People of Haafingar
Haafingar is in the northwestern corner of Skyrim, and is known for its opposite extremes in climate - its southern regions are warmer from the Karth River flow, while its northern regions are more typical of its latitude. Its capital is Solitude, built upon a gigantic natural rock arch spanning the mouth of the Karth River. Solitude is the largest city in Skyrim and the provincial capital, it is the main base of the East Empire Trading Company, it is where the Imperial Legion directs their efforts in the civil war, and the Thalmor have their embassy close by the city. It is a city of great political and economic import with strong natural defences and a diverse population. In short, it is the jewel of Imperial power in Skyrim. Haafingar is also where the Thalmor embassy in Skyrim is located. Its banner is a wolf head on a red cross background. Its Jarl is Elisif the Fair, the widow of High King Torygg and de-facto High Queen of Skyrim.
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Brelas
Voiced by: Ellen Dubin (English)note
A Bosmer slave girl who works for Elenwen. She is seen during Elenwen's party. Gets sent to the torture chambers after Erikur frames her because she rejected his romantic advances.
- Break the Cutie: She serves Elenwen against her will. Then she may be sent to the torture chambers for not reacting to Erikur's advances. If you decide to save her, she's shivering in fear, very confused, and doesn't know where to go at all.
- Maid: Heavily implied to be forced into this role.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Can invoke this trope after fleeing the Thalmor Embassy. If a player goes their own way after freeing her, she is known to disappear without a trace. This is because she's set to go to Windhelm, but because she's very weak, she has a high chance of dying during her travels, as well as the fact that, for some reason, her AI isn't as good at finding its way to the city as Malborn's.
Captain Aldis
Voiced by: Paul Ganus (English)note
Captain of the Guard in Solitude. He's in charge of training the guards against outside threats... and a possible siege by the Stormcloaks.
- Benevolent Boss: He is concerned with the progress his soldiers are making, and seems to be concerned with training them so that their skill will save their lives rather than just achieve victory.
- Berserk Button: While normally a reasonable man, he becomes extremely hostile if you approach him in Stormcloak armor. You can apologize and he'll let you off with a warning, or you can declare allegiance to Ulfric, which causes him to slap a bounty on your head and attack, backed by every guard in the vicinity.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Forgoes the Solitude Guard helmet, making him easy to identify at a distance compared to his men.
- I Did What I Had to Do: In regards to Roggvir's execution. He respected Roggvir and saw him as a good man, but, according to him, he really was wrong and his execution was the only valid answer.Aldis: You don't have to hate a man to kill him... although it helps.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: He's a loyal soldier of Solitude, regardless of what side it's on in the Civil War.
- Nice Guy: Didn't want to break the news to poor Angeline about her daughter's death, but can be easily persuaded that telling her the truth is the right thing to do.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While he does conduct Roggvir's execution, he agrees to let Styrr, the city's Priest of Arkay, give the man's body a proper Nord burial despite his crimes.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Aldis disappears if the Civil War is won for the Stormcloaks, presumably being either removed from his position or killed in battle.
Erikur
Voiced by: Stephen Russell (English)note
An arrogant and shady Thane of Haafingar. Has close ties with the Thieves' Guild.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: If you kill him, his own sister or housecarl might send you a letter thanking you for it.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Most of Elisif's court is made up of decent people. Erikur is not one of them.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Or rather, corrupt indulgent businessman, but the majority of his influence comes from his investments and so forth.
- Faux Affably Evil: Very well-mannered and welcoming, but also a sociopath and needlessly cruel.
- Hated by All: Nobody likes this man, considering that he's very upfront about being a self-absorbed Smug Snake.
- Hypocrite: Should you lower his disposition to you, he will have this to say: "Well, if it isn't the bully who goes around hurting people".
- Jerkass: In addition to just being generally unpleasant, he causes a Bosmer slave girl to be sent to the Thalmor torture chambers, just because she refused his romantic advances.
