The main protagonist of Skyrim, Dragonborn, is shaped by the player’s customization choices and their actions on the adventure. The open-world gameplay and the interaction with the world leads to a ton of unintentional hilarity, all of which is encapsulated in the ten memes below.
The jokes about the game’s logic does not diminish the game by any means, but ludonarrative dissonance is common in gaming. It is not worth complaining about, however. After all, would the game be better if they dedicated more of their time to making the game world logical? Most fans would want them to spend more resources polishing up the game before release.
10 That Is Pretty Punny
Thu’um is another word for the shout players use as a Dragonborn. While it is not pronounced exactly like thumb, it is close enough for the joke to work.
Given the quirky humor sometimes found in Bethesda games, it would not be surprising to find this joke in the game.
9 Criminals Never Learn
Criminals in Skyrim are not the sharpest tools in the shed. One would think The Dragonborn’s dragon-killing feats wards off evil-doers, yet criminals and bandits still try to test their swords against the protagonist.
One could arguably attribute it up to the slow way news travels in the continent. They don’t have phones and Internet in Tamriel, after all. Still, such a big name would have to be recognizable after a few months.
8 Khajit Dragonborn
In Skyrim Khajit are generally traveling merchants who are not allowed into cities due to the negative stereotypes associated with the race.
However, the player can choose to be one of the cat-like creatures, and they waltz into cities without any fuss from guards and the residents. It makes more sense once the Dragonborn status is established, but beforehand the townspeople have no reason to think the protagonist is more special than any other Khajit.
7 Tamriel Is Doomed
Despite the dire state of the world and its impending doom, the player can spend countless hours goofing around getting up to all types of tomfoolery instead of engaging in the main quest.
Alduin apparently takes a long time to ready his armies and mount his attack on the world. At the same time, most players would be pretty upset if the game forced players to complete the main quest within a limited time like the original Fallout.
6 But Don’t Worry, They’ll Still Save The World
NPCs in an Elder Scrolls game are at the mercy of the player. Most players are good samaritans and would not harm the innocence in the towns. However, even these protagonists may save their file for the sake of destroying a town out of curiosity.
This brings up a whole slew of questions regarding NPCs’ souls and consciousnesses. Do these murdered NPCs immediately disappear once the player loads, or are their existences somewhere in the in limbo or on their way to Sovngarde?
5 Some People Are So Ungrateful
After slaying countless dragons and saving the world from Alduin, Dragonborn still earns a bounty for petty crimes.
It would be overboard to grant them total immunity, but the authorities should give the protagonist a little wiggle room for some thievery. A baker can always make some new sweet rolls.
4 Keanu Reeves: Dragonborn
No past experience determines who is Dragonborn. A guard who looks mysteriously like Keanu Reeves could just as likely be capable of absorbing dragons’ souls and saving the world from Alduin as a prisoner being prepped for execution.
If they did discover this as their destiny, they would most likely respond with a resounding “whoa.”
3 Dragons Are Nothing
For Game of Thrones fans who watched the show anxiously awaiting dragons, all they needed to do for a mythical beast fix was boot up Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The best thing about it - the player is even more powerful than dragons.
The flying creatures are not the only two parallels between Elder Scrolls and Game of Thrones. Both the show and Bethesda Softworks have muddied their reputations in recent years; one with a series finale, and the other with Fallout 76.
2 Arngeir Doesn’t Mess Around
Arngeir is a patient man, but mess with his Cabbage and the Dragonborn will understand the Greybeards’ true wrath. While they are a peaceful group, their pacifism has limits. Don’t push them, though, and they will be kind and helpful.
Some argue that they would better serve Skyrim if they loosened their beliefs and used their powers to interfere in political matters.
1 All That For Nothing
No matter what the player does in Skyrim, they cannot seem to garner universal appreciation from the various villages and cities.
Nobody else in the history of Tamriel has accomplished such magnificent and varied feats, yet few acknowledge these achievements. Such is life, though. Even in the real world, many people do good without receiving the proper credit and recognition. At the end of the day, nobody should do good deeds for the sole reason of praise.
