History TheElderScrolls / TropesD

* DropTheHammer:
** Warhammers are a classic heavy blunt weapon in the series. They generally deal massive damage, but are extremely heavy and slow to swing.
** The legendary hammer Volendrung, known as the "Hammer of Might", has appeared throughout the series. It was originally crafted by the Dwemer and later became associated with Malacath, the Daedric Prince of Pariahs. In addition to dealing considerable damage, it has variously been enchanted to paralyze those it strikes as well as drain their strength and stamina. According to lore, a Dwemer chieftain once threw Volendrung across Tamriel, vowing to settle wherever it landed, leading to the establishment of Volenfell as the westernmost outpost of the Dwemer. After the entire Dwemer race disappeared during the Battle of Red Mountain, the area was eventually resettled by the Redguards, who renamed it Hammerfell.

* DemonicPossession: The Daedric Princes have shown to be capable of this, though they are far more likely to take the form of a [[GodInHumanForm mortal avatar]] when needed.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', seven of the game's nine cities (the Imperial City and Bruma are the exceptions) specialize in one of the above schools, and the initial branches of the Mages' Guild questline involve going to each Guild Hall and learning that area's skill to earn a recommendation from the head of the branch.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the College of Winterhold seems to have something of a rivalry going on amongst students of the individual branches to determine which school's spells are best.

* DoubleEdgedBuff: In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', the FantasticDrug Skooma temporarily makes the drinker stronger and faster but harms their intelligence and agility. In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', it's a plain Stamina restorative, but Redwater Skooma causes slowness and [[InterfaceScrew screen blur]] as well.

* DoubleEdgedBuff:
Skooma is a hallucinatory narcotic whose effects vary depending on the game:
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'':
---> Fortify Strength 20 pts for 60 secs
---> Fortify Speed 20 pts for 60 secs
---> Drain Intelligence 20 pts for 60 secs
---> Drain Agility 20 pts for 60 secs
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'':
---> Damage Intelligence 2 pts
---> Drain Agility 60 pts for 20 secs
---> Fortify Speed and Strength 60 pts for 20 secs
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': Unlike in previous games, regular Skooma is just a plain Stamina restorative. Redwater Skooma though:
---> Restore Stamina, 40 pts
---> Redwater Skooma Script Effect
---> Drugged, for 45 secs
---> Slow, 50 pts for 45 secs

* DaylightHorror: Several vampire bloodlines and lycanthropes with voluntary transformations are just as capable of hunting during the day as they are at night. In some cases, they'll even invoke this trope directly.

*** A particularly frustrating example occurs on the [=PS3=] when going between ''Oblivion'' and ''Skyrim''. ''Oblivion'' uses the R2 key to move items. ''Skyrim'' remaps it to use [[MakeMeWannaShout Shouts]] instead. Coupled with natural lag on the [=PS3=] at higher levels, and the lag brought on from processing the bytes that make up the items flying around the room, an accidental press in ''Skyrim'' can be ''agonizing''.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The founder of the Second Tamriellic Empire, Reman Cyrodiil, incorporated the defeated [[SnakePeople Tsaesci]] invaders from [[{{Wutai}} Akavir]] into his fledgling empire. After Reman used [[MakeMeWannaShout the Thu'um]] against them in battle during their invasion of Tamriel, they recognized him as Dragonborn, who the Tsaesci believe to be the ultimate dragon slayers. He incorporated the surviving Tsaesci into his armies, where they served him as bodyguards, dragon hunters, and would be the precursors to [[PraetorianGuard the Blades]]. They also became a great cultural influence within the empire.

** Kynareth, the Divine Goddess of the Air and Heavens, pulled a few to help early mankind in their battles against the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] and elves. When the ancient [[HornyVikings Nords]] prayed for aid against the dragons and their [[ReligionOfEvil Dragon Cults]], she sent [[TokenHeroicOrc Paarthurnax]] to teach them the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]] so they could use the [[LanguageOfMagic dragons' own weapon]] against them. She was also perhaps the most active Divine in supporting the Alessian Revolt, sending her "son" Morihaus to join the conflict on Alessia's side. She sent rain to cleanse the blood from Ayleid forts and villages after [[GodInHumanForm Pelinal]] [[TheBerserker Whitestrake]] [[PaintTheTownRed came through]], so that they could be used by Alessia's forces.

** The series' [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] are the "children" of Akatosh and/or, according to some theories, [[PiecesOfGod fragments of his very being]]. This would also include those who are Dragonborn, mortals gifted by Akatosh with the immortal soul of a dragon, who are to serve as [[HunterOfHisOwnKind natural predators]] to dragons. Like the dragons, the Dragonborn possess instinctive knowledge of the draconic LanguageOfMagic and can use the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]].

