History Skyrim / Tropes0ToG

* AndIMustScream: One Dragon Priest is encountered by unlocking his sarcophagus with two keys shaped like skulls. Nothing suggests he was "dead" before the unlocking or even unconscious (Aura Whisper clearly shows him inside before the unlocking). He was most likely trapped in there since the last war against the dragons, which was a couple thousands years ago.

** The ''Dragonborn'' trailer is an entire ''trailer'' of Dark Reprise -- the theme is a darker, more foreboding version of the original teaser trailer track, shows the new gameplay areas, and just like the original trailer it ends with a dying dragon having its soul absorbed... as the camera pans up its body to reveal that [[ThereIsAnother the absorption isn't being done by you]]. At the end of the trailer, we hear what initially sounds like "The Song Of The Dragonborn," but with changed lyrics and a darker tone: most likely, [[VillainSong a version of the song dedicated to the First Dragonborn, and what will happen when he returns.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Thalmor's plans is nearly identical to that of the [[DoctorWho Time Lords]] - both plans were to destroy reality to ascend as gods, and the plans were mainly instigated by the higher-ups while most of the rest simply wanted peace.

** The Thalmor, the fascist High Elf government. The number of non-Thalmor in Skyrim who support them can be counted on one hand, and even those seem mostly to be paid-off agents. There are quite a few High Elves who dislike them for their extreme ways. The only reason the Thalmor even came to power in the first place was due to the chaos caused by the Oblivion Crisis.

* BadassGrandpa: Esbern. The Greybeards are an entire order of Badass Grandpas.

** And of course you can invoke this trope with the Unrelenting Force shout at full power. And so can higher-level draugr.

* 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.

** ''Dragonborn'' adds another notable example in the form of The Ebony Warrior, who only appears once the player reaches level 80. He uses very powerful enchanted equipment, boasts impressive resistances to all three elements, is immune to falling damage outside of a possible glitch, and wields a number of shouts in battle, including '''[[BlownAcrossTheRoom FUS RO DAH.]]''' [[OneHitKill On top of a mountain.]]

** Only one Dragon Priest is actually required to be killed in order to complete the game, and that's assuming you don't simply [[SequenceBreaking sprint past him before he closes the path]]. For good reason too, Dragon Priests are easily some of the most deadly enemies in the game, moreso than Dragons themselves, but you really have to go out of your way to find them.

** The Transmute spell means you'll never need for gold ever again. You can take the plentiful and cheap iron ore, turn it into silver or gold, smelt the results into ingots, then craft jewelry over and over, providing easy Smithing levels and tons of treasure.

* BrattyHalfPint: A lot of Skyrim's children are obnoxiously rude to you. Special mention goes to Braith of Whiterun, who tries to pick a fight with you even if you're wearing armor made of dragonskin and covered with the blood of your enemies, and Nelkir of Whiterun, who sneers that you're likely there to suck up to his father.

* BrickJoke: After hours of hearing guards tell you "No lollygagging", should you follow the quest which lands you in Cidhna Mine, you'll meet Borkul the Beast, who is in prison for "Murder, Banditry, Assault, Theft, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Lollygagging]]."

* BrokenBridge: Thanks to the open-world nature of the game, you can visit several locations that are important to quests without actually having taken the quest. While some just let you run through and trigger the quest when you pick up the relevant item (or at least force you to keep the quest item until you learn what it's for), others solve the problem by blocking off access to the relevant section, if not the entire dungeon, until you find the quest. This is particularly annoying when doing the Gauldur amulet quest, one third of which is locked in a quest-specific dungeon with literally zero hint as to where the quest-giver is. (The site is being excavated by the College of Winterhold.)

* BullyingADragon: It doesn't matter if you're clad in full [[SpikesOfVillainy Daedric armor]] with a bloodstained Daedric war axe in one hand and the gleam of a lethal fire spell in the other and a [[SummonBiggerFish storm atronach]] following you around, Braithe will ''still'' petulantly cry that she's not afraid of you.

** Finishing the Thieves' Guild storyline involves [[spoiler: becoming a Nightingale and selling your soul to Nocturnal]]. It's a particularly blatant example because really, you shouldn't ''have'' to do this - you're told that [[spoiler:becoming a Nightingale]] is the only way you can fight [[spoiler:Mercey Frey]] on equal terms, but the fact is that you can kill him without ever using the powers you get, and they aren't much help fighting him as-is anyway.

** At the end of the main questline, you must capture and then release Odahviing in order to reach Skuldafn, the final dungeon. The game forces you to do this because you need to fly in order to get there... except that there is no reason given that Paathurnax couldn't take you there. This gets even worse if you complete the ''Dragonborn'' DLC questlines before getting to this point in the main game; having learned the appropriate Shout, you can literally command ''any'' dragon you find to land and let you ride it, not to mention being able to summon a dragon anywhere you like who could also fly you there.
** In the ''Dawnguard'' expansion, you join an order of vampire hunters, walk into a crypt killing vampires left and right, open up an ancient casket to reveal another vampire, and... escort her home after some polite conversation. In most other questlines, you can somewhat avert ButThouMust by simply refusing to continue the required course of action; for example, you can stop doing the Companions' quests if you're not interested in becoming a werewolf. Serana, however, is a walking case of ButThouMust. You can't kill her (since she's flagged Essential), you can't tell her you'd like to part ways (well, you can, but she replies "I disagree"), and you can't ignore her request to take her home because she will follow you around and complain about the sunlight until you do what she wants.

** ''Skyrim'' is inconsistent by itself: you can catch dragonflies for use in alchemy, but they're listed as "dartwings" in the menu screen. Similarly, ''Dragonborn'' has "bristlebacks", but the loading screen calls them boars and they drop Boar Tusks.

** The mural for the game depicts several key happenings from the prior games, all supposedly leading up to Alduin's return:

*** The in-game book ''The Book of the Dragonborn'' also lists a prophecy that references all of these.

** An artifact from the main quest of ''Morrowind'' figures in a sidequest of the Winterhold College and can be acquired by the player. Unlike in ''Morrowind'', it can be held without its counterpart, which is not in the game, with no ill effects. Interestingly enough, it still gives a ''message'' about you receiving a mortal wound when you first hold it, it just doesn't actually do anything.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Anyone who played the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion for ''Morrowind'' two games ago will be in familiar territory. Solstheim, the island where that expansion took place, was basically a mini-Skyrim, full of Nords and mead with werewolves and deadly spriggans running about.
** Not to mention the quest "Ill Met By Moonlight" is actually the Fourth Era's incarnation of the ''Bloodmoon'' event that made up much of the expansion's main quest (which is said to happen once an era).
** And the actual Solstheim returns as the setting for the ''Dragonborn'' DLC, and its southern half is now a mini-Morrowind, with ash fall, netches, and Redoran and Telvanni settlements with their associated architecture.

