History Skyrim / TropesDToG

** Some characters seem to have a ''slight'' preference, though this has no effect on when/if they become marriageable. For instance, Aela the Huntress has slightly different responses after asking the Dragonborn if they think they could take Vilkas in a real fight, and the player declines to boast:
--->''To female, in a warm, slightly flirty tone'': A woman who lets her actions speak for her. I knew there was something I liked about you.\\
''To male, in a condescending, slightly sarcastic tone'': Ah, a man of action.

** Throughout various parts of the game, especially an Imperial-sided playthrough of the civil war quest, we're told multiple times that Ulfric killed Torygg with a single shout- which suggests he is going to be a very formidable opponent. In actual combat, however, he's not particularly difficult to beat(while he has a single assistant, you have two assistants who may even down Ulfric before you get to him) and his shouts are more annoying than deadly, if he even uses them at all.

** Skeleton Dragons. Subverted, though, in that they are a lot less powerful than their living counterpart, and incapable of flying.

* FilkSong:
** There are several by Gavin Dunne (Music/MiracleOfSound): [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BHKLVr_Cxw Sovngarde Song]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCHq0m67lq8 Nord Mead]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqEVCTMkBnI Khajiit Like To Sneak]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FLQ4rACE-0 Legends of the Frost]]
** Music/{{Dragonforce}} has one called "[[https://youtu.be/4-7xjtzIwbs The Last Dragonborn]]"

* GiantSpider: And we mean GIANT. As in ''bigger than freaking [[BearsAreBadNews grizzly bears]]''.

* GeniusBruiser: Galmar Stone-Fist, Ulfric's right-hand man, a giant Nord berserker with a BadassBeard and a huge axe across his back. Also possessed of a sharp mind capable of elaborate deception strategies and an impressive knowledge of Skyrim's folklore and history.

** [[invoked]] The Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks, though the latter's FantasticRacism admittedly paints them as a darker shade of grey in comparison to the Legion. The Legion's trying to hold the Empire together in the face of a great evil and treat non-human races with far more respect than their Stormcloak counterparts on average, but they're willing to kill unlucky bystanders (i.e. ''you''), oppress several Nord customs including their primary religion[[note]]which is given further weight in that according to WordOfGod, Talos worship is actually a CosmicKeystone and if Talos goes without worship for too long, ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt reality will cease to exist]]''[[/note]] , justify their occupation of Skyrim with a range of controversial excuses including AppealToFear ("The Empire is the ''only'' thing keeping the Dominion out of Skyrim!") and straight-up CulturalPosturing ("Without the guiding light of the Empire, the people of Tamriel will fall into barbarism and anarchy, including Skyrim! ''Especially'' Skyrim!"). Some of their members also engage in war crimes, according to more than one testimony. The Stormcloaks want to be independent and restore their native customs without fear of persecution, but their leader killed a young and innocent king to begin the war (although he claims this was a lawful challenge according to Nord custom, which not everyone agrees on), and have a disturbingly reactionary and exclusionary attitude against any non-Nord races, with the Stormcloak capital of Windhelm being by far the worst offender. This racism also spreads with them - if Whiterun is taken by the Stormcloaks, a Cyrodiilic blacksmith there bitterly notes that she'd probably be out of business if she wasn't already married to a Nord.

** Examining the core game modules with the PC Creation Kit reveals a vast array of abandoned-in-place functionalities that would have made the Civil War much more complex and involved than the straightforward affair it is in-game. For example, viewing of the exterior cells in the Tamriel worldspace around the gateways to Markarth and Riften in the Creation Kit shows that they were originally meant to have large-scale battles in the course of the Civil War like Whiterun, Windhelm, and Solitude do, as the region is strewn with various in-game invisible markers meant for civil war combatant maneuvers.
** There are a few items (naturally), as well as a faction -- there is an Arena faction in the files that has the framework for quests done (''just'' the framework, no actual quests), as well as [[AllianceMeter faction ranks]].[[note]]This isn't something all the ''joinable'' factions have, so the Arena was probably abandoned relatively early in development[[/note]]
** An unfinished quest called "Boethiah's Bidding" would have had you kill Elisif, the Jarl of Solitude, who would subsequently be replaced by Erikur (according to unused lines of dialogue).
** The Greybeards' unique robes have female models in the game files that are normally unused, since no female Greybeards appear in the game, nor has the existence of any ever been mentioned in lore. They also were never meant to be worn by the player.

* GiantSpiders: And we mean GIANT. As in ''bigger than freaking [[BearsAreBadNews grizzly bears]]''.

* FamousLastWords: Quite a few, beginning with the Stormcloak soldier that gets executed at the beginning: "My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?

** At the very least, most of the armors avoid becoming a ChainmailBikini. The only exception is Forsworn armor, but then it also looks very skimpy on the men too, and has [[RealityEnsues pitiful armor rating]].