- Karma Houdini: As mentioned, he causes a Bosmer slave girl to be sent to the Thalmor torture chambers, just because she refused his romantic advances. Sadly, the player cannot make him repent the deed, as he is an essential (unkillable) character. To make matters worse, this will raise his disposition towards you, so every time he encounters the player afterward, he acts overly friendly towards them. On the other hand, his "essential" tag gets removed after Vittoria Vici's wedding, so after that he's free game. The only thing his death screws up is an achievement/trophy tied to the Thieves' Guild questline, and even then, only if you don't wait to obtain and complete a single specific quest beforehand.
- You can also punish him non-lethally; if you are a vampire, for example, he is a perfect choice of character to feed from without feeling remorse.
- Kick the Dog: The aforementioned Bosmer slave girl incident.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Don't you dare lump Erikur in with those common Nords! With their obsession with strength, honor, and warrior skill! He's good at one thing, and one thing only: making money!
- Only in It for the Money: Why he supports the Empire. One bit of ambient dialogue involves a discussion with his housecarl, where he mentions that he'd be perfectly willing to sell weapons to the Stormcloaks if they gave him a good offer. His housecarl points out what a shining example of loyalty Erikur is setting.
- Small Name, Big Ego: While he is a Thane and thus an important person, Erikur is convinced that he's the most important person in the Blue Palace. According to his sister, though, Falk Firebeard is the real power in the Palace, and Erikur is just a self-important fop.
- Smug Snake: He's an arrogant snob that talks down to everyone, including the player, who's not only infinitely more badass than he is, but may very well have equal standing in the court of Solitude.
- The Sociopath: Talking to his sister Gisli reveals he does not think about others. Really cements this position by causing a Bosmer slave to get tortured for not liking him, without any form of regret.
- Trumplica: A sleazy, misogynistic businessman with a high position in government, who would've even become Jarl in a cut quest.
- Unexpected Successor: There is a
Dummied Out second Daedric Quest for Boethiah in the game data called "Boethiah's Bidding," which would have ended with Elisif's assassination by the Dragonborn at the Daedric Prince's behest. Unused dialogue in the Creation Kit indicates Erikur would replace her as Jarl of Solitude and pardon the Dragonborn for the act, implying he was behind it all.
Falk Firebeard
Voiced by: Michael J. Gough (English)note
The steward of Jarl Elisif's court. Has his hands full with his job's duties as well as curbing the exuberance and inexperience of his lady Elisif.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Elisif is an over-eager young woman, to say the least. Falk realizes that she means well, and appears genuinely fond of her, but she'd be lost without him.
- It's Probably Nothing: Has this reaction to the reports of weird things being heard from Wolfskull Cave. Of course, it's never just nothing. This is Skyrim, after all. He wises up very quickly when he realizes the "nothing" he was planning to dismiss as natural phenomena was actually the activities of a cult trying to resurrect Potema, and as soon as complications arise, he immediately sends word to the Dragonborn.
- Oh, Crap!: Has this reaction when the Dragonborn confirms that a necromancer cult was really trying to raise Potema from the dead.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: After you stop the resurrection of Potema once, Falk gains complete faith in you and vouches for you in the Jarl's company. If you complete the Wolf Queen questline and then ask for permission to go into the forbidden Pelagius Wing of the Palace, he will at first turn you down, but you can turn that around by saying, in layman's terms, "Dude, c'mon, it's me."
- Retired Badass: According to the strategy guide he is actually a former member of the Companions. There are absolutely no clues to this in the game itself.
- Secret Relationship: With Bryling, one of the other thanes of Solitude. They have to keep it a secret, lest Erikur find out and force him to resign, which would enable Erikur to bend Jarl Elisif around his finger. Once the war has ended, however, Falk would gladly resign if it means they can stop sneaking around.
Giraud Gemane
Voiced by: Jon Curry (English)note
The librarian of the Bard's College, and Viarmo's right hand. He assists the Dragonborn with finding Olaf's Verse, as well as selling them several tomes regarding Dragons. He is also the Master Speech trainer.
- Badass Bookworm: Seeing how he is both a Bard (which in this universe requires a significant amount of knowledge of the history of Nirn) and a librarian...
