History YMMV / TheElderScrolls

* DeliberateFlawRetcon: "It's not a bug, it's a feature," could practically be the catch phrase of Creator/ToddHoward when discussing the series.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: See [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable/TheElderScrolls here]].

* UnwinnableByInsanity: See [[UnwinnableByInsanity/TheElderScrolls here]].

** Through ''Oblivion'', the Bosmer (Wood Elves) comprise some of the most annoying characters in the series, drawing significant hatred from the fandom. Male Bosmer in particular are [[TinyGuyHugeGirl diminutive]], [[UglyGuyHotWife ugly]], and, from a gameplay perspective, are best used in ForestRanger-type builds but are even outclassed there by much "cooler" races who can function just as well in that role, such as the Dunmer (Dark Elves) and CatFolk Khajiit. Fargoth, Gaenor, Glarthir, Maglir, the Adoring Fan...the list of Scrappy Bosmer goes on. That changed significantly in ''Skyrim'', where the entire race [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] and become a WoobieSpecies due to their [[FantasticRacism genocidally racist]] Altmer cousins occupying their homeland (Valenwood), and Bosmer go from being hands-down the least popular race to one of the fandom's favorites.

* MyRealDaddy: Former series writer Creator/MichaelKirkbride is considered this. Kirkbride wrote for both ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'', as well as for the ActionAdventure [[GaidenGame spin-off]] ''Redguard''. In addition, Kirkbride wrote dozens of the series' [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe books]]. Kirkbride is credited in particular for establishing the series' famous "lore", essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''Daggerfall'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. He still contributes "[[LooseCanon Obscure Texts]]" to the series, essentially [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary items]] treated as canonical by most of the fanbase (or at least the equivalent of the series' famous in-universe UnreliableCanon). Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''Skyrim'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]," [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status. Kirkbride's elevation to this status largely came at the expense of the lead developer for ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'', Creator/JulianLeFay, who is now something of ThePeteBest for the series.
* NewerThanTheyThink: The Daedric Princes are a very popular and rather unique set of characters who have become synonymous with the series. It's easy to forget that they were first introduced in ''Daggerfall'', and even then had copious amounts of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness with their depictions and personalities. ''Morrowind'' is where they started to become what they are recognized as today...but only for about 8 of the 16, as half were PutOnABus following ''Daggerfall''. All 16 (plus a 17th) finally became established as of ''Oblivion'', four games into the main series.

** At the time ''Skyrim'' was released, a nation/alliance called the Aldmeri Dominion had only two known incarnations; one that was conquered by Tiber Septim at the end of the Second Era, and the one that exists in ''Skyrim''[='s=] timeframe, under the rule of the Thalmor. When ''The Elder Scrolls Online'' came out, it added a new one that existed earlier than the others, an alliance that consisted of the Altmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit nations. It retroactively made the ''Skyrim''-era Dominion the third incarnation. [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany What other known (quasi)-fascist state has existed that claimed to be the 'Third' version?]] Given that ''ESO'' was under development at the same time as ''Skyrim'', (by a different Zenimax subsidiary) this might not have been a coincidence.

** Another angle to the situation for the series is that there seems to be a loose "odd-even" configuration to the fandom. It's not uncommon to find fans of both ''Daggerfall'' (The 2nd ''ES'' game) and ''Oblivion'' (the 4th), who enjoy that those games are closer to classic HighFantasy while disliking ''Morrowind'' (the 3rd) and ''Skyrim'' (the 5th) for being too "alien". Meanwhile, fans of these odd-numbered titles favor them over the even-numbered titles for the ''exact same reason''.

** Among fans in Poland there's rather unhealthy obsession with Hist, a relatively obscure race of [[WiseTree sentient trees]]. Reasons are unclear, [[FridgeHorror probably for the best]].

* FanonDiscontinuity: To say that ''The Elder Scrolls Online'' is rather divisive within ''The Elder Scrolls'' lore community is a polite understatement. It is far from uncommon to find members cherry picking elements of ''Online'' which support their already held beliefs while dismissing anything that goes against them. This is made all the easier by the fact ''Online'' was written and developed by a different team than the core series of games. One of the most prominent specific examples is Cyrodiil appearing as a temperate forest several centuries before Tiber Septim (upon his [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascension as the god Talos]]) canonically converted in from a {{Mayincatec}}-style tropical rainforest. Lore sources in ''Online'' dismiss the idea that Cyrodiil was ''ever'' a tropical rainforest, blaming that idea on a "transcription error". The lore community acted quickly and came to settle on the idea that Talos' changes were retroactive, making it so that Cyrodiil had ''always been'' a temperate forest, to explain the discrepancy. (Zenimax later added a book to the game, ''Subtropical Cyrodiil'', which both mocked the previous explanation and provided a much more reasonable one.)