** At the very least, most of the armors avoid becoming a ChainmailBikini. The only exception is Forsworn armor, but then it also looks very skimpy on the men too.

* EarlyGameHell: While the game '''tries''' to avert this by having dynamic difficulty that spawns level-appropriate enemies, it's extremely far from being fully reliable, especially when it comes to beast enemies whose base forms are already more than a match for a weak Dragonborn. You can expect to occasionally run into things such as hostile Sabre Cats and bears very early on, far earlier than you can reliably take on them, turning these beasts into DemonicSpiders that you'll probably do a whole lot of running away from until you grow strong enough to turn the tables.

** Completing "Blood on the ice" before completing the condition to be allowed to buy the Hjerim house of Windhelm (conquering Falkreath if playing the civil war as a Stormcloak, or conquering Windhelm if playing the civil war as an Imperial) can result in Windhelm's steward refusing to sell the house once it is normally supposed to be available. It also prevents you to become thane of Eastmarch, as buying the local house is one of the conditions.

** A rare bug adds two firewood logs for each ore when you work on an ore vein (instead of the ore from said vein); once it starts, each ore vein is affected. It doesn't break the quests or render the game unplayable, but, beside making crafting harder due to lack of resourcesn it quickly becomes annoying, since firewood is rather heavy and its uses are limited (either to build a few things in your homestead, to craft arrows, or to gain low amount of money by giving them to specific traders).

** When you have your first fight with [[spoiler:Alduin]], he decides ThatBattleDidntCount and flees, sending shockwaves across the dragons and causing many of them to openly question his ability to lead them: being firm believers that AsskickingEqualsAuthority, dragons believe that you should either be DefiantToTheEnd or submit to the winner. [[spoiler:Later, you capture a dragon named Odahviing and he swears loyalty to you.]]

* FantasticRacism: The Elder Scrolls was always unsubtle with this, but for ''Skyrim'', this is taken UpToEleven.

** If someone ever gives a reason for siding with the Imperials over the Stormcloaks in the civil war sidequest, this is often the main reason given. The Stormcloaks have very strong racist tendencies and they do ''not'' hide this fact. This darker side is easiest to see in [[WretchedHive Windhelm]]. Dunmer are forced to live in the filthiest, poorest part of the city, and abuse from the local Nords is an almost daily occurrence. The Argonian dock workers are paid a tiny fraction of what the Nord workers are paid; they are also not permitted to live within the city walls, and are '''physically beaten''' if they try. Ulfric Stormcloak will send guards to root out bandits if a Nord village is attacked, but won't lift a finger to help Khajiit caravans when they're harassed. On the other hand, they tend to make exceptions if it would be beneficial - non-Nord characters can ask when joining the Stormcloaks, and be told that it's loyalty that matters rather than blood.
** The two {{beast m|an}}en races get this the worst, by several lengths. Argonians are oppressed and hated throughout Skyrim, and if you choose to play as an [[LizardFolk Argonian]], you can be sure that they won't call you by that name, preferring less charming terms such as "lizard". [[CatFolk Khajiit]] will also be subjected to racial slurs, often stereotyped as thieves, drug-addicts and generally lowly scum ([[ThenLetMeBeEvil ironically forcing them to become these things to survive]]). This makes [[NaturalWeapon clawing]] the offenders to death much more satisfying.

*** The Empire is heavily based on the [[AncientRome Roman Empire]]; the Imperial Legion armors have even taken on a much more Roman-like appearance this time around to reflect this, comfortably familiar to players of ''Morrowind''.
** Two of the elven races have real life counterparts:
*** The Altmer are based on Germany during the Nazi regime; the Thalmor treat anyone not Altmer as inferior beings. They hunt those that worship Talos, and the dissidents either are being hunted by them in their homeland, help the persecuted secretly, or immigrate to other provinces to help stop the Thalmor.

** The Khajiit are pretty much based on the Romani people. Their vocal patterns emphasize this.
** In ''Dragonborn'', the Skaal are like standard Nords mixed with Inuits.
** The Orcs, weirdly enough, have more than a little in common with Native Americans. They had their land stolen from them under the threat of violence, and now live in rather limited communal dwellings, resembling something similar to a reservation.