- Cultured Badass: Well, he is a bard.
- Guile Hero: It comes with being the Speech master.
- Number Two: To Viarmo.
- Retired Badass: Used to be in the Legion. If you find the drum of a legendary bard for him, he'll teach you a few of his old tricks - giving you a skill point in each martial skill.
Jaree-Ra and Deeja
Voiced by: Tim Blaney (Jaree-Ra) and Renée Victor (Deeja) (English)note
Argonian siblings who are involved with a band of marauders.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Jaree-Ra describes his sister and himself as "Treasure Hunters" rather than thieves or pillagers.
- Blatant Lies: When trying to convince you to shut down the lighthouse so his band can loot the Icerunner, he assures you that there won't be any victims, and that you will even be able to pass for a hero by saving them. Of course, when you actually reach the Icerunner later, the boat is full of dead bodies.
- Brother–Sister Team: They're siblings who commit crimes together. It's never stated in game, but Thieves' Guild fence Gulum-Ei is listed as their brother in the creation kit, too.
- Bullying a Dragon: They are just two of the many characters in the game stupid enough to think trying to use the Dragonborn as an Unwitting Pawn is a good idea.
- The Dragon: Jaree-Ra is protected by a Nord named Captain Hargar. You'll need to defeat him before you can defeat Jaree-Ra.
- Faux Affably Evil: Jaree-Ra acts polite and friendly when he first meets you, but it's just a facade to lure you into helping him. Once he's gotten the loot and silenced the witnesses, he has his men (try to) dispose of you.
- Jerkass: Deeja doesn't even try to feign friendliness towards you until Jaree-Ra sends you to meet her, which makes it all the more satisfying if, when she attacks, you're lucky enough to finish her with a kill cam involving stabbing her through the stomach. "Knives in your belly," indeed.
- Moral Myopia: During the final confrontation with Jaree-Ra, he calls you out for murdering his men and his sister. Given that he ordered said sister and men to kill you (on top of all the other murders that they were likely responsible for), he's hardly one to talk.
- Shame If Something Happened: How Jaree-Ra "masks" what he wants the Dragonborn to do.
- Smug Snake: Both of them are too confident for their own good.
- Too Dumb to Live: Even if you're decked out in scary Daedric or Dragonbone armor and lugging around an Infinity +1 Sword, they still think of you as an easily-disposed schmuck.
- For added stupidity, when Deeja prepares to eliminate you after You Have Outlived Your Usefulness, she tries to do it herself, while she is alone with you in an isolated room, even though there are no witnesses and she has all her men close. She is likely to get killed before any of them can lift a finger to stop you.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: They try to eliminate you after you do their dirty work for them. It goes as well as you would expect.
Malborn
Voiced by: Jon Curry (English)note
A Bosmer servant at the Thalmor Embassy. He is an associate of Delphine's, and helps you infiltrate the embassy during the main quest.
- Expecting Someone Taller: The first thing he says when you tell him Delphine sent you is "Really? You're who she picked!?"
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Your first impression of him is... not endearing, to say the least. Furthermore, if you find him in Windhelm after "Diplomatic Immunity," he'll be bitterly sarcastic toward you, even though by this time you've already saved his life twice. He eventually admits that he's just been so scared and that he should be more grateful.
- Non-Action Guy: He carries no weapons and cannot fight, which is made worse by the fact that he will still try. The final act of "Diplomatic Immunity" has you protecting him from Thalmor soldiers and then a frost troll, and he has an extremely high chance of dying. If he survives, he'll be holed up in Windhelm, hiding from a Thalmor assassin waiting for him outside. After that, he'll run for Morrowind, but will likely be killed by animals unless you go along and protect him once again.
- Properly Paranoid: One of your options during the Thalmor assassin quest is to tell him he's just being paranoid. Of course, he has a lot of really good reasons to be paranoid, and there actually is an assassin after him.
- Right Under Their Noses: Malborn's family were killed in The Purge in Valenwood for political reasons. Delphine says that if the Thalmor knew who he really is, he wouldn't be working in the embassy.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He gets caught during your escape from the embassy, and it's possible for the game to glitch in such a way that even if you kill the Thalmor who capture him, he completely disappears - you won't even find his body.