** The Oghma Infinium book normally vanishes after choosing one path from it by reading it once for upgrading your stats (i.e. it's supposed to be one-time use only). But this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhDhPKF1lBY bug involving the use of a bookshelf]] prevents it from vanishing, letting you read the book repeatedly to LevelGrind as high as you want for free. See {{Irony}} below.

** Ulfric Stormcloak's clothing includes one of these made of chainmail worn under an animal-pelt cloak. Despite this and the breastplate the clothing seems to include, it only counts as normal clothing if you get a hold of it, despite it looking like it should be light armour.

** Frea, after [[spoiler: her father Storn is killed becomes shaman of her village]] in ''Dragonborn''. She has no level cap, and prefers DualWielding War Axes.

** Nelkir is [[spoiler: being manipulated by a Daedric artifiact]] which may explain his behavior to an extent.

** Not really characters, but between ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' and this game, both lands from the previous two games have changed for the worse. Vvardenfell, the main setting of [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind the third game]], has exploded, because it was a volcano and is hit by a huge floating rock (as a decades-later consequence of the game's events, no less). And Cyrodiil, the setting of the fourth game, is recuperating from being savaged by a war with Nazi elves. This can a bit harsh to longtime players of the series, who helped save both lands and spend countless of hours in them, but it does well to prove that saving the world doesn't equate to saving the realm.

** You could be the Slayer of Alduin, Thane, a high-ranking member in the Legion or Stormcloaks, Archmage of the College Of Winterhold and a full-fledged member of the Companions, and there'll still be the occasional dick guard taunting you about reporting a stolen sweetroll; never mind the fact that if you ''did'' steal a sweetroll and someone reported it, that same guard would be on your ass in a second. Don't expect any parades in your honor after the main quest, either. Oddly enough you ''do'' get recognition for finishing the civil war quest.

* EarlyBirdCameo: Anyone who played the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion for ''Morrowind'' two games ago will be in familiar territory. Solstheim, the island that expansion took place upon, was basically a mini-Skyrim, full of Nords and mead with werewolves and deadly spriggans running about.
** Not to mention the quest "Ill Met By Moonlight" is actually the 4th Era's incarnation of the ''Bloodmoon'' event that made up much of the expansion's main quest (which is said to happen once an era).

* EqualOpportunityEvil: Just like ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', the Dark Brotherhood is by far the most evil organization you can join in the game, and the second most diverse, after the College of Winterhold. Its members include a Nord, a Dunmer, an old man, a child vampire, a former Shadowscale Argonian, a Redguard, and a werewolf.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Hermaeus Mora's voice makes him sound grandfatherly, and his behavior to you is friendly and respectful (as long as you don't say anything to provoke or antagonize him), and he will keep his bargains with you; but anyone who crosses him learns a very painful lesson about how bad idea that is. This generally pleasant demeanor is sharply contrasted with his chosen appearance both on Mundus and in his realm of Apocrypha - that of a giant mass of pulsating, duplicating eyeballs and black, slick tentacles.

** ''Dragonborn'': Miraak has been stopped, Solstheim is safe, and Hermaeus Mora is finally leaving the Skaal alone. However, Hermaeus finally got what he wanted, the leader of the Skaal is dead, and it's implied that the Last Dragonborn will simply become another pawn in his schemes.
* BiTheWay: Every marriageable character in Skyrim is will marry the Dovahkiin regardless of gender. However, since the first gay couple doesn't show up until the last DLC, it could be a case of EvenTheGuysWantHim or EvenTheGirlsWantHer.

* BackFromTheBrink:
** You can help the Dark Brotherhood, the Thieves' Guild, and [[spoiler:the Blades]] regain their former glory and more.
** Also the Dragons. Until Alduin began reviving them, they were mostly extinct, or else living far away from civilization.
** At the beginning of the game, the Imperials had all but won the Civil War; they captured Ulfric and were about to execute him, which would likely have dealt a crippling blow to the rebellion. Then the dragon attacks, Ulfric escapes, and if you opt to side with the Stormcloaks, you can help them turn the whole thing around.
** If the dragon attack didn't save Ulfric, the Aldmeri plan was to save him and bring them back from the brink.

** Folgunthur, under the giant rock arch that is Solitude (right under the Blue Palace in fact) has the remains of the warlock seeking the Galdur Amulet part of the way in; you'll find a few dead bandits at the site of some traps, and a couple totem puzzles already completed.

** Although certainly they are doing it to suck up to the emperor, dialogue and lorebooks hints at a second, somewhat broader reason at play, as well. NPC dialogue and in the lorebooks suggests they might be doing it in preparation for the next war. There are several NPC's in the game (such as General Tullius, just to pick one) who mention point-of-fact bluntly that another "Great War" between the Aldmeri Dominion and the Empire is expected by both sides. And, both sides are doing what they can to strengthen themselves and weaken the other side in preparation for it. Thus, the Synod's actions in trying to gather powerful magic artifacts plays right into the notion of the Empire trying to prepare themselves for this war.

** The Blades and the Greybeards. The Blades want to defeat Alduin and the dragons but they aren't very nice to the Dragonborn, while the Greybeards are kindly mentor figures but invoke YouAreNotReady to explain why they don't just teach the Dragonborn every Shout they know when the player first meets them. The two are also not fond of each other - the Blades order you to [[spoiler:kill Paarthurnax for being a dragon]], and Delphine says the Greybeards fear the Shout's misuse and so do not use its power for good, but all power risks being abused and their knowledge is worthless if it isn't being put to use. By contrast, the Greybeards consider the Blades meddlers in things they don't understand, and claim that their mission to serve the Dragonborn is a lie they use to hide the fact they want to ''control'' the Dragonborn. Ultimately, you can be loyal to only one of the two factions, depending on how you feel about [[spoiler:killing Paarthurnax]].

**** Though Lurbuk's atrocious ability at being a bard is an [[InformedAttribute informed attribute.]] Though he is described as being a horrible bard, there is dialogue he has with the inkeeper implying he sucks badly... But, he has the same instrumental music routines that the other bards do, and unlike them, does not do any of the "singing" numbers, nor does he take requests to sing.

