Who are the bad guys in The Elder Scrolls?

[M-E-D The Poet]

The thalmor plain and simple

 

[M-E-D The Poet]

I sort of agree with the high elves, they can be elitist bastards. Wood elves not so much, the Dunmer are way bigger jerks. Not so much in Skyrim, but that's 'cause they're the discriminated against there, while in their own country, they're the most racist bastards who like holding Khajiit slaves. Orcs are aggressive, but not necessarily jerks. Khajiit range from mischievous to traitorous schemers.

But actually, I really don't think there is one "antagonist" race though, all of them have good and bad guys, good and bad traits. Hey, it's just like real life! I guess Elder Scrolls is one of the least racist fantasy game series out there. Kudos to Bethesda for that.

I don't know why but khajit suddenly turned really noble in skyrim as compared to how they were portrayed in oblivion

 

[Fat Hippo]

The Imperials, really? Okay, they did conquer everything, but in all likelyhood, everyone profited from central, yet really mostly quite lenient and fair, rule. Otherwise the dark elves would just start enslaving all the Khajiit and Argonians and stuff like that. I wouldn't be surprised if the Empire falls to pieces by the next Elder Scrolls game, which could make for some interesting situations, like a full-scale war.

Like any Empire, they are only as good as their leader and the people who work for him.. in some of the in game books, they seem to have done some pretty bad things in the name of their Imperium.

True, true. And now that the line of Septims has ended, things are not looking peachy. In Skyrim, the emperor, whose name I forget, Medes II or something, sounds like a pretty big asshat. That's why I predict the fall of the empire, without men like Tiber to lead it anymore.

 

[snagli]

I'm usually the biggest dick in TES games. Run around naked while slapping people, turning invisible and then systematically slitting every intact throat in a town is pretty standard for me. I just became the Arch-mage and then slaughtered all of my subordinates, then used the Ritual Stone's power to raise their corpses and made them fight the guards that came after me.

 

[teebeeohh]

it depends
everyone who once had an empire thinks they are better than others, the various elves think they are better than humans be ause they were there first, the Nord think they are better because the first emperor was Nord and the imps think they are better because they kept the hole continent united for hundreds of years.
then again, all factions are made up of racist dicks and good people who may do bad thinks because they are loyal or thinks it's the best out of a bunch of shitty options.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I would say the Ald'meri Dominion are pretty bad. And not all daedra are bad, Azura for example is way better than any Aedra.

 

[Shirastro]

Thalmor win the biggest dick competition, followed closley by Ulfric.

Hang on a second, since when is having a big dick a bad thing?

 

[Shirastro]

By this question, I kind of mean "who are the biggest dicks?" Obviously a good number of the daedric lords are evil, Mehrunes Dagon and Molag Bal come to mind pretty quickly. And Alduin seems to be not that nice a fellow. But I mean of the playable races and their factions amongst them, who has the worst behavior?

Typically, and for you Zero Punctuation viewers, you may recall Yahtzee pointed out in his "Dragon Age: Origins" review that in a "Tolkien-esque" fantasy, it's usually the humans. However, I wouldn't say the Elder Scrolls falls right in line with the standard fantasy setting, especially as there is no one race named "human", although some races are clearly closer than others. The Imperials seem to be the most basic human and they do somewhat fall into line with being the bullies in Oblivion, in my opinion. But it seems like the game is moving away from that, and in fact in Skyrim, I personally feel, it is easily the High Elves and Wood Elves (at least the Thalmor, specifically). I find that, not surprising, but refreshing at least.

So what do you think? What race has become, to a certain extent, "the antagonist"? And try not to say the daedra lords or dragons.

EDIT: Please note, this is more of a debate. Obviously there is no black and white answer. It is all different shades of grey. Just give your opinion.

Actually there is a race of humans, except, like in Tolkien works, they are not called humans but Men.
Just like all the elves are called Mer.

 

[Vhite]

All the Khajits are dicks.

 

[Bran1470]

I would have to say everyone that isn't my character.
That being said i have conducted a mass genocide of everyone who isn't me in every Elder Scrolls game i have ever played.

 

[Togs]

Whilst the stereotypical high fantasy "gods of evil" are the dragons the more subversive villains are undoubtedly the Thalmor- a collective of bigots who seek to subjugate everyone else, and I cant be the only person who gets a slight SS vibe from their uniforms.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Bethesda would never be so bland to make someone 'the bad guys' in TES. OK, the demons are pretty bad, but the main 'villains' - Mankar Camoran, Dagoth Ur, and... well, not sure about Skyrim, DF or Arena because I haven't played much of them, but those guys both have understandable reasons behind their 'evilness'. Even random dungeons in Skyrim have a hidden meaning (if anyone's found Ghostblade, you'll know what I mean).

in skyrim its Alduin (the dragon from the very start). he's a bittuvu dick.

OT: its the antagonist of your current quest. obviously, the Daedra are kinda dickish.

 

[Sarpedon]

As far as Skyrim goes, I'd have to throw my vote to the Thalmor. Those guys are cocks >:[.

In Oblivion (just because you said not to list Daedric princes) I'm gonna say that the biggest dick was that Falcar guy from the Mages guild quest. Seriously, sending your applicants to LITERALLY drown themselves in a well? And then turning necromancer? Douche.

Hmm... Morrowind... I'm leaning towards the Ordinators. "We're watching you. Scum." Of course my perspective here is a little limited because in the 3+ years I played the game, Blood Moon, Fighter's Guild, and House Redoran were the only questlines I actually finished. There are probably some bigger dicks than the Ordinators.

 

[Rule Britannia]

Thalmor are arseholes and so are the stormcloaks, I see the stormcloaks as a bunch of hippies. The only thing that makes me feel bad for them is that the empire won't allow them to worship Talos, which is a true dick move on the Empire's part.

Dragons are the bad guys I guess with Alduin being their leader.

 

[Rutnier Nodarse]

The most corrupt character I've seen so far is Ancano, he takes the cake for being a total dick.

 

[zenoaugustus]

The most corrupt character I've seen so far is Arcano, he takes the cake for being a total dick.

I think you are referring to Ancano, the character from the College of Winterhold, right? Spoilers for the College of Winterhold questline ahead, although not that difficult to figure out.

Spoiler

Who the hell didn't know that guy was going to be evil, the very moment you met him? It was so blatant. He just oozed evil, power-hungry douchebag. And low and behold, that ************ was a Thalmor as well.

 

[SergeantAnt]

Don't forget the black briars in the east, and the silver blades(bloods? can't remember!) in the west.

Overall though yeah OP nailed it on the head.

 

[imnot]

Whilst the stereotypical high fantasy "gods of evil" are the dragons the more subversive villains are undoubtedly the Thalmor- a collective of bigots who seek to subjugate everyone else, and I cant be the only person who gets a slight SS vibe from their uniforms.

Im pretty sure I heard they have nazi style armbands, but I keep forgettign to look myself >..<

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Pretty much everyone acts like a massive **** at some point in TES lore. I guess it's probably Mehrunes Dagon that's top of the dick pile, but he's not all that unjustified in the end. Hell, even the supposed good gods are frequently cunts (especially to Mehrunes Dagon in the first place). I'm pretty sure in most games you're pitched against Mehrunes Dagon or his minions in some way, but he's not a complete ****, he just enjoys smashing shit up (in the Khajiiti pantheon he is represented as Merrunz, a kitten. That is awesome).

 

[JaceArveduin]

That's easy, it's any of the ones you decide to kill. Once you attack them, they become the bad guys.