Malkoran
A necromancer who hid in the ruins of an old temple dedicated to the Daedric Lord Meridia, desecrating corpses to create his undead minions and using her Daedric Artifact Dawnbreaker to fuel his magic. Meridia tasks the Dragonborn with slaying him.
- Back from the Dead: Once you manage to slay his human form, he raises himself as an undead shadow, forcing you to kill him a second time. However...
- Clipped-Wing Angel: ...in his shadow form, he stops using ice magic and instead uses lighting magic mixed with a fire aura. Since his ice magic was so powerful in his human form, he’s much easier to kill.
- Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Meridia, who hates undead with a burning passion, tasks you with teaching this guy why practicing necromancy in her temple with her artifact is a really bad idea.
- Flunky Boss: In typical necromancer fashion, he fights you using an entire squad of undead to support him.
- An Ice Person: His human form primarily fights using ice-based spells.
- Necromancer: He is desecrating corpses to raise them as his minions.
- Shock and Awe: In contrast with his mortal form, his Shadow form fights using lightning spells.
- The Voiceless: Unlike virtually every other boss in the game, he doesn’t say a thing - he doesn’t even grunt when you hit him.
Razelan
Voiced by: William Salyers (English)note
A high-ranking Redguard in the East Empire Company and regular attendee of parties at the Thalmor Embassy. During the "Diplomatic Immunity" quest, the Dragonborn will often use him as a distraction, even if not intentionally...
- The Alcoholic: He attends Elenwen's parties mainly for the alcohol and is already drunk when he arrives at the embassy, to the point where the Thalmor refuse to give him any more. If you want him to cause the distraction, you first need to get a drink from either Malborn or Brelas and bring it to him.
- Butt-Monkey: With the sole exceptions of his own and Brelas/Erikur's, every distraction that might be available to the Dragonborn during the party involves someone walking up to him and falsely accusing him of various things.
- Noodle Incident: If you get someone else to cause a distraction by hassling him, Razelan will protest to Elenwen that this time he's innocent. If you get him to cause the distraction, he'll trash-talk Elenwen, leading one to wonder what kind of colorful comments and acts he's been responsible for in the past.
- We Need a Distraction: And one way or another, he'll end up providing it.
- Won't Take "Yes" for an Answer: After whoever you get to hassle him backs down from having him thrown out, he continues to protest his innocence for a second.
Roggvir
Voiced by: Michael J. Gough (English)note
The player will witness him being executed upon their first entry into Solitude (there's no way to stop this), because he allowed Ulfric Stormcloak to escape Solitude by opening the main gate.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: In-universe; most people describe him as a good man and a true Nord who was at worse misguided and at best a martyr, but Sorex Vinius describes him as a bully and a jerk who deserved his fate. In general, only the Nords of Solitude have any sympathy for him. Sorex Vinius remembers him as a schoolyard bully, and Vivienne Onis thinks he is a jerk for letting Ulfric escape, starting a war in which her cousin was killed.
- Badass Bystander: This is the man who, more or less, allowed the Civil War to come to be. If you win the Civil War for the Stormcloaks, then he essentially becomes a liberator of Skyrim by proxy.
- Barred from the Afterlife: Despite his Last Words, he's nowhere to be seen when you visit Sovngarde during the main quest; whether his soul got devoured by Alduin or he just never was granted entry in the first place is unknown.
- Cool Uncle: His niece seems to think he was.
- Face Death with Dignity: And how.
- Last Words: And by Talos, he's got some awesome ones at that."On this day, I go to Sovngarde..."
- Nice Guy: Even the man who ordered his execution has nice things to say about him."It's a shame, Roggvir. You were a damned good man."
- No True Scotsman: Feels that any true Nord would understand what Ulfric did, and would have opened the gate in his place.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Letting Ulfric escape Solitude, as viewed by the people of Solitude. Sure, he may have been following ancient laws (of dubious validity), but he aided and abetted regicide by allowing Ulfric to escape retribution. The people of Solitude, being staunchly Imperial, are not impressed.