** The backstory found in various in-game sources reveals that [spoiler: Otar had gone insane before he was imprisoned, and the two draugr you have to kill to get the keys to release him were, in their day, heroes who managed to imprison him and were given the task of guarding his tomb so he wouldn't escape. Of course, they were only "heroes" from the perspective of the Dragon Cult, an unremittingly evil group to begin with.]

** The backstory found in various in-game sources reveals that Otar had gone insane before he was imprisoned, and the two draugr you have to kill to get the keys to release him were, in their day, heroes who managed to imprison him and were given the task of guarding his tomb so he wouldn't escape. Of course, they were only "heroes" from the perspective of the Dragon Cult, an unremittingly evil group to begin with.

** The entire ''game'' gets one with regards to the main conflict of the civil war. When you arrive in Helgen, all you really know from the game's dialogue is that you and some other people called "Stormcloaks" have been captured by the Empire and are to be executed. You get an idea of what's going on when at said execution, the priest talks about the ''Eight'' Divines, and is quickly cut off by one of the Stormcloaks who snaps "for the love of Talos, let's get it over with!" [note]Of course, if ''Skyrim'' is your first introduction to the world of the Elder Scrolls and you don't know who Talos is or how many Divines there are supposed to be, this isn't necessarily enlightening.[/note]

* CoolHorse: A certain horse from a previous a previous entry ([[spoiler:Shadowmere]]) makes a comeback, complete with an awesome introduction.
** Frost, the only other horse obtained from questing. While he's not invincible, he's stronger and even more aggressive than regular horses, won't hesitate to charge enemies. His grandsire is named [[NorseMythology Sleipnir]], the name of the [[NorseMythology eight-legged steed of the Norse god Odin]], and his sire is Grane, a descendent of Sleipnir and the horse of Sigurd, the legendary dragon slayer of the Literature/PoeticEdda and Literature/TheSagaOfTheVolsungs.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: According to characters in Solitude, Ulfric's killing of Torygg was unnecessary considering that Torygg looked up to Ulfric and would have been willing to declare independence had Ulfric simply encouraged him. Of course, from Ulfric's point of view, he needed to send a message to the other Jarls.
** Gets worse with the knowledge that the main reason for the rebellion, the Talos ban, is poorly enforced at best by the Empire, and in fact the only "enforcement" is that the Empire has no power to stop the Thalmor from doing anything. Jarl Elisif, who the Stormcloaks consider an imperial puppet, even asks the player to take a memento of her husband to an altar of Talos as part of his burial. Even the Empire looks the other way if you dispatch a Thalmor right in front of an Imperial Legion soldier, only slapping you with a paltry 40 gold fine.

** Delphine interrupting the Dragonborn's FetchQuest for the Greybeards and asking that they accompany to slay the Dragon about to be resurrected in Kynesgrove, before she will properly introduce herself and and explain precisely what she wants from them. She does however justify this by admitting she was afraid that the Thalmor were using the rumour of a Dragonborn as SchmuckBait to lure any ex-Blades from hiding, so she conspired to steal the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller knowing that the Greybeards would send them there, but needed to witness the Dragonborn actually slay and absorb the soul of a Dragon before she knew she could trust them.

* CrapsackWorld: Two centuries later and Tamriel has still not recovered from [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion the Oblivion Crisis]]. The Empire is falling apart, the Nords are in civil war, Elsweyr and Black Marsh have seceded, and what parts of Morrowind that weren't destroyed following the eruption of Red Mountain and the fall of the Ministry onto Vivec has been invaded by the Argonians. The Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild pervade Skyrim to the point of being the de facto government in some cases, and it should be pointed out that ''both'' organizations are suffering from a slow decline. Oh, and the world's about to be eaten by dragons.
* CreateYourOwnVillain with a touch of LaserGuidedKarma: Beneath the earth of Skyrim dwell a race of hideous monstrosities, [[TheMorlocks the Falmer]], who grow bolder and more dangerous, and who experts in-game fear are massing to attack the Nords--the surface dwellers of Skyrim--in genocidal hatred. Where did they come from? They're the devolved, degenerate SlaveRace of the extinct [[AbusivePrecursors Dwemer]], once a [[WasOnceAMan thriving elven civilization on the surface]]. How did they become slaves of the Dwemer? They all fled to the Dwemer...after the ancient Nords began slaughtering them all. (Mind, there's [[UnreliableNarrator in-universe controversy and mystery]] surrounding whose "fault" it is that the ancient Falmer and Nords were at war with each other, but that the Nords won and forced them to turn to the Dwemer is firmly established.)

** Aventus Aretino. Though his tone is a perhaps a little too whiny, the fact that he's going through with the Black Sacrament (using his mother's flesh) speaks for itself. The way that the rest of the kids from the Honorhall Orphanage cheer on the Dark Brotherhood following their headmistress' assassination might be this, except that Grelod is undoubtedly an AssholeVictim.

* CrossOver: For the opening of Skyrim's Steam Workshop, Valve released a mod featuring VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'s [[MemeticMutation Space Core]].

* CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: Many of the Daedric Prince quests are examples of this. In order to get several of the artifacts, you have to: beat a man to death ''twice'' while he begs for his life, sacrifice one of your followers, and murder and cannibalize an innocent priest. Not all of the quests have requirements like these, though, and some have alternate methods of obtaining the artifact. In one case you get it only by ''not'' killing the person you're asked to kill.

** This is quite likely an ''in-universe'' example -- the Blades are descended from an Akaviri (IE, superficially Japanese-ish) group based in Cyrodiil (IE, the heart of the Empires, with a centuries-long history of being Roman-ish). ''Of course'' their armour would have influences from both cultures.

** In Ansilvund, a group of necromancers have taken over, and their leader's journal notes they raised the draugr they found earlier to excavate deeper into the ruins, and comments that if the Stormcloaks had the sense to use draugr to fight, they'd have an army plenty large enough to kick the Empire and Thalmor out of Skyrim. Considering you can't swing a battleaxe in the game without hitting some ancient tomb infested with the beings, it's a good point.
* CuteAndPsycho: Muiri, a Breton living in Markarth and who works as an assistant at The Hag's Cure turns out to be this in an early Dark Brotherhood quest. She asks the Dragonborn to kill both a bandit leader who took advantage of her to rob Clan Shatter-Shield in Windhelm, as Muiri was close to the family, at least until Alain used her and they cut off all ties with her and cast her out of Windhelm. In addition to wanting revenge on the bandit leader, she also tasks the Dragonborn with the optional assignment of killing Nilsine Shatter-Shield as well, partly out of revenge for the Shatter-Shields turning their backs on her, and in the hope that maybe this will cause the family matriarch Tova to bring Muiri back after both of her real daughters are dead. [[spoiler: If you kill Nilsine, Tova commits suicide instead, but Muiri doesn't actually seem to have a problem with this, as making Tova suffer is just as good. She also becomes eligible for marriage this way, so she must REALLY appreciate the Dragonborn's efforts.]]

