History Skyrim / Tropes0ToC

** The Special Edition updated Sanguine's "Misty Realm" to have this as well and further changed Apocrypha, the Soul Cairn and Sovngarde from the normal sky.

** Individual septims, lockpicks, and arrows have no weight, leading to scenarios where you're potentially carrying around with you a million gold pieces, thousands of lockpicks, and a small army's worth of arrows. There's an achievement earned if you are able to carry 100,000 gold pieces on your person.

* AscendedMeme: Sheogorath's line "Cheese for everyone!" from ''Shivering Isles'' is referenced during his quest.

* {{Adorkable}}:
** Farkas is a {{hunk}} of greatsword-wielding [[spoiler:werewolf]] muscle. And he's a big old teddy bear!
** All of the apprentices at the College of Mages.
** A few of the bards could be considered this as well.
** Calcelmo has his moments too, especially during the "Book of Love" quest.
** Farengar becomes this at the mere mention of dragons.
* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: Each of the Dwemer ruins; Blackreach in particular.

* BlackComedy: Some dialogues from quests and [=NPCs=] may come off with this, but the most notable case is the introduction where an unfortunate Stormcloak delivers this line before his execution:

* BlackComedy: Some dialogues from NPCs may come off with this, but the most notable scene is the introduction where an unfortunate Stormcloak delivers this line before his execution:

* BlatantLies: When you first arrive at Markarth, one of the Guards outside will tell you that this is the safest city in The Reach. However when you enter the city, you will witness a public murder with the guards trying to cover it up.
** It's possibly a case of FromACertainPointOfView: Markarth is the only city in the Reach to be almost entirely made out of stone and relatively enclosed - great for protection from siege by the Stormcloaks or Dragon attacks, not so much from Forsworn who manage to sneak in the city with a weapon.

** "[[PsychoForHire Here's all you need to know:]] I'm a {{werewolf}}. [[BloodKnight I like killing things.]] [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes I love Astrid.]] I hate annoying people. [[WeaksauceWeakness And the color blue gives me a headache.]]"

** A male Dovahkiin who marries a female follower can potentially be this, specially if it's Mjoll, Aela, Nadja, Jenassa or any of the female housecarls.

*** Within the CivilWar subplot, there's the concept of faith, whether it be religious faith, faith in one's countrymen or nation, or faith in greater principles like freedom or security.

* BiTheWay: Every marriageable character in Skyrim will marry the Dovahkiin regardless of gender. It could also be a case of EvenTheGuysWantHim or EvenTheGirlsWantHer.
** One of the quests involves your character getting drunk and (among various other things) fondling a statue of Dibella, no matter your gender.

* CypherLanguage: Most of the fantasy languages in written form, are this. The text itself is in English, only substituting appropriate characters for the English letters. Justified to an extent, as all books/notes use individual fonts for each style/language.

** All currency, even that found in ancient Dwemer or Nordic ruins, is represented by septims to avoid inventory and exchange hassles. Similarly, any lockpick-like item (bobby pins, smith tools, etc.) is just represented by the same lockpick item. For that matter, all locks, whether they're on wooden doors or Chaurus Chitin chests, all have the same metal-in-wood interface.

** The Civil War sidequest ends like this either way. The Thalmor are still in power, and Skyrim's only hope to repel them is either a powerless empire or some upstart rebels. Who now have a walking DivineIntervention among their ranks, so it's not as bad as it could be.

** In the ''Dawnguard'' DLC, a little blood is required to release Serana when you first find her. [[spoiler:Also, Vyrthur specifically needs "the blood of a daughter of Coldharbour" in order to fulfill his plans. If you have Auriel's Bow, you can blot out the sun for a day using arrows that have been dipped in Serana's blood.]]

* BodyguardingABadass: When you become a Thane in some of the holds, you're given a housecarl. What you had to do to earn the title sometimes makes it a clear case of this trope. In fact, the very first Housecarl you get, Lydia, is earned for becoming Thane of Whiterun, a title you earn for killing your first dragon, learning the first word of your first shout, and being revealed to the world as a Dragonborn. If that's not ascent to badass, nothing is.