- Plot Armor: Inverted: Roggvir is programmed to die and the game devs went out of their way to make it entirely impossible for him to survive no matter what the player does. If his execution is interupted, he will suddenly die shortly after for no reason. If the player somehow avoids that, he will be teleported to the Dead Body Clean Up Cell...where a copy of Malborn seems to exist for the sole purpose of beating him to death if he somehow gets there alive.
- Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: According to Sorex Vinius, when they were kids Roggvir tormented him after learning he had a crush on Vivienne Onis. He even somehow slipped a beehive into the guy's bed. Evidently he continued bullying Sorex into adulthood.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He opened the gates for Ulfric Stormcloak when he escaped the city, which means that everyone in Solitude blames him for a war that could have been stopped before it began. To his last breath, though, he stands by his decision.
Sybille Stentor
Voiced by: Susan Eisenberg (English)note
The court mage for Jarl Elisif's court. She is actually a vampire, which seems to be a well-kept secret among the higher members of the Haafingar court.
- Ambiguously Evil: While she acts benevolent, if very curt, there are some hints she might not be so good at all. In Dawnguard, she is heavily implied to have helped the vampire Venarus Vulpin use Skooma addicts as food source. And if you use Auriel's Bow to darken the sun, she will gladly proclaim that "the Tyranny of the Sun is over". It's also implied that she is disgusted with other vampires not so much for moral reasons (such as feeding on innocents), but more due to their living conditions.
- Asshole Victim: Not Sybille herself, but the dungeon guards suggest that spend a lot of time in the dungeons with the worst of the criminals. Apparently, it's how she keeps fed.
- Boomerang Bigot: Finds baser vampires disgusting, as she prefers finery and civilized company such as one finds in a palace.
- Court Mage: For Elisif.
- Expy: She's basically a female version of Janus Hassildor.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: She's a bit of a Jerkass, sure, but when compared with most vampires out there, at least she's a good guy. Of course, if you use Auriel's Bow to blot out the sun, she'll run outside and proclaim that the Tyranny of the Sun is over.
- Heavy Sleeper: Due to a bug, she spends her entire time following the conclusion of "The Man Who Cried Wolf" sleeping in her bed.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's not entirely nice, but she means well and will praise you for doing what you do if you help Elisif. She also treated High King Torygg like a son.
- Lady of Black Magic: She's the Expert trainer of Destruction Magic.
- Like a Son to Me: High King Torygg was. She helped raise him as a boy and was shocked by his death.
- Older Than They Look: She claims to have aged well. Of course, she neglects to mention how.
- Open Secret: Though her status as a vampire is never openly referenced in conversation, it's implied her secret is well-known beyond Solitude's court. The headsman, the dungeon guards, and Erikur's housecarl Melaran know that she feeds on the prisoners when she has a bad day, and the Blue Palace's cook is absolutely terrified of her if you talk with him. Considering how despised vampires are, it's truly a wonder they keep her nature secret, much less let her close to the Jarl; however, given that she helped to raise King Torygg, she probably has seniority over the rest of the court, and they don't have the authority to dismiss her even if they would wish it.
- Secret-Keeper: She seems aware of Falk Firebeard and Bryling's Secret Relationship. Aside from snarking about how unsubtle they are about it, she doesn't do anything with that information.
- The Undead: An open secret, at least among the court of Solitude. Using a spell like Detect Undead will show that she is undead (a vampire, specifically), and installing Dawnguard will change the color of her eyes, making it more obvious that she is a vampire.
Taarie
Voiced by: Julianne Buescher (English)note
The High Elven proprietor of The Radiant Raiment and tailor. She runs the shop with her sister, Endarie.
- Brutal Honesty: She will flat-out call your clothes "old rags" when meeting you and suggest you pass by her shop to get something better. If called out for insulting people, she will clarify that she didn't see it as an insult:Dragonborn: Do you always insult people when you meet them?Taarie: It's not an insult, just an observation. If I were walking around with a wound, I would want you to tell me to see a doctor. Your outfit is sort of an open wound... where attire is concerned.