** Skuldafn can throw several high-level Draugr at you all armed with full-power ''FUS RO DAH''. If there are others with bows-and-arrows, you can find yourself being endlessly thrown around like a ragdoll and turned into a pincushion as you try to get up. Your best bet is to try to aim your helplessly flying corpse in a direction away from the shouters, and attempt to flank them.
** The apogee of locked-into-damage sadism comes with ''Dragonborn'' and the Ash Rune spell. It's the only guaranteed paralysis effect in the game--no RNG or magic resist checks, so long as the enemy type is not immune to paralysis they're going down. To keep this from being too broken, the enemy cannot be harmed until the effect wears off--but this can still be bypassed: Cast the Ash Rune at the enemy's feet, so they trigger it instantly, then cast another straight-damage rune trap under the enemy's immobilized body. They won't trigger the spell until the paralysis wears--and once they do, and take the damage, immediately cast Ash Rune as they're getting to their feet, where they will immediately trigger it again. Rinse and repeat until dead. It will take [[GradualGrinder a very long time]] to kill higher-level opponents this way...but that's [[TheJoysOfTorturingMooks part of the fun]].

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The Equip, Take, Take All and Give buttons never seem to stay in the same place between different sorts of inventory management screen -- for example taking things out of containers, putting things ''into'' containers, personal inventory, swapping with companions, and trading. It's not uncommon to forget this and accidentally take everything inside a container when you intended to put one thing away - and if it was the container you use as your main storage, this will probably mean enough weight to make you overencumbered several times over and enough items that it will take you a long time to get them all put back. In most cases you're better off reloading an autosave.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The atmosphere of this game compared to ''Oblivion''. To make a short list; the overall world design is much more DungAges than the high fantasy style of ''Oblivion'', two large towns are {{Wretched Hive}}s, there is much more FantasticRacism going on, more GrayAndGreyMorality, and more bloody/gory bits in dungeons.

** ''You, during a Civil War action'': I've got a better idea. You wait here, I'll take care of it

** Then again letting the Imperials execute him wouldn't be an honorable win, which Dragons are all about honor in battle and the challenge of defeating their enemies in combat.

* DecapitatedArmy: Justified. Alduin is more than just the leader of the dragons, he's summoning them, as shown in the pre-Sahlokniir scene.

** The Spellbreaker is a physical shield that projects a {{Deflector Shield|s}} when defending. While blocking, Spellbreaker creates a ward that protects against spells for up to 50 points. At first it may seem weak compared to other more powerful ward spells like Greater Ward which can negate up to 80 points of spell damage. However, it stacks with the Elemental Protection perk which reduces incoming fire, frost, and shock damage by 50% while blocking, and any left over damage will be absorbed by the shield's ward effect. The best part is it costs no Magicka. This makes the Spellbreaker one of the best shields to be used against mages and dragons.
* DegradedBoss: Dragons. At the beginning of the game every time you encounter a dragon it feels like an adequately epic battle, especially with the music that accompanies it. By the end of the game(or some levels into it, considering that this game doesn't actually "end") you will be able to force dragons to the ground and kill them with a few hits in under 10 seconds before the music even has a chance to kick in. They become more of a nuisance than an epic battle. At least until you start meeting the Elder and Ancient Dragons.

* DiscOneNuke: Too many to list. While many quest rewards and enemies scale with your level, others do not, so provided you know where to go and what to go, there's nothing stopping you from heading out and getting late-game gear the moment you leave Helgen.

** It also affords a bit of LoopholeAbuse if for some reason you want to kill someone but can't find a way to do it stealthily. Just get them into a place where you can blast them off a high-enough ledge to kill them, their death as a result of the fall will ''not'' be held on you. Thus you can literally get away with murder as long as you don't mind paying a 40 gold bounty.

** People you steal from might send thugs after you; the thugs' contract says they don't have you kill you, but the person who hired them won't mind if they do, and they certainly do try. This can happen even if you just stole an incredibly cheap book from them and paid off the bounty.

** Occasionally ''inverted'' as well, when you are given a Herculean task with a disproportionately small reward. Jarl/Steward wants you to go kill an Elder Dragon on a nearby summit? That's fine... but the 500 gold bounty may not even cover the cost of the arrows and potions you used to kill it.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Thalmor's plans is near identical to the [[DoctorWho TimeLords]] which both plans were to destroy reality to ascend as gods, the plans were mainly instigated by the higher ups as well as most of the rest simply wanted peace.

* DoorToBefore: A lot of dungeons have passages at the end of the dungeon that will lead back to the beginning of the dungeon. Sometimes it's a barred door or a false wall, other times the dungeon simply takes you over a bridge or ledge overlooking the earlier chambers that you can jump down as a shortcut.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:''Dragonborn''. Sure, Miraak's defeated, but Hermaeus Mora, [[BiggerBad the true instigator of the conflict]], not only gets away scot-free for his crimes, but [[ButThouMust forcibly]] makes the Dragonborn his "champion". The Skaal's leader is dead, the secrets they've spent centuries guarding from Mora are gone, and the Dragonborn is left with the knowledge that he/she was nothing but Mora's CosmicPlaything all along and that he/she will likely end up suffering the same fate as Miraak once Mora no longer needs him/her.]]

** Both "A False Front" and "To Kill an Empire" gives you opportunities to dress as an enemy soldier or a cook respectively. However, the only difference is dialogue options.

** Not really characters, but between ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' and this game, both lands from the previous two games have changed for the worse. Vvardenfell, the main setting of [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind the third game]], has exploded, because it was a volcano and is hit by a huge floating rock (as a decades-later consequence of the game's events, no less). And Cyrodiil, the setting of the fourth game is recuperating from being savaged by a war with Nazi elves. This can a bit harsh to longtime players of the series, who helped save both lands and spend countless of hours in them. Though it does well to prove that saving the world doesn't equate to saving the realm.

** You could be the Slayer of Alduin, Thane, a high-ranking member in the Legion or Stormcloaks, Archmage of the College Of Winterhold and a full-fledged member of the Companions, and there'll still be the occasional dick guard taunting you about reporting a stolen sweetroll, never mind the fact that if you ''did'' steal a sweetroll and someone reported it, that same guard would be on your ass in a second. Don't expect any parades in your honor after the main quest, either. Oddly enough you ''do'' get recognition for finishing the civil war quest.