* DragonsAreDivine: Crossing over with elements of DragonsAreDemonic as well. To summarize, dragons are the "children" of Akatosh, the Aedric God of Time and TopGod of the Imperial Nine Divines pantheon who himself typically takes the form of a great dragon. The dragons practice a LanguageOfMagic, the "Thu'um" which allows for some small scale [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] by "[[MakeMeWannaShout shouting]]" elements into existence. The dragons themselves are TheAgeless, and while they can be slain by any capable individual, they possess ResurrectiveImmortality and can be brought back to life by another dragon unless their soul is [[YourSoulIsMine absorbed by another dragon (or Dragonborn)]]. Despite their divine origins, dragons are creatures of aggression and domination, and it's [[AlwaysChaoticEvil in their blood to be cruel and contemptuous]]. However, they can [[HeelFaceTurn fight against their baser nature]], as best exemplified by Paarthurnax. In addition to Akatosh, even the lesser dragons have been worshiped by different groups across Nirn, including the ancient Nords and the Ka Po' Tun of Akavir.

** Though long extinct by the time the main series games take place, the [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] were rightfully dreaded in the backstory. They had an [[BlueAndOrangeMorality utterly incomprehensible and alien]] belief system while being by far the [[RealityWarper most]] [[{{Magitek}} technologically]] [[SteamPunk advanced]] race in the series. They were said to be feared by the Chimer (ancestors of the Dunmer), [[HornyVikings Nords]], and even the ''gods themselves''. The latter because the highly {{Naytheist}}ic Dwemer were known to summon Daedra just to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu put their divinity to the test]]. The only military force in history which truly challenged them was a [[ProudWarriorRace Nord army]] led by masters of the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], and the Dwemer even defeated them after forming an EnemyMine with their rival Chimer. The only reason they aren't still around terrorizing the other races is because they did ''[[RiddleForTheAges something]]'' (involving the [[CosmicKeystone heart]] of a [[GodIsDead dead god]]) which caused their entire race to disappear at once.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: The modern [[TheMorlocks Morlock]]-like Falmer, despite being able to craft weapons and armor, are rarely seen wearing anything on their feet. Possibly justified, as it is speculated that, due to their [[EyelessFace blindness]], the Falmer use other means of detecting threats. This may include feeling vibrations in the ground with their feet.

** As a whole, the Daedric Princes, associated with the darkness of Padomay, are AboveGoodAndEvil, operating within their own spectrum of BlueAndOrangeMorality. Still, they range from being considered "evil" to being considered JerkassGods to most civilizations throughout Tamriel. However, a few of the malevolent Daedric Princes fit this reputation, such as Molag Bal (Daedric Prince of [[TheCorrupter Corruption]] and the closest thing the series has to a true GodOfEvil) and Vaermina, the Daedric Prince of Nightmares, who may only be second in brutality to Molag Bal himself.

** This is a power of Vaermina, the Daedric Prince of Nightmares. It is theorized that she uses the dreams of mortals as some sort of source of power. Her most (in)famous artifact is the Skull of Corruption, a MagicStaff which steals the dreams of sleeping mortals to become more powerful.

** As a whole, the Daedric Princes, associated with the darkness of Padomay, are AboveGoodAndEvil, operating within their own spectrum of BlueAndOrangeMorality. Still, they range from being considered "evil" to being considered JerkassGods to most civilizations throughout Tamriel. However, a few of the malevolent Daedric Princes fit this reputation, such as Molag Bal (Daedric Prince of [[TheCorrupter Corruption]] and the closest thing the series has to a true GodOfEvil) and Vaermina, the Daedric Prince of [[YourWorstNightmare Nightmares]], who may only be second in brutality to Molag Bal himself.

*** During a wager between the Daedric Princes [[YourWorstNightmare Vaermina]] and [[MadGod Sheogorath]], they conspired to see which of them could most effectively ensnare a famous artist. Namira used grotesque nightmares, driving the artist to make terrifying and disgusting art that made him wildly popular through BileFascination. Sheogorath, meanwhile, did [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing nothing at all]], driving the artist to madness when his inspirations disappeared, and as a result he began creating angry, blasphemous art that insulted the gods and authority figures. Eventually the artist insulted the wrong petty king, who had him publicly executed.

** This is a power of Vaermina, the Daedric Prince of [[YourWorstNightmare Nightmares]]. It is theorized that she uses the dreams of mortals as some sort of source of power. Her most (in)famous artifact is the Skull of Corruption, a MagicStaff which steals the dreams of sleeping mortals to become more powerful.

'''Note:''' ''Elder Scrolls'' lore is generally not clear-cut. Reasons for this range from [[UnreliableNarrator biased]] in-universe sources intentionally only giving you only one side of a story, to sources [[CriticalResearchFailure lacking critical information]] or working from [[BlatantLies false information]], to the implication that AllMythsAreTrue, despite the contradictions, or that at least all myths are MetaphoricallyTrue. [[WordOfGod Out-of-game developer supplemental texts]] (frequently referred to as "Obscure Texts" by the lore community) are more trustworthy, but are frequently left [[LooseCanon unofficial]] and sometimes later contradicted. Because of this, it is entirely possible for two contradictory statements in the below examples to ''both'' be true. (And due to frequent events in-universe that [[TimeCrash alter the timeline]], both may ''literally'' be true in-universe.)