- Girlish Pigtails: Has her hair done up in pigtails.
- Heel–Face Turn: If the Taarie that is in Morrowind is her, she changed from being a hostile sorcerer that worked with Daedra to just someone who's just kind of a jerk.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's slightly nicer than her sister and reprimands her sister when she's being rude to the customers. She's also nicer if you've invested in her shop.
- Love Interest: She's available to marry and is notably the only Altmer that can be married in the game.
- Older Than They Look: Being an Altmer, that's a given, but she first appeared in Morrowind, more than 200 years before Skyrim.
- Rich Bitch: Looks down her nose at you, and disparages your clothes, even if you're wearing Radiant Raiment's own Fine Clothes. Downplayed in that her attitude is more patronizing than truly disdainful.
- Statuesque Stunner: The Dovahkiin could see her as one, since she's marriageable and, being a Altmer, she's taller than every other race.
- Thicker Than Water: If you marry her, Endarie will follow her to whatever town or homestead she goes to.
- Tsundere: She can be married and still has some of the haughtier aspects of her tone, but is much friendlier.Taarie: (Angrily, then lovingly) Leaving? Take the world by storm, dearest!
Viarmo
Voiced by: Stephen Russell (English)note
The High Elven headmaster of the Bards' College. He enlists the Dragonborn's help in convincing Elisif to allow the Burning of King Olaf festival in the wake of Torygg's murder, and afterwards has them recover several stolen ancient instruments.
- Cool Old Guy: As far as Altmer go, he is one of the nicest; he welcomes you with open arms to the Bards' College regardless of your race, is very grateful when you help him save King Olaf's festival, and generally has a thoroughly affable attitude. He's also a bit of a Large Ham, if his dramatic reading for the Jarl is any indication.
- Cultural Rebel: He has a great appreciation for Nordic culture, evidenced by his enthusiasm for traditions such as the Burning of King Olaf and the Poetic Edda. The Thalmor, on the other hand, have nothing but scorn for anything created by humans, and historically the Altmer and the Nords were bitter enemies.
- Guile Hero: If you opt to reconstruct the poem, he'll back you on it with only a little hesitation.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He is pretty much the antithesis of the Thalmor personality-wise. Even his voice type (Stephen Russell, or "MaleSlyCynical" as labeled in the Creation Kit; you know, the same voice type used for Erikur, Lemkil, and Sibbi Black-Briar?) is in contrast to his warm personality.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: To the Bards' College.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Subverted with his quest; he sends you to recover King Olaf's verse, in the hopes that the text will allow him to convince Elisif to allow the festival. When you successfully recover said verse, it turns out the copy is so old that most parts are missing, meaning it's useless as it is. The subversion comes when the Dragonborn suggests they make up the missing parts to reconstruct the poem, and it actually works.
Vittoria Vici
Voiced by: Colleen Delaney (English)note
A cousin of the Emperor who manages the shipment of goods for the East Empire Trading Company at Solitude's docks. She is engaged to Asgeir Snow-Shod, but thanks to the Dark Brotherhood, that arrangement may be short-lived.
- The Chew Toy: Not only does she get whacked on her wedding day by the Dark Brotherhood, the game gives you multiple options for carrying out the assassination. Players often set aside an entire save file just to find different ways to kill her messily.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Downplayed as she doesn't appear too corrupt in the game itself, but according to the Creation Kit, she's the boss of Jaree-Ra and Deeja. You know, those two Argonians in charge of a group of bandits. A very-rarely played scene implies this also extends to Gulum-Ei, the Solitude Thieves' Guild fence.
- Death by Looking Up: One of the options for killing Vittoria is to dislodge a loose gargoyle over her head.
- Never a Self-Made Woman: Defied; despite her Blue Blood, Vittoria had to work her way up through the Company's ranks."Some say I got my position because my cousin is the Emperor. Nonsense. The man's given me nothing. He can't even be bothered to attend my wedding."