** There are many Daedric artifacts scattered across Skyrim. Among them are things like a skull staff that eats dreams to power itself up, another staff that can do just about ''anything'' (at random), a ring that lets its wearer devour the dead, a dark katana that steals life and feeds on the blood of your friends, a shield that generates a magical ward when raised, and a mace that would not look out of place in [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]]'s hand and that steals its victims' souls. So, which Daedric artifact is usually considered as the most valuable? The Black Star. [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast With a name like that, it must have power of apocalyptic proportions!]] Nope, it's just a reusable Black Soul Gem for enchanting. Black Soul Gems function like normal Grand Soul Gems, but while Grand Soul Gems can only hold animalistic souls (and Grand animalistic souls are only found on bosses and [[BossInMookClothing mammoths]]), Black Soul Gems can hold humanoid souls - which are automatically Grand quality, so any old bandit will do. The thing is, Grand Soul Gems can be purchased easily and are relatively common, while Black Soul Gems are incredibly rare, so having one on hand at all times is extremely valuable. Not helping is the fact that many Daedric weapons are for some reason relatively weak despite their cool-sounding effects, and can be rendered obsolete very fast by better weapons. The Black Star, on the other hand, is here to stay, whether you are level 1 or 100.

** Skyforge Steel weapons are this combined with DiscOneNuke. They look just like and weigh just as much as the bog-standard steel weapons, but they have the same damage potential as the heavier Elven-tier weapons three tiers higher than Steel. Because they rely on the Steel smithing perk, you don't need to invest in more smithing perks to improve them. Oh, and all you need to do to get them is become a regular (not just probationary) member of the Companions. You get one freebie right off the bat from Eorlund Grey-mane (the UltimateBlacksmith that makes them) once you're vetted, and can buy more for a song from him afterwards. Many players tend to hang on to their trusty Skyforge weapons for quite some time, even when "higher tier" weapons are readily available.

* BrownNote: In an interesting twist, the brown note in question is harmful to Eldritch beings while harmless to mere mortals. [[spoiler: It's the Dragon Shout "Mortal, Finite, Temporary", since dragons are effectively demigods of Time. Humans are naturally mortal and thus unaffected.]]

** Many monsters in Skyrim are replacements for monsters from the previous games. Skeevers--Giant rats, Falmer--Goblins, Draugr--Zombies, Hagravens--Harpies. It can also be arguably {{Hand Wave}}d as the result of both Skyrim's natives having their own regional names for these animals and that their names being inconsistently used is the result of cultural bleedover from the other provinces.

* CentipedesDilemma: The in-game book 'Death Blow of Abernanit[[note]]With Explains by the Sage Geocrates Varnus[[/note]]' details the siege of the fortress of Abernanit and how its commander, Dagoth Thras, slew near an entire army by blocking every single blow that came at him and then killing his foes when they grew tired. The leader of the attackers, Rangidil Ketil, upon realizing that his death was imminent, asked Thras as a last request to explain how he could so perfectly predict every incoming blow. Thras chose to oblige, but upon opening his mouth to explain, realized ''he didn't know.'' Upon this realization, Rangidil was able to slay him easily.

** And for the ''Dragonborn'' [=DLC=], there's {{Pride}}. Or, to be more specific, how pride influences people in regards to their enemies and thirst for power, and ultimately whether or not they can look past that. The [[PlayerCharacter Last Dragonborn]] is attacked and further insulted by people who claim they are not the "true" Dragonborn, and is later forced to [[spoiler: recognize that they need Hermaeus Mora's help]] to defeat Miraak. Furthermore, Bujold is reluctant to acknowledge her own shortcomings and weaknesses whereas the Riekling Chief isn't and both supplicates the Dovahkiin and considers them a threat, and [[spoiler: Storn is willing to look past his pride as a Skaal (who have resisted Hermaeus Mora for eons) for the greater good.]] On the villainous end, Miraak shows more arrogance and hubris than possibly any other character in ''Skyrim'', simultaneously plying the Dragons and then Hermaeus Mora for power, only to immediately thereafter act as if the alliance is beneath him and that he shouldn't need to honor it. He even claims that Alduin is nothing more than an annoyance to him, in spite of it being extremely unlikely he knows how strike at Alduin, and his EvilPlan essentially amounts to escaping to Solstheim so that he can use MassHypnosis on first the island's residents ''and then the rest of Tamriel'' so as to create an {{Egopolis}} befitting his monumental arrogance. On the other hand, Hermaeus Mora shows himself to be extremely humble, giving the Dovahkiin amazing rewards in exchange for their efforts, encouraging them to search his realm for tomes of power and later, [[spoiler: in spite of Miraak's treachery, displaying a willingness to work with whichever Dovahkiin comes out alive and, in this conversation at least, barely even taking notice of Miraak's loathing for his present situation]].

* BarBrawl: You can "persuade" some NPC characters by brawling with them rather than intimidating or negotiating. Not surprisingly, a lot of these take place in taverns. You even get the option to just fight some patrons for coin. At the extreme, you can ''marry'' a woman after you [[BestHerToBedHer brawl with her and win.]]