** Emperor Reman Cyrodiil, founder of the Reman dynasty, was another human that may have became a god after his death. After his death, he was possibly granted immortality and godhood by Akatosh, and it's believed by some that he became the WarGod [[NamesTheSame Reymon]] Ebonarm. (Beyond the [[NamesTheSame similar sounding names]], this one is closer to an [[EpilepticTrees Epileptic Tree]], with supporting evidence being very scant and circumstantial.)

* DifficultButAwesome: Playing with the "Atronach" birthsign (or activating the Atronach "Standing Stone" in ''Skyrim''). The Atronach removes (or severely reduces) your ability to regenerate [[{{Mana}} Magicka]] naturally, which includes sleeping. In return, it grants the largest boost to your maximum Magicka of any birthsign and gives you a 50% chance to [[ManaDrain absorb any magic spell]] cast at you. By devising a way to cover the other 50% (via absorption, [[AttackReflector reflection]], or [[AntiMagic resistance]]), you can effectively become ''immune'' to magical attacks. This goes UpToEleven if you play as an [[MageSpecies Altmer]], who have a natural weakness to magical attacks but have the highest natural starting pool of Magicka of any race.

** Throughout the series, the various CityGuards have a tendency to '''''aggressively''''' seek you out if you commit a crime, whether it's mass murder or [[ShopliftAndDie stealing a piece]] of VendorTrash worth a single gold. With the exception of ''Arena'', it is {{Downplayed}} in that they will at least attempt to arrest you first (unless your bounty is exceptionally high, generally 5000+, at which point you'll be marked as "kill on sight").

* DeadlyUpgrade: Becoming a [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] is a very literal case of the trope. Mortal sorcerers, often {{necromancer}}s, undergo a ritual that turns them undead while [[WitchSpecies greatly increasing their magical power]] and also gives them [[ImmortalitySeeker the undead form of immortality]]. This is common among the senior members of the [[TheOrder Order of the Black Worm]], a reclusive MagicalSociety who mainly study TheDarkArts, following in the footsteps of their leader (and first ever Lich), Mannimarco, the King/God of Worms.

** Hagravens are a form of flightless [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies harpy]] who were once mortal women that underwent a ritual "trading in their humanity" for [[WitchSpecies access to powerful magic]]. The exact means of the transformation remains mysterious, but it is known that a human sacrifice is part of the process. They will also be the "devil" in the trope toward [[BarbarianTribe Reachmen]] warriors. These warriors will allow a Hagraven to replace their heart with a Briar Heart, a magical organic item that grants them great power at the cost of their free will. These "Briarhearts" are frequently found in service to Hagravens.

* DifficultButAwesome: Playing with the "Atronach" birthsign (or activating the Atronach "Standing Stone" in ''Skyrim''). The Atronach removes (or severely reduces) your ability to regenerate [[{{Mana}} Magicka]] naturally, which includes sleeping. In return, it grants the largest boost to your maximum Magicka of any birthsign and gives you a 50% chance to [[ManaDrain absorb any magic spell]] cast at you. By devising a way to cover the other 50% (via absorption, [[AttackReflector reflection]], or [[AntiMagic resistance]]), you can effectively become ''immune'' to magical attacks. This goes UpToEleven if you play as an [[WitchSpecies Altmer]], who have a natural weakness to magical attacks but have the highest natural starting pool of Magicka of any race.

* DoesNotLikeMagic: A cultural trait of both the Nords and Redguards, both {{Proud Warrior Race}}s. Both races have long been at war with different races of Mer (Elves), who tend to be magically inclined WitchSpecies, making this dislike somewhat justifiable. Both also make exceptions: the Nords for [[WhiteMagic Restoration]] magic ("Healers"), and the Redguards for Destruction magic (because [[NoKillLikeOverkill doing more damage is always a good thing]]). Both races were also ancient users of magic-like abilties - the Nords using the [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]] and the Redguards has their [[MasterSwordsman Ansei]] ("Sword Saints") who could [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation create powerful swords from their very souls]]. For the Nords, this is also only the case for ''modern'' Nords - the ancient Nords (and their Atmoran ancestors) considered magic to be the "Clever Craft", with many of their ancient heroes being {{Magic Knight}}s.

** The Bretons are the most famous hybrid race in Tamriel. Their (human) ancestors were {{Breeding Slave}}s to the Direnni Altmer of High Rock. Over the course of many generations, some of the Elven traits started to come through with greater dominance. This has led the Bretons to be the most [[WitchSpecies magically inclined]] race of Men in Tamriel at the cost of some of the HumansAreWarriors traits of the other races of Men. It still isn't accurate to call the Bretons "half human" hybrids, however. They are still almost entirely human with ''some'' Altmeri ancestry. It's noted that some elite noble Breton families still have slightly pointed ears.