterized by the presence of lava pools and rivers on the surface. The land is predominantly dark volcanic rock covered with an overlay of ash and cinder.
* LevelEditor: The PC version of the game comes with the "Construction Set." It is simple to learn and very flexible, allowing you to manipulate the game in a wide variety of ways.
* LevelGrinding: Expect to do it if you want to be come proficient in any skill, particularly the weapon skills. Made easier with unlimited training per level (unlike the later games in the series,) but only if you can afford it.
* LevelScaling: Limited to creatures outside of caves. The items in many containers are also pulled from "leveled lists," give you a better chance at finding good items at higher levels. All of the loot outside of containers is hand placed and never changes, however.
* LighthousePoint: The starting town of Seyda Neen has a lighthouse, and due to the island's quarantine because of the Blight, is the only (legal) port for boats coming from the mainland.
* LightningGun: Shock spells have this appearance, firing a "ball" of electricity at opponents.
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Generally played straight with a few quirks. Any character build is going to have some difficulty in the [[EarlyGameHell very early going]], but warrior types are going to have it a bit easier than magic users. Once magic users gain access to (and have the funds to pay for) custom spells, they become much more powerful. However, late in the game (and especially in the expansions,) most high level foes resist magic to some degree or outright reflect it, suddenly making things very challenging for magic users once again. And there there is the [[GoodBadBugs Alchemy abuse bug]] which, with Alchemy classed as a magic based skill, can turn the "wizard" types into walking [[TheSingularity singularities]].
* LivingGasbag: The Netch are basically giant, flying, gas-filled jellyfish.
* LoadBearingBoss: Dagoth Ur, though indirectly. [[spoiler: He is a god, and you cannot actually kill him, because he'll just immediately resurrect again. However, when you sever his ties to the Heart of Lorkhan, he will die and, due to the bindings on the Heart being removed, the room you are in will collapse into the lava below.]]
* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: When the game first came out, loading times were absolutely ''abysmal'' on both the XBox and PC versions. The overworld would take as long as three minutes to load and doing something as simple as ''running too fast'' could cause the game to grind to a halt. Thankfully, as technology has advanced in the decade plus since the game was released, this is now significantly less of an issue. Even a modern "off the shelf" PC can now play the game with loading times of less than a second. At times, the "Loading..." box at the bottom of the screen appears and disappears so quickly you barely notice it.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests: Dozens of them spread out through the game. The game actually justifies taking the time to do them as well, as it is recommended to you to keep up your cover identity as a freelance adventurer to hide that you are working for the Blades. [[spoiler: And later, after you've been named the Nerevarine/Hortator, you can complete them to fulfill your duty to protect the people of Morrowind.]]
* LockAndKeyPuzzle: In the dungeons of Tel Fyr, there is a series of chests each with a key and some minor treasure in them. Each key unlocks the next chest in the series. Near the end, you can walk away with a few legendary ancient weapons.
* LockedInAFreezer: The in-game book ''The Locked Room'' features this.
* LongLived: Not counting divine beings like the Tribunal or those who have enhanced their lifespans through magic like the Telvanni, there are several instances of particularly long-lived people in Morrowind.
** Nevevar, in the backstory, was in his 200s when he was killed and was still acting as a FrontlineGeneral. Dagoth Ur and Sotha Sil were said to be of "Nerevar's generation," so they were likely of similar age and still quite active before acquiring godhood.
** Barenziah, the Queen Mother, is in her 400s (old enough to have had an affair with Tiber Septim) and is as crafty as ever.
* LostForever:
** The InfinityPlusOneSword Eltonbrand and the legendary shield Spellbreaker can only be acquired if the player is a vampire. If the player gets cured without completing the quests to get these items, they will be impossible to acquire as you cannot contract vampirism a second time.
** The master trainer for enchantment, Qorwynn, is lost if you kill him. Of course, this is true for anyone else, so why is it a problem here? Qorwynn is a hostile Altmer spellcaster in a dungeon filled with nearly-identical hostile Altmer spellcasters, with no indication, anywhere in the game, that there is anything special about him. The only way to get training from him is to use magic to calm him down first, and there is absolutely no reason anyone would do this without a guide. Kill him, and you'll have to grind to 100 enchantment yourself if you want it.
* LostInTranslation:
** A special case occurs in the German version of the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion - in one dialogue, the translator forgot to add the text link leading to a quest start, which results in a (small, but quite helpful) side quest being completely lost.
** In the Polish translation, it's pretty hard to rest in some taverns due to the option, when available, being listed last in the dialogue sidebar, due to Morrowind's topic ordering system not recognizing letters of the Polish alphabet.
* LostTechnology: Nearly anything created by the Dwemer, as per series tradition.
* LostSuperweapon: [[spoiler:Akhulakhan is being built from [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Numidium's]] blueprint, replacing the Mantella with the Heart of Lorkhan as a power source.]]
* LovableSexManiac: Oooh, Crassius Curio is an example, dumpling, but it is soo nice to hear you say it. It is lovely when you list tropes like that, honey. Now give Uncle Curio a kiss. It should be noted that, in our world, much of what Curio does would be sexual harassment punishable by law. Requiring you to strip for him so he will promote you, anyone? Also, [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar how did ESRB not notice?]] Also note that Uncle Crassius does not [[DepravedBisexual discriminate between genders]]. Or [[InterspeciesRomance species.]] He has also written a play called ''The Lusty Argonian Maid''. "Polish my spear!" indeed.
* LoveBeforeFirstSight: The in-game two-part novel "Palla" is an example. The story's narrator falls in love with Pal La after seeing a statue of her fighting the monster that ultimately killed her; being a necromancer, he sets about the monumental task of bringing Pal La back to life, so they can live happily and in love ever after. [[spoiler: He finally succeeds, but before he can join his beloved, he finds out that Pal La was the monster. Who is happy to meet him]].
* LowLevelAdvantage: Generally averted in the game, but there is one Imperial Cult quest where you will get a better reward if a certain skill is below level 40. (Specifically, your blunt weapon skill.)
* LowLevelRun: Possible by abusing the game-breaking Alchemy exploit. Because the game is paused when the player stopped to brew potions, the player can brew an INT boosting potion that lasts a short time, drink it, and then immediately brew another potion that provides an even greater bonus (as alchemy stat bonuses are affected by your INT stat), and it would stack to absurd levels until you can create a potion that restored your entire health pool many times over each second for a real-life hour. This then allows the player to wield the Tools of Kagrenac, Keening and Sunder, without Wraithguard, the protective gauntlet needed to use them. (Otherwise, the tools quickly drain the health of the wielder.) By doing this, it's possible to complete the game's main quest in under 10 minutes.
* LuckStat: The Luck attribute. It affects the success rate of everything you do, from hitting attacks, to lockpicking, to creating potions, and a lot else.