** Averted in the theft/friendship mechanic. The [=NPC=]s might not be much friendlier but if you do something for them, you'll find you're allowed to take things from their house/store that would have previously been considered theft.

-->'''Neloth:''' If you were my servant you'd have my apple stew wouldn't you? Very well, I suppose you want to be asked nicely, "[[SarcasmMode Oh great "hero" of Skyrim, please oh please would you do me this noble deed?]]"

** Not to mention the quest "Ill Met By Moonlight" is actually the 4th Era's incarnation of the Bloodmoon event that made up much of the expansion's main quest (which is said to happen once an era).

** Blackreach and its upper level, Alftand, are a little more than "elaborate". "''Absolutely freaking huge''" might be a better way of putting it. Traversing them can take the better part of four hours even if you're trying to pass as quickly as possible, and you have to fight your way through a small army of Falmer, Automatons, and other nasties on the way. Easily five times as big as any of the regular barrows you'll see, they're positively packed with items, and have THREE different access elevators plus three more through various Dwemer ruins. There's a reason why [[spoiler:Blackreach might be the Dwemer capital.]]

* EpicFail: While doing contracts for the Dark Brotherhood, you get one for a bard that is apparently so bad, and so many people want him dead, that Astrid had to use a lottery to pick a client. At least, that's what Nazir tells you when he gives it to you.

** Upon arrival in several (though not all) of the major cities, you're treated to a scene that establishes the troubles of that city. In Solitude, it's the execution of an otherwise good man who allowed Stormcloaks into the city. In Windhelm, it's racist Nords harassing a dark elf. At the Riften gates, a corrupt guard tries to shake you down and a mob tough just past the gate lets you know that the Black-Briars own the city. In Markarth, you witness the Forsworn murder a woman (and get a frigid reaction from the guard if you try to help them). In Whiterun, everything is on lockdown following word of a dragon being sighted, and when you get inside, you see a microcosm of the civil war itself: a smith unable to meet the intense economic demands of the war, demands which are caused by two feuding families' inability to reconcile their differences in the war.

* EvilIsHammy: In addition to slicing up your foes with their big ole daedric greatsword, conjured dremora will slice the ham.

** Compare the rewards from the Companions radiant quests to the Dark Brotherhood's radiant quests. For clearing a dungeon to retrieve a family heirloom, the Dragonborn will be rewarded with 300 gold. For killing one single contract target who is nigh on defenseless, the same-level Dragonborn will be rewarded with ''1200 gold''.

** A Stormcloak soldier at the beginning of the game volunteers to be the first to be executed and uses his last words to condemn the Imperials. The other Stormcloaks probably would have followed in his suit if a dragon hadn't shown up.

** Topping them all though, is [[spoiler:the Emperor himself,]] whom you must kill at the end of the Dark Brotherhood chain, if you choose to join them. After welcoming you warmly and saying that this is just how things work, he then calmly turns his back towards you, ready for his fate. He did ask for a final request, which you can fulfill or not: to kill whoever it is who commissioned his death. Even then, he does not expect it of you; he asks it as a favor, nothing more.

** If someone ever gives a reason for siding with the Imperials over the Stormcloaks in the civil war sidequest, this is often the main reason given. The Stormcloaks have very strong racist tendencies and they do ''not'' hide this fact. This darker side is easiest to see in [[WretchedHive Windhelm]]. Dunmer are forced to live in the filthiest, poorest part of the city, and abuse from the local Nords is an almost daily occurrence. The Argonian dock workers are paid a tiny fraction of what the Nord workers are paid; they are also not permitted to live within the city walls, and are '''physically beaten''' if they try. Ulfric Stormcloak will send guards to root out bandits if a Nord village is attacked, but won't lift a finger to help Khajiit caravans when they're harassed. On the other hand, they tend to make exceptions if it would be beneficial - non-Nord characters can ask when joining and be told that it's loyalty that matters rather than blood.

*** Nord culture is an amalgam of various Germanic cultures, especially Scandinavia, but with some Anglo-Saxon elements. The ancient Nords seem to have had a little bit of ancient Egypt sprinkled in their customs for a good measure, with elaborate mummification and entombment methods you get to witness close hand in approximately half of the dungeons in the game.
*** The Bretons are mixed. Those from High Rock are based on the French, especially in terms of names (Montiere, Mirabelle, etc...), while those from The Reach in particular are essentially based on the Celtic British, complete with a King Arthur figure in Red Eagle. Of course, Bretons is the french name for the people of Brittany: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany as in the Celtic part of France]]. There is also a little bit of England sprinkled in (or rather, ''left'' in since ''Daggerfall'').

** In Dragonborn, the Skaal are like standard Nords mixed with Inuits.

** Particulary satisfying is one of the unarmed Finishers, [[spoiler:a chokeslam]] Have AnAxeToGrind? Your character doesn't need it as they're quite happy to headbutt a foe to death.

** Vilkas of the Companions says "I think I've killed one of every living thing in Skyrim. May be time for a trip to Morrowind." Fast forward to the ''Dragonborn'' DLC; while not in Morrowind, it does take place in Solstheim, the location of the ''Bloodmoon'' expansion.

** The player's race very rarely affects an {{NPC}}s' dialogue, even though racism against non-Nords is a major theme in the game. For example, the Khajiit traders are forbidden from so much as stepping inside city walls, but a player Khajiit can buy a house and get married without anyone so much as raising an eyebrow - and you can do this before you are even acknowledged as the Dragonborn.

** Certain plot threads are handled separately, which leads to odd situations where doing quests in certain orders leads to facepalming dialogues. Like while doing Thieves' Guild quests, the player is told by Maven Black-Briar that she has Dark Brotherhood contacts and she'll sic them on you. Thing is, if you completed the Dark Brotherhood questline BEFORE doing the Thieves' Guild, [[spoiler:you know exactly who her contact was--Astrid, through Delvin. And Astrid is dead. And ''you'' are the head of the Brotherhood]]. If you've done both the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves' Guild storylines, Maven's threats and posturing take on a new level of absurdity, because she's [[spoiler:''[[IneffectualDeathThreats threatening you with yourself.]]'' [[IneffectualDeathThreats seeing as how]] ''[[IneffectualDeathThreats you lead both organizations]]'']].