** Also relating to lore, the series' developers and a number of former developers contribute "Obscure Texts" which further flesh out parts of the series lore. Treated by the majority of fans as, at the very least, LooseCanon, bringing up these texts in a group of fans is certain to split them in various ways. Some consider them ''more'' {{Canon}} that what actually appears in-game, largely due to the (intentionally) UnreliableCanon nature of the series. Others dismiss them as little more than educated fan fiction. In particular, former series writer (through ''Oblivion'') Michael Kirkbride is considered MyRealDaddy by the former group. Kirkbride is credited in particular for establishing the series' famous lore, essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''Daggerfall'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''Skyrim'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]," [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status.

* ArchivePanic: Five main series games, five spin-offs, two novels, countless more in-game books, dozens of developer-written supplementary items...getting into the series as a late-comer can be quite the challenge.

* MagnificentBastard
** [[ScaryLibrarian Hermaeus Mora]] is the Daedric Prince of knowledge whose [[EldritchAbomination monstrous, formless appearance]] belies a mind possibly more cunning than any other Daedric Prince in existence. Constantly seeking to [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge hoard knowledge of all sorts]] to fill the shelves of his arcane library Apocrypha through gambits atop of gambits, Mora bargains with servitors seeking Mora's secrets, rewarding those who are earnest and horribly punishing those who renege on his gifts. In the ''Dragonborn'' expansion to ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Mora realizes his current servant, the Dragonborn Miraak, is attempting to betray him, Mora executes a plan to manipulate the Last Dragonborn into killing and replacing him, simultaneously using them to wrest the long-held secrets of the Skaal by refusing to grant them the last Word of Power necessary to defeat Miraak until they do so. Ultimately, Mora ends up completely untouchable in the end, musing that all the Last Dragonborn has and will do is [[JustAsPlanned according to his grand design]].
** [[YMMV/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind "Gentlemen" Jim Stacey]], [[YMMV/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion the Gray Fox]], and [[YMMV/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Karliah Indoril]]. See their respective pages for examples.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The ''36 Lessons of Vivec'' from ''Morrowind''. They are a series of 36 books, supposedly penned by the man-god himself (the real life author is Michael Kirkbride). In them, he uses oodles of biblical imagery to make sure that, if you take it seriously, there is ''no way'' a person could see Vivec as anything less than the absolute god of ''The Elder Scrolls'' universe (which, of course, isn't necessarily true but is also exactly what UnreliableNarrator Vivec wants the reader to think). Doubles with {{Anvilicious}}. Also with Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad. And don't forget GettingCrapPastTheRadar since some lessons are loaded with obvious innuendo. Finally, there's a dose of InJoke too, with glitches in the ''Redguard'' engine fictionalized as natural wonders. And it's meant to be a "How-to be the Nerevarine" guidebook, and a "How-to kill me" guidebook. Basically, the 36 Lessons of Vivec are a lot of things to a lot of people.

** Every time a new game in the main series comes out, expect claims of this from fans of the previous. Even further, past games often enter SacredCow and ImmunityToCriticism status when a new one comes out depending on the forum in question, which can make this even more flagrant.

* CrazyAwesome: Many.
** Sheogorath. It's practically a domain of his.
** Pelinal Whitestrake, the bloodthirsty, batshit insane, elf-hating Tamrielic equivalent of a Franchise/{{Terminator}}.
** Divayth Fyr, to the point where he became something of an icon/mascot for the ''Elder Scrolls'' Lore community. To note, he's a [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld 4000 year old]] wizard who has the highest level of any NPC in the vanilla ''Morrowind'' game, made himself multiple OppositeSexClone "daughters" to keep him "company" (and are alternatively referred to by some as his "[[ScrewYourself wives]]"), [[TheCollector amassed a collection of powerful artifacts]] which he doesn't mind people taking if they can figure out [[LockAndKeyPuzzle the puzzle]], can [[DimensionalTraveler freely travel through the realms of the Daedra]], [[spoiler: turned the PlayerCharacter into TheAgeless (and will {{Squee}} while doing so,) and befriended the [[LastOfHisKind last living Dwemer]].]] He appears again in ''Online'' and brings even more crazy awesomeness.

