Video Games Your least favorite villain in Skyrim?

[Warrior Spirit]

Bro, it has to be Mercer Frey. lol. At least with Harkon, he gave off pure evil vibes. Mercer was simply a skilled manipulator and arrow dodger. Nothing honorable about that. At least his peers were devoted to their daedra lord.

But yeah, what about you?

 

[Garrett.Hawke]

I'd definitely have to agree it's Mercer, he's a backstabbing mf who I was more then glad to k*ll to take his spot in the nightingales. Something from the beginning gave me bad vibes about him, but I just thought he was toxic, not evil, turns out he's both lmfao.

 

[Warrior Spirit]

I'd definitely have to agree it's Mercer, he's a backstabbing mf who I was more then glad to k*ll to take his spot in the nightingales. Something from the beginning gave me bad vibes about him, but I just thought he was toxic, not evil, turns out he's both lmfao.

Which superpower did you choose in the Nightingale temple?

If my memory serves me right, I chose the invisibility one. My character was not an alchemist, so he couldn't just make an invisibility potion.

 

[Garrett.Hawke]

I choose either stealth or strife, but I think I overall choose stealth

 

[natsukashii]

That damn chicken. Every time I kill it the guards and village people are on my ass

 

[-Random_Person-]

Nazeem

"Do you get to the Cloud District very often? Oh, what am I saying, of course you don't."

 

[DovahBeat]

Nazeem

"Do you get to the Cloud District very often? Oh, what am I saying, of course you don't."

Funny thing about nazeem. He's basically homeless. He lives in the bannered mare (or one of the other inns) but note he does not OWN them. Guy is literally dissing you for being a nobody when he himself is even more of a nobody.

 

[Hyde.]

In terms of personality, I absolutely despise Ulfric. He runs a faction under the banner of oppression while openly being racist towards non-Nords, especially Argonians and Khajiits. He also has let Windhelm fall into complete disarray between the racial tensions and serial killer running loose. He gets a pass on terms of political intrigue, though, in the aspect that at a.) he's likely being used as a puppet of the Thalmor and b.) at least he's kind of interesting. In terms of actual villainry, I would say Alduin is the worst. He's basically just a cosmic Big Bad™ and, unlike Ulfric, is pretty boring at the end of the day. In terms of everything else? Delphine. She's actually just the worst.

 

[Warrior Spirit]

In terms of personality, I absolutely despise Ulfric. He runs a faction under the banner of oppression while openly being racist towards non-Nords, especially Argonians and Khajiits. He also has let Windhelm fall into complete disarray between the racial tensions and serial killer running loose. He gets a pass on terms of political intrigue, though, in the aspect that at a.) he's likely being used as a puppet of the Thalmor and b.) at least he's kind of interesting. In terms of actual villainry, I would say Alduin is the worst. He's basically just a cosmic Big Bad™ and, unlike Ulfric, is pretty boring at the end of the day. In terms of everything else? Delphine. She's actually just the worst.

People love Paarthurnax a lot.

As for Ulfric being a villain? Well that just depends on the player. lol. Do you know Ulfric is a popular choice as permanent thrall for level 100 conjuration skill characters?

 

[Hyde.]

I consider Ulfric to at least be an antagonist if not a villain. I know that some players side with the Stormcloaks though I'm generally of the opinion that is a bad idea. I emphasize with their plight, but it seems fairly clear to me that the Empire is planning to strike back against the Thalmor soon and needs Skyrim to not be divided during it. Beating the Thalmor means repelling their stupid rules that, more than anything, seem like they're purposely trying to stir chaos in Tamriel— and Ulfric is giving them exactly what they want. More than anything, though, you can easily just look at the state of Windhelm and realize that he's doing a shite job considering the oppression and serial killing happening to the people under his care when we first arrive there.

As for Delphine?

She absolutely does not get to order me around. I'm the Dragonborn and the Blades work for me, not vice versa. I think her criticisms of the Greybeards is fair to some degree (namely in the fact that the Greybeards seem unconcerned with the state of the world, which is true) though not all of it. More than anything, I hate her giving me that damn party quest when we already know the Thalmor aren't connected (we literally saw another dragon bring a second dragon to life, I wonder who is responsible!). Her smugness and stupidity aside, giving me a quest to kill Partysnacks is just the cherry on top.

 

[Garrett.Hawke]

You could look at any of the other cities, and realize they're not doing a good job. I don't understand why you're singling ulfric out when more than a few empire-aligned cities are like that, or are worse.

 

[Hyde.]

You could look at any of the other cities, and realize they're not doing a good job. I don't understand why you're singling ulfric out when more than a few empire-aligned cities are like that, or are worse.

I didn't say they were doing any better. As far as I'm concerned, Imperials is the lesser of two evils here. Markarth is arguably one of the most corrupt cities in Skyrim which I believe is Imperial-ran (correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I've played). I'm singling Ulfric out because he's the only Jarl that is openly racist to my player character, lmao.