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: She actually has 2 hit points, but she'll still die to just about anything.
- Widowed at the Wedding: Her groom will be, and you get to do it, if you join the Dark Brotherhood. Killing him as well is optional, of course.
Wolf Queen Potema Septim
Voiced by: Claudia Christian (English)note
An insane necromancer from the second century of the Third Era who attempted to usurp the Imperial throne, but was defeated and killed. Her story can be read in the Flavor Text book series The Wolf Queen if you collect all eight volumes. The Dragonborn stumbles upon a plot by a group of necromancers to resurrect her and bind her to the mortal realm.
- Animal Motifs: Savage Wolves, as indicative of her title, and also very savage.
- The Archmage: Potema is noted as being one of, if not the most powerful Necromancer(s) to have ever lived. Note, while most necromancers require a great deal of time and effort to amass a decent following of undead minions, Potema is capable of creating entire armies by herself. Even outside of necromancy, she's an incredibly strong mage and capable of wiping out all of Solitude if restored to her full power.
- Ax-Crazy: The one thing she's best remembered for by the citizens of Skyrim is being murderously insane. Falk is very right to be worried about her returning to life.
- Bad Boss: A quote of hers on one of the Loading Screens bluntly states that she would gladly sacrifice her servants to the Daedra in exchange for some comforts. By all accounts, she did.
- Big "YES!": Her reaction to being summoned and then bound by the necromancers in Wolfskull Cave.Potema: Yes! YES! Return me to this realm!
- Climax Boss: Before you can even face her, you must fight wave after wave of high level draugr and vampires, and when you finally confront her, she quickly proves to be as much of a master mage in death as she was in life. Not to mention the fancy light show that occurs in the arena.
- Dead Guy Junior: Her son, Uriel, was named after her grandfather, who arranged for her marriage to the King of Solitude.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Once sent a woman to the Soul Cairn for criticizing her dress.
- Doting Parent: Arguably the one good thing that could be said about her is that she truly loved her son Uriel.
- The Dreaded: Everyone is terrified of Potema, and for good reason. To note, Falk flat out says her potential return must be covered up, as it'd cause mass panic if people knew the mere possibility of her coming back.
- Evil Is Hammy: Between her dramatics in life and the Big "YES!" which introduces her in the game combined with her obvious villainy, she fits the trope.
- Flunky Boss: She is invulnerable at first, and while attacking you with lightning, she sends various draugr and vampires to fight you.
- Gas Leak Cover-Up: At first, Falk Firebeard dismisses the odd lights and sounds in Wolfskull Cave as natural phenomena, but welcomes your offer to go into the cave and clear out anything you find, just in case. After you find out the truth and Potema's return is evident, Falk implores you that you must keep Potema's near-return a secret to avoid a major panic in Solitude.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: In life, her greatest crime was the plunging the Septim Empire into a civil war known as the War of the Red Diamond, being the party most responsible for the assassination of her niece Kintyra II (the Empress at the time). In the war that followed, Potema very nearly destroyed the Empire by herself - truly frightening, when you consider that even after the extinction of the Septim bloodline, an Oblivion invasion, a siege by the Aldmeri Dominion, and nearly two hundred years of decline, the Empire is still a powerful force in Tamriel. And if that isn't enough, when the war was over, and her subjects finally started abandoning her because of her sheer ruthlessness, she eventually began sacrificing her servants in order to form contracts with Daedra - selling their souls for more power and "comforts", and then raising them as undead to serve her, refusing to concede fighting a losing battle or surrender her rule right to the very end. Death has not improved her demeanor.
- Guide Dang It!: The last part of her questline is only unlocked by leveling up. If you start this quest after reaching level 81, you will never receive the courier's message from Falk. No longer a concern with patch 1.9, as you can make a skill Legendary and keep leveling up.
- Hated by All: Absolutely no one in Skyrim has anything nice to say about her, and for very good reasons.
- Human Resources: She resurrects human corpses as her servants and, after being opposed and abandoned by most of Haafingar, once ruled Solitude with a court of the undead.