** A lot of the Jarls are worried about dragon attacks, namely in the fact that a lot of the structures in their city are flammable. In the game itself? Not so much. In fact, the structures are apparently so sturdy that they can withstand the force of a dragon landing on it... the same dragons that shake the earth otherwise.

* GenderIsNoObject: You might occasionally hear otherwise, but gender makes very little difference when it comes to profession in this setting, both for the player character or for the non-player characters. The Companions, the manliest men in the game, have some womanly women with them; the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks have both ranking-officer and grunt-level women; Jarls can be either men or women; and so on. There are plenty of ''other,'' more important things to be bigoted about in this setting (usually FantasticRacism).

** Arguably Whiterun. The surrounding country side is tundra, but it's grassy and snow-free. The people in the city itself are mostly pleasant, as is the Jarl, and even the guards after you complete a few quests, so the place feels like {{Arcadia}}.

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: A quest you can get in Solitude has you [[spoiler:stopping the revival of The Wolf Queen]].

* GoneHorriblyWrong: In the ''Dragonborn'' DLC, a team of Necromancers went into Fort Frostmoth to revive Falx Carius with a new form of Necromancy, which restores his flesh. But the process is messed up, he is successfully revived but cannot be controlled by the Necromancers as he has total free will. Worse, the process warps his mind. He murders the head Necromancer, gains control of the Ash Spawn, and wages war on Raven Rock assuming they're enemies with the Imperial Legion (as he thinks it's still 200 years prior)

** The Hidden Chest glitch, which often has respawning (after a certain time period) loot (resulting in infinite gold and other supplies if you're patient). The most notable one being [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtEKEKcZ3jw this one in Dawnstar]], which is invisible, and can only be found if you sneak, and its contents refresh (though with random quantity) every 48 hours in-game. These hidden chests are actually Merchant chests, their contents match up to a certain merchant's inventory. The one in Dawnstar, for example, belongs to the Kahjiit traders on the outskirts of the city.
** Children have been seen swimming through the air in the town of Morthal.

** Brunwulf Free-Winter, the [[NiceGuy nicest guy]] in Skyrim, who replaces Ulfric Stormcloak as Jarl of Windhelm if the Empire wins the civil war. Within hours of assuming his post he meets with the local dark elves and promises to develop and renovate the ghetto-like Grey District they've been forced to live in, as well as working on a way to allow Argonians to live in the city instead of the single, drafty, cramped building on the docks. He also retains most of Ulfric's court staff since they know their jobs well enough and offers lodging to the Jarls that were deposed for supporting the Stormcloaks. He then takes charge of Windhelm and [[ModestRoyalty doesn't lose that sense of modesty or approach-ability]].

** In the quest "Blood On the Ice," the quest arrow and journal only points you to one person so you can accuse who you think is a murderer. [[spoiler:The only way to get the good end for the quest is to, perhaps without knowing he exists, confront the suspect - whom the clues you collect will strongly suggest ''is the murderer'' - before reporting him as a suspect. Confronting rather than accusing him will reveal his innocence. The other possibility comes if you talk to another NPC, who points you towards a shopkeeper... whose shop contains displays of the murder weapon. Along with Ysgrammor's spoon, which is a fork.]]

** The "No Stone Unturned" quest involves [[GottaCatchEmAll collecting 24 "unusual gems"]] (aka the Stones of Barenziah) which are scattered all over Skyrim. There are no clues in-game as to where each one is, and chances are you'll find at least one by accident. Their locations are fixed, but vary from caves and tombs to people's homes [[spoiler: (one is located inside Proudspire Manor, which you can only enter after buying it)]] to places of high restrictions like a Jarl's quarters (which require you to sneak in really well unless the said Jarl made you a Thane). One is even located inside the [[spoiler: Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, which can only be entered after starting the Dark Brotherhood questline, either to join them or destroy them.]] And prior to patch 1.4, one of these gems was inside the [[spoiler:Thalmor Embassy]], which can only be visited during the "Diplomatic Immunity" quest; thankfully after the patch it was relocated to a cave underneath, which is accessible anytime (but not marked on the map).

** The Destruction Ritual Spell does not have quest markers. It does give you hints on where to find the next location, but to even have hope in hell of understanding those clues you would had to have already visited the locations.

** [=NPC=]s are coded to look at you when you're within a certain distance. This, however, gets a bit silly when either 1.) they're enemies and are looking for you and their AI doesn't register that they've seen you (so they stand there gawking at you, despite still "looking" for you) and 2.) when they're walking past you while you're suppose to be talking about something hushhush (a good example is in Helga's Bunkhouse, where a sidequest has you go on a plot to humiliate her by grabbing incriminating evidence she shouldn't know about).

** While escaping from Helgen with either Hadvar or Ralof, you can murder either the torturers or the stormcloaks right in front of Hadvar or Ralof respectively, and they won't even care.

** 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]].

** This can be you, too, if you wrong one of the guilds. The Dark Brotherhood, Thieves' Guild and College of Winterhold have quests for making restitution if you wrong them. Of course, they're the only ones that have legitimate things to do after the questline is over...

** [[ActionBomb Flame Atronachs explode upon death]]. Unfortunately they attack at a distance, and the explosive damage counts as having originated ''from you''. This means that if one dies, anything around it will suddenly think you've just attacked them, and promptly turn hostile (if they weren't so already). This can cause you to loose followers mid-combat, aggro nearby friendly [=NPC=]s, cause bounties to be placed on your head, and other shenanigans. It doesn't help that they're Leeroys as well. And to top it all off, the explosion damage itself is minuscule, barely enough to kill a mudcrab if that even.

** Being a Werewolf or (with the ''Dawnguard'' DLC) a Vampire Lord can be this outside of combat. Since people are instantly hostile to you and you can't pick anything up. The Vampire Lord is slightly better than the Werewolf in this regard since you can switch in and out of it at will instead of waiting 24 hours.

** [[spoiler: Although it can also be interpreted as those dozens of Dragons acknowledging YOU, yes YOU, as their new Leader. Not that you get anything for that, but you did prove that your Voice was stronger than Alduin's. Sadly... now all the dragons who were terrified of Alduin probably think you would be easier to overpower due to that frail mortal frame that houses your dovah soul. [[SuicidalOverconfidence Poor dragons.]]]]
** The formal recognition of the Dragonborn by the Graybeards counts. They basically say you now have rights to two [[AwesomeMcCoolname Awesome McCoolnames]] used by a previous legendary Dragonborn, the illustrious Tiber Septim: "Stormcrown" and "Ysmir, Dragon of The North". And they do it by blasting you with the ritual words of recognition in the dragon tongue, making the ground quake as they do it.