* AbortedArc: Numerous important plot threads and apparent quest hooks go nowhere.

*** Quests outside of the Dark Brotherhood questline make [[spoiler:Clan Shatter-shield]] very unsympathetic. [[spoiler:They are a corrupt family that hires bloodthirsty pirates to harass their competition and treat their foreign workers as little more than slaves.]]
*** When you first join them, Babette (a child vampire) regales her friends with the tale of how she lured a creepy old man (possibly pedophile) into a dark alley and killed him horribly.

** During the quest "The Forsworn Conspiracy," you'll run into Betrid Silver-Blood at the Treasury House. She is quickly established to be a stuck up, gold-digging bitch who shamelessly admits to the Dovahkiin that she only married her husband for his money. It's really hard to work up sympathy for her when [[spoiler: a Forsworn kills her after you talk to Thonar]].

** Also the Silver Hand for the Companions, [[spoiler:Mercer Frey]] for the Thieves' Guild, [[spoiler:Ancano]] for the College Of Winterhold, and [[spoiler:Commander Maro]] for the Dark Brotherhood.

* BraggingThemeTune: The ''Skyrim'' theme song, towards the Dragonborn.

-->'''Random guard''': Let me guess, somebody stole your sweetroll?

* BuryYourGays: ''Dragonborn'' gives us Hrodulf, who became fascinated with the Dwemer ruins under his house despite his lover Bjornolfr's warnings, and got killed as a result. He had sent Bjornolfr a letter warning him to stay away from the ruins. [[ShootTheShaggyDog Bjornolfr ignored the warning, rushed to the house in an attempt to save Hrodulf, and got himself killed too.]] This coming in the third DLC is the only evidence of a non-straight NPC couple in the game.

* ButThouMust: Played straight and averted. The player usually must follow the quest objectives to the letter, regardless of any possible alternatives. However, the player never ''has'' to do any quest, so if they feel like doing something else they can just put it off, or never complete the objective.

** The Dunmer. The combination of Red Mountain erupting, Vvardenfell's destruction, and Morrowind being sacked by Black Marsh have left the province pretty much in ruins, even years later, leading to a mass exodus of Dunmer away from their home province. The ones who settled in Windhelm are left second-class citizens, and only one supplicant remains at the Shrine of Azura they constructed after their exodus. Hadvar even notes, should you play a Dunmer character at Helgen, that the gods really HAVE abandoned your people. [[note]] That line is a CallBack to ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' where the [[PlayerCharacter Nerevarine]] killed one of the Dunmer gods and found another dead by the hand of the first.[[/note]]

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Skeevers are giant rats. Odd thing is... Giant Rats DID exist in all previous ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games (and in fact were part of a running joke involving the fighters' guild), and were called such.

** Many monsters in Skyrim are replacements for monsters from the previous games. Skeevers--Giant rats, Falmer--Goblins, Draugr--Zombies, Hagravens--Harpies.
* CallASmeerpARabbit: And yet, the four-tusked mammoths are still called "mammoths".

** Slightly subverted in that skimpy armor (especially Forsworn) looks skimpy on ''both'' genders, and generally has a low armor rating to boot.

** The armor that's most played straight with the trope is Ancient Nord armor. The armor for men consists of heavy steel or iron plates around the torso with a fur under layer. The gauntlets, helmet and boots look similar for women, but the chest piece consists mostly [[HellBentForLeather tight leather]], with a few much smaller steel plates protecting the shoulders and crotch. There is [[SexyBacklessOutfit no back of the armor, either]], and you can tell that their [[VaporWear bra must have been removed]] when they put the armor on. It also includes AbsoluteCleavage, SideBoob, and [[MinidressOfPower a miniskirt]].

** Death by exposure to the cold is non-existent, regardless of race or blood. Even swimming naked in freezing waters topped with ice floes off the northern shoreline has no ill effects. One dungeon requires you to explore and loot an underwater ship in just such conditions. The Nords that populate Skyrim do have a canonical inherent resistance to cold that protects them, but that's it. Ironically, the [[CatFolk Khajiit]], who are covered from head to tail in fur, are the only race to actually ''complain'' about the cold, though they have the excuse of being native to a desert region. [[LizardFolk Argonians]] are sometimes described by characters in the game as vulnerable to cold, but the race doesn't actually have a weakness to the element. It's also worth mentioning the extremely popular ''Frostfall'' GameMod, which addresses this break from reality.

** If a female Dovahkiin has all women join the Blades, they can have up to four powerful women attack a dragon lair.

* AscendedGlitch: The fact that giants knock things really high into the sky, which is now part of a quest.

* BossInMooksClothing: Several examples.