 

[Garrett.Hawke]

I didn't say they were doing any better. As far as I'm concerned, Imperials is the lesser of two evils here. Markarth is arguably one of the most corrupt cities in Skyrim which I believe is Imperial-ran (correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I've played). I'm singling Ulfric out because he's the only Jarl that is openly racist to my player character, lmao.

Only Jarl, yes, but there are many stormcloak aligned jarls besides for ulfric, meaning stormcloak's aren't bad, just one city is, and yes, I'm pretty sure markath is imperial ran.

Ulfric may be an asshole, but at least he wasn't going to execute you for simply trying to cross the border in a 'free country'.

The imperials wouldn't have tried to execute us for something like that if they were as good as they try to make themselves out to be, which they aren't.

 

[Hyde.]

Only Jarl, yes, but there are many stormcloak aligned jarls besides for ulfric, meaning stormcloak's aren't bad, just one city is, and yes, I'm pretty sure markath is imperial ran.

Ulfric may be an asshole, but at least he wasn't going to execute you for simply trying to cross the border in a 'free country'.

The imperials wouldn't have tried to execute us for something like that if they were as good as they try to make themselves out to be, which they aren't.

Of the three Stormcloak-appointed Jarls, Laila is pretty terrible (Riften) since she's basically being bribed by the Blackbriar family and lets them rule Riften. The Dawnstar guy is also pretty awful to his people and outsiders by being dismissive of their concerns, but I'll give him points for having the grumpy old man charm. The guy from Winterhold isn't inherently bad or anything and I don't mind him, but I think his hatred for the Mage College is kind of wild considering that they're the only thing that's really left of Winterhold.

The beauty of Skyrim is that we can have these philosophical debates without either of us being wrong, but I'm gonna stand my ground here as an Imperial. I don't think Stormcloaks are bad, I think they're just falling into the Thalmor's trap and Ulfric is a terrible (albeit realistic) leader, but quite fascinating at the end of the day.

 

[Otto Levin]

Skyrim holds a special place in my heart as it was the first RPG I ever played, and it remains my favorite to this day. However, not all characters in Skyrim are equally memorable, and some are downright frustrating.

My least favorite villain in Skyrim has to be Maven Black-Briar. Unlike the more fantastical and powerful enemies like Alduin or Harkon, Maven is a different kind of villain. She’s a corrupt, power-hungry businesswoman who uses her influence to manipulate and control the people of Riften. Her arrogance and sense of entitlement make her incredibly unlikable.

What really gets to me about Maven is her untouchable status. No matter what you do in the game, she remains in power, and there's no way to bring her to justice. It’s frustrating to see someone so corrupt continue to thrive while you, the Dragonborn, are out there saving the world. Her presence adds a layer of realism to the game, showing that not all villains are dragons or undead lords – some are just people abusing their power.

 

[Wylrin]

Oh boy. Time for me to rant about Ancano. XD

In terms of his actual character/personality, I like him as a villain. He's an arrogant, condescending, power-hungry man befitting of the militant faction he belongs to. He's the kind of villain you love to hate, in my mind.

But dear goodness, does the writing absolutely butcher his potential.

The moment you walk into the College of Winterhold, even if you haven't seen everything related to the Thalmor, you've undoubtedly had at least one or two bad interactions with the faction. So you see this Thalmor agent here and that immediately sets off red flags. On sight, you're already of the suspicion that this will be the bad guy, and every interaction with him basically screams at you, "Hey, this is the bad guy!" When you come back from that Nordic ruin to report your findings to the Archmage about Big Magic Ball, Ancano asks you about it in the most suspicious way possible, only to tell you, "Well, I already knew about it, lol." So... what was the point of that interaction beyond making this already suspicious character seem even more suspicious to the player?

My problem with Ancano is that you suspect he'll be the faction questline's Big Bad the moment you walk in, and you're right. Personally, I think it would have been so much more interesting to have him painted in the light he was, suspicious and untrustworthy, only to have someone else end up being the Big Bad. It would have been way more interesting and actually surprising, that way.

Also, why is he even there if everyone suspects that he's just a Thalmor spy? I can understand if they're wanting to paint Savos Aren as an idiot, but Winterhold is Stormcloak territory? I guess the locals don't care about their biggest enemy just chilling there, obviously plotting? I guess I could understand - to an extent - if the generalized Nord population just didn't care about the college and don't keep up with what's going on there, but it seems like a huge oversight, regardless.

In short, I hate Ancano as a villain because he's too obviously going to be the villain and his presence there just doesn't make enough sense to me. Imagine if we'd had to work alongside that bigot to stop an even greater evil. That would have been way more interesting, in my mind.

 

[TheEchoes]

Ancano and its not close.