** Erandur was raised worshiping Vaermina. Then he was forced without a choice to kill his fellow cult members and abandoned his worship of her to worship Mara instead. Why he is badass? Because he outright gave Vaermina the middle finger. The goddess who once trapped a wizard in hellish nightmares for all eternity because he stole one thing from her.

* BecomingTheMask: A wizard sets up a ScoobyDooHoax, masquerading as the guardian spirit of a Nordic burial ground to keep superstitious locals from discovering that he's attempting to loot the tomb. After six month of failing to solve a puzzle-locked door, he goes insane and becomes convinced he's an actual guardian spirit.
** The irony in his attempts to keep the locals away from the burial ground is that the local innkeeper actually held the key to unlocking the door. Unlike a certain other Dunmer however, he probably didn't know about its existence.

** The troll on the way to High Hrothgar exists probably more as a demonstration of the sheer ''power'' of the Graybeards. Go ahead, run away from it and lure it into High Hrothgar and watch the old grandpas utterly destroy it with words alone. Now you will know what was meant by those memorial plaques on the way up there by 'Shouting someone down'. YouTube has more than one video of this.

** Some of them want to marry you after you've beaten them in a brawl. Of course this is Nord culture.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Hermaeus Mora's voice makes him sound grandfatherly, and his behavior to you is friendly and respectful (as long as you don't say anything to provoke or antagonize him), and he will keep his bargains with you, but anyone who crosses him learns a very painful lesson about how bad idea that is. This generally pleasant demeanor is sharply contrasted with his chosen appearance both on Mundus and in his realm of Apocrypha, that of a giant mass of pulsating, duplicating eyeballs and black, slick tentacles.

** 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.

** Skyrim is inhabited by big Irish Wolfhound looking dogs, and most of them are nice towards you, save a few trained by bandits.
** In particular, Meeko and Vigilance can follow and help out the player in a manner similar to Dogmeat in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''.

* BiggerBad: In the Civil War story arc, the Aldmeri Dominion is this. While Ulfric Stormcloak or General Tallius are the military leaders of both sides of the war, the Aldmeri are behind everything, and no matter which side you choose in the war, they stand to profit. Either the Empire wins and continues to promote Aldmeri interests within Skyrim's borders, or the Stormcloaks succeed and the Empire is further weakened. In fact, the Aldmeri don't even want the war to end quite yet.

** The Civil War sidequest ends like this either way. The Thalmor are still in power, and Skyrim's only hope to repel them are a powerless empire, or some upstart rebels.
** ''Dawnguard'': Lord Harkon has been killed, the sun is still shining, and it seems the Falmer are actually becoming more sapient. However, they're still a far ways off from returning to their former glory, and one of the only two non-regressed Falmer has been killed, leaving one left.

* BiTheWay: Every marriageable character in Skyrim is will marry the Dovahkiin regardless of gender. Though since the first gay couple doesn't show up until the last DLC, it could 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.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: The CivilWar starts as Gray and Gray. Both the Stormcloaks and the Legion have very valid reasons for wanting the other gone. However, once you remember that the BiggerBad are the Thalmor, it becomes Black and Grey.

** The Greybeards. On one hand, they're masters of an ancient and powerful magic art that takes most people years to study. On the other hand, they're forced to take a vow of silence because of it, or they risk accidentially killing outsiders with a single word.

** Being a werewolf is considered this InUniverse by Kodlak Whitemane, who would prefer to go to Sovngarde upon his death, but is bound by his curse to spend eternity in Hircine's hunting grounds instead. A quest involves breaking the curse for him -- and you can later do it for yourself and each of the other members of the Circle.

** A letter smeared with blood is found near the corpse of a woman whose family was captured and killed by Falmer.
** Another one is found in the Dragonborn add-on near the body of a man who was killed in his lover's house.

* BodyHorror: What happens to [[spoiler:Astrid. It seems that having the player's Dark Brotherhood mentor die to a mundane form of this is a series tradition.]]
** Also present for some monsters, the best prominent being the Falmer, who [[spoiler: were Elves once and thus did possess eyes and had no fangs or claws.]]

** ''Dragonborn'' adds another notable example in the form of The Ebony Warrior. He only appears once the player reaches level 80, uses very powerful enchanted equipment, boasts impressive resistances to all three elements, is immune to falling damage outside of a possible glitch, and weilds a number of shouts in battle. Including '''[[BlownAcrossTheRoom FUS RO DAH.]]''' [[OneHitKill On top of a mountain.]]
** Karstaag, returning in spirit form from [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Bloodmoon]]. The ghost of a frost giant, who has [[MagicKnight both powerful destruction spells and sheer physical size]] on his side.

* BoobsOfSteel: As the weight slider increments on a female character in character generation, muscle mass and body frame size increases... and so does breast size.

* BoomerangBigot: Sybille Stentor, the Court Wizard for the Jarl of Solitude. She sends you on a quest to destroy a "disgusting" nest of vampires, but detect life / detect death and a quick peek at the faction code shows she's actually a vampire herself. Speaking with Melaran at the Palace entrance implies that her condition is a well-kept secret amongst the palace and she gets most of her nourishment dealing with the more "troublesome" prisoners kept in the dungeons.

** Marked For Death. Other shouts create fire, throw enemies through the air, call down lightning storms, or slow down time. '''KRII LUN AUS''', however, just hits the enemy with a shimmering wave of energy that otherwise has no outward effect, beyond draining life and reducing armor to the point that a couple hits with a warhammer will drop nearly any boss.

** It's very tempting to spend those lovely perk points you've just acquired on a cool new ability, next to which all the "Skill X is Y% more effective" and "Spell A costs B% less magicka" options look rather dreary. But ignore them and your levelling enemies will soon start curb-stomping you with impunity.

** Become Ethereal. All it does is make you ethereal, and thus render you ''completely untouchable''. Pretty much ''the'' Shout for when you're getting attacked and need to buy a bit of breathing room. Dragons, bandit chiefs, bears, wizards, it doesn't matter. Shout those words and they can't touch you, letting you either escape, wait for backup, run through their companions to the enemy you need to take out, or get ready to chop them with a power attack or ready a powerful spell in peace. With the Blessing of Talos and a Talos Amulet (let alone Fortify Restoration) the basic version of this shout will almost recharge before you're done being ethereal in the first place. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And since it nullifies]] FallingDamage, [[MundaneUtility you can also use it to jump off of high places instead of climbing down them.]]
* [[BossInMooksClothing Boss In Mook's Clothing]]: At higher levels, Draugr Deathlords, normally boss-level draugr, are now part of the rank and file. And they've lost none of their stats; Shouts, hard-hitting weapons, [[DamageSpongeBoss damage sponge-level health]]. Taking over for them in some dungeons (in the absence of Dragon Priests) are their new bosses, the [[spoiler: Draugr Death Overlords]].