- Humanoid Abomination: She's less of a ghost and more of a force of nature bound into vaguely human shape.
- Irony:
- The local priest of Arkay notes that a resurrected Potema would actually be the rightful Empress of Tamriel, since she is a member of the Septim line, which makes it that much more important to prevent her return.
- For more potential irony, defeat one of the greatest necromancers of all time as a vampire.
- I Shall Taunt You: She's really very grateful to you for preventing her binding, but feels it would be best for all involved if you just lay down, let her current subjects take you away, and then you can rise up and stand by her side, resplendent with her glory... as her undead thrall.
- Large Ham: What dialogue she has in the game is delivered in hammy glory.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: It took fifteen years for her to have a child with her husband, with several miscarriages along the way.
- Manipulative Bitch: She was this in life, if The Wolf Queen contains any truth to it. (It reads like a novel more than a straight-up biography, so separating fact from fiction is difficult.)
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By defeating the necromancers attempting to revive her, you stopped them from binding her to their will - but you weren't quick enough to stop her spirit from coming back to Nirn. When you complete the first quest, you witness her spirit escaping the cave, and later a courier brings a message from Falk Firebeard informing you that Potema's spirit is loose and slowly gaining power. Now you have to finish her off for good and purify her remains before she can regain her full strength.
- Necromancer: She was very good with her skills in raising the dead in life considering she replaced her own kingdom with an undead army after almost everyone ditched her because of how much of a nutcase she was, and she still has the Lazarus touch even in death, as she reanimates a small army of draugr and skeletons to help her in her quest to revive herself.
- Old Man Marrying a Child: According to The Wolf Queen, she was fourteen years old when she married King Mantiarco of Solitude, whose son by his first wife was two years older than Potema.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Her son Uriel's death ended the War of the Red Diamond. Potema lived for another decade afterward.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: If The Wolf Queen is to be believed, her marriage to King Mantiarco was happy; he genuinely loved her and she at the very least put on a good show of returning his affections.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Falk flat out says Potema could wipe out all of Solitude and threaten the entire Empire by herself if she were to regain her full strength. He's not exaggerating, as in life Potema came closer to destroying the Empire than anyone else, even Daedra and the Talmor, and is fully capable of replacing her entire army with undead.
- Practically Different Generations: Her older half-brother Antiochus was sixteen years older than Potema.
- Trap Is the Only Option: The second quest begins with the player traveling into Potema's Catacombs, and before even entering the first section, it becomes obvious that Potema is not only expecting you, but has been drawing you there because she wants you as the ideal undead minion. You have no choice but to take the bait to continue the quest.
- The Undead: Is brought back via necromancy and specializes in resurrecting and controlling them.
- Villainous Breakdown: As you are descending in her catacombs to come for her, she keeps taunting you and encouraging you to come to her so she can turn you into one of her undead servants. When you actually start fighting her and her council, her reaction gradually goes from the taunt to "don't flatter yourself too soon, worm", to yelling at her minions to rip your eyes open. She finally gets desperate enough to repossess her own skeleton to have one final shot at killing you, before being slain for good.
- Was Once A Person: It's speculated in-game that Potema has become... something else since her death. She's certainly no mere ghost.
- We Can Rule Together: After the Dragonborn prevents her binding, she decides they would make an excellent undead minion.
- Wicked Stepmother: To Prince Bathorgh, her husband's son by his first wife. If The Wolf Queen is accurate, they never liked each other. After the birth of her son Uriel, Potema manufactured evidence that Bathorgh was the product of his mother's liaison with another man, causing him to be banished and making Uriel the heir to Solitude.
- Worf Had the Flu: It's noted that she's not regained her true power by the time the Last Dragonborn confronts her, because if she had everyone in Solitude would be dead already. Note, even in her severely weakened state, she's capable of going head to head with what amounts to a demi-god that can kill and eat the souls of dragons.
- Would Hurt a Child: If The Wolf Queen is to be believed. It speculates, at the end, that she may have been responsible for causing her nephew Pelagius to go mad by giving him a cursed amulet when he was a boy.
