History TheElderScrolls / TropesB

* BonusBoss: Skyrim features various hidden bosses such as Vulthuryol, Karstaag the Frost Giant, and Ebony Warrior.

* BookBurning: The Alessian Order was a [[FantasticRacism rabidly anti-Elven]] [[TheChurch religious sect]] which established a [[TheTheocracy Theocracy]] that wielded nearly as much power as the Emperor at its height. They destroyed any Elven writings or cultural items (especially those of the Ayleids who had previously [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslaved mankind]]) that they could get their hands on. Their success in this regard eventually made it so that [[WrittenByTheWinners only the Imperial account of events surrounding the Alessian Revolt]] survived. The Order then suffered this as well at the end of the War of Righteousness, which saw their headquarters (along with the libraries and records) destroyed.

* BonusBoss: The non-randomly generated games starting with ''Morrowind'' each feature at least a few of these. For the most part, they tend to be in out-of-the-way places you may only stumble upon by accident or only start appearing once you've reached a certain level.

* BorrowingFromTheSisterSeries: After four main series games featuring a ClassAndLevelSystem, the series brought in a SkillScoresAndPerks system for ''Skyrim'', similar to what Bethesda's acquired ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has featured since its inception.

* BabiesEverAfter: Sai, the DeityOfHumanOrigin [[BornLucky God of Luck]] celebrated in the Iliac Bay region, was tasked after being brought back to life with WalkingTheEarth to help balance the world by spreading his good luck. He performed this task well but then met and settled down with a Nord woman, with whom he had a daughter. However, as lingering in one place for too long would unbalance the world by giving it too much good luck, he was visited and punished by a procession of other gods which ended with his physical form being taken away. After his physical form faded away entirely, his decedents are said to be able to "feel" his presence once a year.

* ButterFace: Can be done with female {{Player Character}}s throughout the series, if you so choose. Because you can customize the face, you can create some real hideous monstrosities. However, the body model is not, and it is typically proportioned to be attractive. (''Skyrim'' adds a "weight" slider to character creation. Sliding it up [[AmazonianBeauty adds muscle mass and causes the body frame size to increase]]... and also ''[[BoobsOfSteel breast size]]''.)

* BladeOnAStick:
** In-game, to date, only ''Morrowind'' offers spears (and other polearms) as a weapon option. These weapons obviously canonically exist in-universe, but they aren't an option to the player in any other game.
** Spears are a weapon commonly associated with Hircine, the Daedric Prince of the Hunt. His humanoid forms are almost always depicted as wielding a spear, and he is associated with two legendary artifact spears: The Spear of Bitter Mercy and the Spear of the Hunter.
** Spears are favored weapons of Goblins and Rieklings (goblin-like humanoid creatures native to Solstheim). Riekling spears are small enough to be either wielded as a one-handed weapon by the larger races, or used as ''arrows''.
** The [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Snow Prince]] was a Falmer (Snow Elf) OneManArmy who very nearly turned the tide of the war against the [[HornyVikings Nords]], who were attempting to [[FinalSolution drive the Falmer to extinction]]. In addition to being [[AnIcePerson a master of Frost magic]], he wielded an enchanted spear that weakened the armor of those it struck and had ice-powers of its own.

** Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince of [[MadGod Madness]]. Despite this status and his insistence that it's impossible to tell exactly what any and all beings will do, he's pretty good at the Batman Gambit. The ''16 Accords of Madness'' volumes VI, IX and XII involve the humiliation of his fellow Daedric Princes [[EgoManiacHunter Hircine]], Vaermina, and [[AllTheOtherReindeer Malacath]], respectively. In each of the stories, he basically has the other Princes defeat themselves. It's even brought up in volume IX, when Vaermina accuses him of doing ''nothing''.

** Sheogorath is the Daedric Prince of [[MadGod Madness]]. Despite this status and his insistence that it's impossible to tell exactly what any and all beings will do, he's pretty good at the Batman Gambit. The ''16 Accords of Madness'' volumes VI, IX and XII involve the humiliation of his fellow Daedric Princes [[EgoManiacHunter Hircine]], [[YourWorstNightmare Vaermina]], and [[AllTheOtherReindeer Malacath]], respectively. In each of the stories, he basically has the other Princes defeat themselves. It's even brought up in volume IX, when Vaermina accuses him of doing ''nothing''.

** The Dunmer have reached this status between the events of ''Morrowind'' and ''Skyrim''. The events of ''Morrowind'' stripped them of their guardian {{Physical God}}s, which had the delayed but direct effect of causing the rogue moon Baar Dau (which the Dunmer Tribunal deity Vivec froze in place after [[MadGod Sheogorath]] hurled it as his {{Egopolis}} in a past age) to [[ColonyDrop resume its fall]] which caused [[ChekhovsVolcano Red Mountain to erupt]], rendering all of Vvardenfell and much of mainland Morrowind uninhabitable due to choking ash. Then, one of their former {{Slave Race}}s, (the [[LizardFolk Argonians]]) invaded, capturing much of what remained of habitable Morrowind. The Dunmer people were forced to flee, with most settling on the barren frozen island of Solstheim or in Skyrim, where they are treated as second-class citizens (at best) by the native Nords. At the beginning of ''Skyrim'', Hadvar even notes that "the gods really have abandoned" the Dunmer people.

** Ror thousands of years, the Dunmer were a highly xenophobic, arrogant, [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slave-holding]] race. Following the events of ''Morrowind'', their culture went into a sharp decline and was dealt a devastating blow during the "Red Year", when the [[ColonyDrop Ministry of Truth crashed down]] causing [[ChekhovsVolcano Red Mountain]] to errupt which destroyed most of Vvardenfell and rendered much of Morrowind uninhabitable due to choking ash. Then, one of their former {{Slave Race}}s (the [[LizardFolk Argonians]]) invaded and captured much of what was left of habitable Morrowind. The Dunmer have paid for their hubris and then some, now scattered with many of them settling on the frozen, barren island of Solstheim and in Skyrim, where they are treated as second-class citizens (at best) by the native [[HornyVikings Nords]]. Luckily, they seem to have learned a little well-deserved humility in the process. As one Dunmer puts it to a Dunmer PlayerCharacter in ''Skyrim'': "We're all [[NobleSavage Ashlanders]] now."