* BossRush: At the end of the Forbidden Legend questline, you have to fight the three Gauldurson brothers in a row to combine all three pieces of the Gauldur Amulet. The amulet itself give 30 points to Health, Stamina, and Magicka.
* BraggingThemeTune: The Skyrim theme song, towards the Dragonborn.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Mercer Frey of the Thieves Guild has a shopping list in his house: milk, goat cheese, turnips, eggs, flour, cheese, and cauterizing agent.
** Inverted and likely unintentional but no less unsettling instance occurs with both ''Dawnguard'' and ''Hearthfire'' installed. If you visit the vampire merchants in Castle Volkihar, they will sell you all kinds of nefarious weapons, poisonous alchemy ingredients, necromantic spells, blood potions... and children's dolls and clothes. [[FridgeHorror Think about that for a moment]].

** In White River Watch, one of the first dungeons you're likely to come across, you can find a few notes talking about a group of bandits who were kicked out of their clan due to a "conflict of interest". [[spoiler:Three of those bandits end up getting brainwashed by a Draugr mage and sacrifice themselves to him, and the fourth joins another bandit clan, only to get kicked out of ''that'' one after she desecrated the Pale Lady's tomb.]]
* BrokenBridge: Thanks to the open-world nature of the game, you can visit several locations that are important to quests without actually having taken the quest. While some just let you run through and trigger the quest when you pick up the relevant item (or at least force you to keep the quest item until you learn what it's for), others solve the problem by blocking off access to the relevant section, if not the entire dungeon, until you find the quest. This is particularly annoying when doing the Gauldur amulet quest, one third of which is locked in a quest-specific dungeon with literally zero hint as to where the quest-giver is (the site is being excavated by the College of Winterhold).

* BurningTheFlag: One of the thieves' guild quests has you assassinating the leader of a rival guild, the Summerset Shadows. You're given the option to set fire to a banner while in the Shadows' headquarters; if you do so, the quest giver will compliment you for sending a message that the guild won't be trifled with.
* 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.

** Finishing the Thieves' Guild storyline involves [[spoiler: becoming a Nightingale and selling your soul to Nocturnal]]. A particularly blatant example as really, you shouldn't ''have'' to do this - you're told that [[spoiler:becoming a Nightingale]] is the only way you can fight [[spoiler:Mercey Frey]] on equal terms, except that you can kill him without ever using the powers you get, and they aren't much help fighting him as-is anyway.
** The Dark Brotherhood questline, so, so much - when they decide someone has to die, they have to die. All you get to choose is the how of it for optional objectives. You're never given the choice of [[spoiler:siding with Astrid and agreeing with her decision to lead the Brotherhood away from the Night Mother]], and when the time comes to [[spoiler:kill Astrid]], you have to do it; even if you try to heal her, it will kill her.
** The Forsworn Conspiracy is one of the worst examples of ButThouMust in the game, with nearly every last objective being arbitrary and done because, well, ButThouMust, but is especially bad because of one particular portion, where you HAVE to get framed by the guards to get sent to Cidhna Mine and proceed the questline. Never mind that you could very likely kill every last guard in the city, march into Cidhna Mine and free Madanach that way, you HAVE to yield to them. And killing them doesn't help - no matter what, you still have to be framed by them, and then you'll be greeted with a several-thousand-septim bounty at the end of the quest anyway.

** At the end of the main questline, you must release Odahviing in order to reach Skuldafn, the final dungeon. The game forces you to do this because you need to fly in order to get there... except that there is no reason given that Paathurnax couldn't take you there. This gets even worse if you complete the ''Dragonborn'' DLC questlines before getting to this point in the main game; having learned the appropriate Shout, you can literally command ''any'' dragon you find to land and let you ride it, not to mention being able to summon a dragon anywhere you like who could also fly you there.
** In the ''Dawnguard'' expansion, you join an order of vampire hunters, walk into a crypt killing vampires left and right, open up an ancient casket to reveal another vampire, and... escort her home after some polite conversation. Notable in that in most other quest lines at the very least you can avert ButThouMust by simply choosing a different quest line if you don't care to, say, turn into a werewolf for the Companions quest. Here, though, you can't kill her (as she's marked Essential), telling her that you'd like to part ways is met by [[ButThouMust "I disagree,"]] and ignoring her request results in her following you around and complaining about the sunlight for the rest of the game.
* ButtMonkey: The Orcs as a whole. Not even a decade into the Fourth Era, they are forced at swordpoint by the Bretons to officially renounce Orsinium as a province and allow themselves to be assimilated into High Rock. By the time of Skyrim, most Orcs are little more than indentured servants to the Bretons, and those that aren't are forced to live in "strongholds" that are almost universally rundown, destitute and scorned by all.
** The Dark Elves too, what with 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.

** A comment by the Alchemist Elgrim suggests that Rythe Lathandas, a painter first encountered in ''Oblivion'', is still alive and producing Painted Troll Fat (an alchemy ingredient that could only be acquired during the quest related to him).

** The quest to find [[spoiler:Mehrunes' Razor]] involves working with [[spoiler:and killing]] a descendant and enthusiast of the [[ReligionOfEvil Mythic Dawn]], the cult which served as the primary antagonist of ''Oblivion.'' He keeps a museum of Mythic Dawn memorabilia including the ''Commentaries''' one and only surviving page of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Mysterium Xarxes]], and his notes on the bloodlines holding the pieces of [[spoiler:the Razor]] note that none of the parties involved were involved with the failed expedition that the Champion of Cyrodiil stumbled upon in the ''Oblivion'' DLC quest in which said artifact appeared.

** There are many references to Queen Barenziah, an NPC appearing in ''Daggerfall'' and ''Tribunal'' featured in the Thieves' Guild. Barenziah's crown is the object of a long, long quest chain. The term "Nightingale" in conjunction to Queen Barenziah dates to the events of ''Arena'', where a bard under that name gets the location of the Staff of Chaos by seducing her. "The Nightingales Vol. 2" reveals he is not Jagar Tharn as previously thought, but [[spoiler:one of Nocturnal's Nightingales, and that current Nightingale Karliah is Barenziah's granddaughter through this union]].