** [[ScaryLibrarian Hermaeus Mora]] is the Daedric Prince of knowledge whose [[EldritchAbomination monstrous, formless appearance]] belies a mind possibly more cunning than any other Daedric Prince in existence. Constantly seeking to [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge hoard knowledge of all sorts]] to fill the shelves of his arcane library Apocrypha through gambits atop of gambits, Mora bargains with servitors seeking Mora's secrets, rewarding those who are earnest and horribly punishing those who renege on his gifts. in the ''Dragonborn'' expansion to ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Mora realizes his current servant, the Dragonborn Miraak, is attempting to betray him, Mora executes a plan to manipulate the Last Dragonborn into killing and replacing him, simultaneously using them to wrest the long-held secrets of the Skaal by refusing to grant them the last Word of Power necessary to defeat Miraak until they do so. Ultimately, Mora ends up completely untouchable in the end, musing that all the Last Dragonborn has and will do is [[JustAsPlanned according to his grand design]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[ScaryLibrarian Hermaeus Mora]] is the Daedric Prince of knowledge whose [[EldritchAbomination monstrous, formless appearance]] belies a mind possibly more cunning than any other Daedric Prince in existence. Constantly seeking to [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge hoard knowledge of all sorts]] to fill the shelves of his arcane library Apocrypha through gambits atop of gambits, Mora bargains with servitors seeking Mora's secrets, rewarding those who are earnest and horribly punishing those who renege on his gifts. in the ''Dragonborn'' expansion to ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Mora realizes his current servant, the Dragonborn Miraak, is attempting to betray him, Mora executes a plan to manipulate the Last Dragonborn into killing and replacing him, simultaneously using them to wrest the long-held secrets of the Skaal by refusing to grant them the last Word of Power necessary to defeat Miraak until they do so. Ultimately, Mora ends up completely untouchable in the end, musing that all the Last Dragonborn has and will do is [[JustAsPlanned according to his grand design]].

* MagnificentBastard: Hermaeus Mora is the Daedric Prince of knowledge whose monstrous, formless appearance belies a mind possibly more cunning than any other Daedric Prince in existence. Constantly seeking to hoard knowledge of all sorts to fill the shelves of his arcane library Apocrypha through gambits atop of gambits, Mora bargains with servitors seeking Mora's secrets, rewarding those who are earnest and horribly punishing those who renege on his gifts. in the ''Dragonborn'' expansion to ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Mora realizes his current servant, the Dragonborn Miraak, is attempting to betray him, Mora executes a plan to manipulate the Last Dragonborn into killing and replacing him, simultaneously using them to wrest the long-held secrets of the Skaal by refusing to grant them the last Word of Power necessary to defeat Miraak until they do so. Ultimately, Mora ends up completely untouchable in the end, musing that all the Last Dragonborn has and will do is [[JustAsPlanned according to his grand design]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The parts of the lore written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride[[note]]''The 36 Lessons of Vivec'', ''Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes'', ''The Song of Pelinal'', etc.[[/note]] are so ''[[NewWeird weird]]'' that it's a common joke within the fanbase to say he was on mushrooms while writing it all (when in reality, it was mostly amphetamines). In an interesting way, this makes them read quite a bit more like real life ancient religious texts, most of which have been reinterpreted by various writers throughout history and have been translated multiple times leading to their unique styles.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The parts of the lore written by Creator/MichaelKirkbride[[note]]''The 36 Lessons of Vivec'', ''Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes'', ''The Song of Pelinal'', etc.[[/note]] are so ''[[NewWeird weird]]'' that it's a common joke within the fanbase to say he was on mushrooms while writing it all. In an interesting way, this makes them read quite a bit more like real life ancient religious texts, most of which have been reinterpreted by various writers throughout history and have been translated multiple times leading to their unique styles.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many fans would be forgiven for thinking that Jyggalag, the Daedric Prince of Order, was a new creation for ''Oblivion''[='s=] ''Shivering Isles'' expansion. However, he was first mentioned in an in-game book in ''Morrowind''.