** [[invoked]] The Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks, though the latter's FantasticRacism admittedly paints them as a darker shade of grey in comparison to the Legion. The Legion's trying to hold the Empire together in the face of a great evil, but they're willing to kill unlucky bystanders (i.e. ''you''), oppress several Nord customs including their primary religion[[note]]which is given further weight in that according to WordOfGod, Talos worship is actually a CosmicKeystone and if Talos goes without worship for too long, ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt reality will cease to exist]]''[[/note]] , justify their occupation of Skyrim with a range of controversial excuses including AppealToFear ("The Empire is the ''only'' thing keeping the Dominion out of Skyrim!") and straight-up CulturalPosturing ("Without the guiding light of the Empire, the people of Tamriel will fall into barbarism and anarchy, including Skyrim! ''Especially'' Skyrim!"). Some of their members also engage in war crimes, according to more than one testimony. The Stormcloaks want to be independent and restore their native customs without fear of persecution, but their leader killed a young and innocent king to begin the war (although he claims this was a lawful challenge according to Nord custom, which not everyone agrees on), and have a disturbingly reactionary and exclusionary attitude against any non-Nord races, with the Stormcloak capital of Windhelm being by far the worst offender. This racism also spreads with them - if Whiterun is taken by the Stormcloaks, a Cyrodiilic blacksmith there bitterly notes that she'd probably be out of business if she wasn't already married to a Nord.
*** There's an added element of importance to the civil war that goes beyond simply whose beliefs will dominate in Skyrim. If the Empire wins, the political situation re-stabilizes and the Empire can resume rebuilding to face the inevitable Thalmor aggression more effectively, and possibly repel a second assault and ultimately reestablish the old pantheon. But if the Stormcloaks win, free and open worship of Talos can resume ''immediately'' in Skyrim. The Stormcloaks then ''might'' be able to reunite fractured elements of the Empire like Hammerfell and Morrowind, and reforge the Tamrielic Empire under Skyrim's leadership into a stronger force than the current Empire. Regardless, however, Ulfric does make it a point to take immediate steps to ensuring Skyrim is self-sufficient by increasing the power of its army if he wins.
*** Both sides also have a relatively even amount of "corrupt Jarls" (Siddgeir and Maven Black-Briar for the Empire, Skald the Elder and Thongvor Silver-Blood for the Stormcloaks) and "good Jarls" (Brunwulf Free-Winter, Balgruuf the Elder, and Brina Merilis for the Empire, Dengeir of Stuhn for the Stormcloaks). Most of the Jarls for either side have their merits and flaws, however, driving this trope even further.
** On another front, there's [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized the Forsworn]] and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive the Silver-Bloods]] (and the rest of the inhabitants of the Reach by extension), though it arguably falls more into EvilVersusEvil in the grand scheme of things. The Forsworn are bloodthirsty and cannibalistic Breton guerrillas who esteem Hagravens, make pacts with and worship [[JerkassGods the Daedric Princes]], practice HumanSacrifice, and murder anyone unlucky enough to run into their patrols... and they've also been enslaved and persecuted by the rulers of Markarth and the Silver-Bloods for at least the last few generations, with many Forsworn being pushed into their current extremism by the actions of their oppressors (who in turn see the Forsworn's enslavement as the best option possible for civilizing the region). As one Forsworn says, "There are no innocents in the Reach - just the guilty and the dead."
** If you eavesdrop on some of the random bandit tribes you find, it turns out some of them are normal, rational people. One cave is full of vampires leading to the shrine to one of the Daedric Princes, who laughs when you get there and explains that the vampires came to him seeking a ''cure'' for their condition, and he thinks it's poetic irony that you happened by to kill them. You will find yourself questioning the morality of your actions a ''lot'' the deeper you go in this game.
** The Blades and the Greybeards. The Blades want to defeat Alduin and the dragons, but they aren't very nice to the Dragonborn, while the Greybeards are kindly mentor figures but invoke YouAreNotReady to explain why they don't just teach the Dragonborn every Shout they know when the player first meets them. The two are also not fond of each other - the Blades order you to [[spoiler:kill Paarthurnax for being a dragon]], and Delphine says the Greybeards fear the Shout's misuse and so do not use its power for good, but ignore how all power risks being abused and their knowledge is worthless if it isn't being put to use. By contrast, the Greybeards consider the Blades meddlers in things they don't understand, and claim that their mission to serve the Dragonborn is a lie they use to hide the fact they want to ''control'' the Dragonborn.[[note]][[JerkassHasAPoint This actually has some element of truth]]; you're basically forced to join the Blades as Delphine took the horn and you need to get it back, and throughout the whole questline, Delphine remains dismissive towards you. For instance, when you first meet her, you can ask "Why should I trust you?", a valid question since she stole the horn and is yammering about Thalmor conspiracies; she replies, "If you don't trust me, you were a fool to come here." What exactly does she expect as a non-foolish response, then? Show up and murder everyone in the Inn to get it? Shrug and walk away from the main quest?[[/note]] Ultimately, you can be loyal to only one of the two factions, depending on how you feel about [[spoiler:killing Paarthurnax]]. Overall, it's an argument [[RomanticismVersusEnlightenment of based practicality/caution versus idealism/loyalty:]] Despite being a generous and helpful ally who has done ''nothing'' to slight you, [[spoiler:Paarthurnax still ''is'' a dragon, and even though he tells you that he's reformed, he also makes it clear that he fights to retain control of his aggression ''every single day,'' it's wise not to trust him, and he almost certainly deserves death for the numerous atrocities he committed against mortals in the distant past.]]

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Apparently High Rock's aristocracy is like this, to judge by what Hadvar has to say if you choose Breton as your race.