History TheElderScrolls / TropesF

* FireStolenFromTheGods: In the most prominent CreationMyth, Lorkhan, the deity who convinced/tricked most of the other deities to [[TheMaker create the mortal world]], is punished by those other deities (who had to make massive sacrifices in the process) by having his heart ripped out and shot down into the world he created. It landed in Vvardenfell, where it became a CosmicKeystone, and the Red Mountain volcano grew up around it. In the early First Era, the [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwemer (Dwarves)]] discovered it and attempted to tap into its power. Their rival Chimer (later Dunmer, "Dark Elves"), who worshipped the Daedra (deities who did not participate in creation), considered this a blasphemy and attempted to stop it. [[TheRashomon What happened next is recounted different by all the surviving parties]], but the Dwemer vanished, the Chimeri leader (Lord Nerevar) is killed, and four of Nerevar's advisors tapped into the Heart to become {{Physical God}}s. Azura, one of the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]] worshipped by the now-Dunmer, is offended by this use of the Heart and prophecies the reincarnation of Nerevar, who will cast down these "false gods" and unbind the Heart. That reincarnation is the PlayerCharacter of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' and the events of the game line up with Azura's plans.

* FourStarBadass: Tiber Septim, the [[FounderOfTheKingdom founder]] of the Third Tamriellic Empire who [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended after his death]] as [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Talos]], the Ninth Divine, was a peerless General. He commanded the [[BadassArmy Imperial Legions]] into forging the first truly pan-Tamriellic Empire. He crossed over with FrontlineGeneral (and RiskingTheKing, naturally), at least early in his campaigns, though this was justified as he could use the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], a very powerful weapon.

** Still other types of magic exist, which don't fit neatly into the "schools" at all. One example is the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent draconic]] LanguageOfMagic which allows for small scale [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]]. The Thu'um crosses over Force magic with Divine magic, since ''ES'' dragons are [[DragonsAreDivine divine Aedric]] beings. Another example is the magic channeled from the [[CosmicKeystone Heart of Lorkhan]], the [[GodIsDead "dead" creator god]] of Mundus. It too is similar to Divine magic, but with a much more [[EldritchAbomination eldritch]] twist. It's power has been used to [[DeityOfHumanOrigin turn mortals]] into {{Physical God}}s, as well as create a MysticalPlague which warps and twists the affected into [[BodyHorror terrifying]] {{Humanoid Abomination}}s.

* FlavorEquipment: The series has some extremely low-end gear available which most players will pass over without a second thought. (In some cases, being even worse than the StartingEquipment you get for free.) Much of it is used exclusively by [=NPCs=] to give them some flavor and to reinforce the idea of a "living world" within the WideOpenSandbox. Specific examples by game can be found on the trope page.

*** Id: Wulfharth Ash-King - Ancient [[BadassInCharge Hero-King]] of the [[HornyVikings Nords]], [[GodInHumanForm Shezarrine]], and KnightTemplar-level [[FantasticRacism hater of all things Elven]] who [[EternalHero died and came back to life]] at least three times. Preferred a LeaveNoSurvivors approach when it came to his enemies and wasn't afraid to order ThePurge.

* FatalFlaw: {{Pride}} is the fatal flaw of the series' [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]]. This flaw is often ''literally fatal'', because a dragon who is [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority challenged must accept]], and to [[DirtyCoward not do so]] is to call into question whether you're a true dragon in the first place.

** ''Any'' leader of any of the {{Proud Warrior Race}}s (Orcs, Nords, Redguards) qualifies. For the Nords in particular, AsskickingEqualsAuthority and any leader is expected to be able to hold his or her own in battle, if not be the most outright badass figure on the battlefield. [[FounderOfTheKingdom Ysgramor]], [[EternalHero Wulfharth Ash-King]], and Talos Stormcrown (aka [[GodEmperor Tiber Septim]]) gained great renown as both warriors and generals. Should the player side with the Stormcloaks in ''Skyrim'', [[RebelLeader Ulfric]] will lead the charge in the final battle.

'''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.)

* FantasyCOunterpartMyth: The concept of the Shezarrines, a physical manifestation of a supreme deity that appears when the world is in turmoil, is similar to Vishnu's Avatars in Myth/HinduMythology.