While the central story of Skyrim focuses on the return of the dragons and the threat that Alduin brings with him, the arguably more interesting questline in the game involves the Civil War between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials, with the rebellion’s leader, Ulfric, being particularly interesting.
With no context or backstory to the war when players start the game, they are told only that Ulfric managed to “shout apart” the former High King of Skyrim, which is later revealed to mean that he is one of the few characters in the game who can use Dragon Shouts. Ulfric may be an interesting character, but there are many aspects of his life and history that are easy to miss, particularly if the player isn’t actively looking for them.
10 He Is The Son Of The Previous Jarl Of Windhelm
Before Ulfric became the Jarl of Windhelm and, later, the contested High King of Skyrim, he was the son of the previous Jarl of Windhelm, though he didn’t spend much time in the city as a child.
While the position of the Jarl doesn’t seem to always be chosen by a right to succession, and oftentimes appears to involve some sort of voting or choice system, this is one of the few times where that is not the case and brings into question whether or not Ulfric should have become the Jarl in the first place.
9 He Was In Training To Become A Greybeard
One very easy-to-miss aspect of Ulfric’s life is how he managed to learn how to shout, as it is clear that he isn’t Dragonborn and had to learn the skill somewhere.
With some digging, the player can discover that, as a child, Ulfric was chosen by the Greybeards to train on High Hrothgar with the idea that he would become a Tongue in the future. Unfortunately for the Greybeards, their plan didn’t come to fruition and Ulfric left while he was still young to fight in the Great War.
8 He Was Once An Imperial Legionnaire
After leaving High Hrothgar, under the impression that his skills would be best used in service to the Empire, Ulfric joined the Imperial Legion, where he became a Legionnaire and fought back against the Aldmeri Dominion for some time.
This may be one reason why the Imperials are so eager to take Ulfric and his Stormcloaks down, as he took many skills and knowledge from the Imperial Legion to his cause that could have made him a dangerous individual if left unchecked.
7 He Was Captured By The Thalmor
After fighting in the Great War, Ulfric was later captured by the Thalmor and interrogated for information on how to take down certain Imperial strongholds, as the elves believed that he had information valuable to them that they could use against their enemies.
However, he proves to be far more useful to their cause than either side would realize at the time, as they chose to release Ulfric instead of killing him, knowing that he would stir up trouble in Skyrim once he discovered how his people were being treated.
6 The Thalmor Used Him To Initiate The Civil War
After making Ulfric believe that he was solely responsible for the downfall of several key Imperial lines of defense, the Thalmor cut Ulfric loose in Skyrim, hoping that he would try to redeem himself and cause trouble for his people.
Instead, Ulfric saw how his people were being subjugated and suffering, taking all of the skills he learned while training as a Greybeard and a Legionnaire and forming the Stormcloak Rebellion, something that worked in the Thalmor’s favor by thinning the numbers of the armies of men.
5 He Delivered His Eulogy For His Father While Still Imprisoned
Unfortunately for Ulfric, his father, Jarl Hoag Stormcloak, died while he was imprisoned by the Thalmor and missed his father’s funeral entirely. Thankfully, Ulfric was still able to deliver a eulogy to his late father by having a letter smuggled out of his prison and delivered to Windhelm.
When he returned to Windhelm after being set free, he was crowned the Jarl of Windhelm, though he was a more strict ruler than his father and banned the Argonians from living in his city shortly after taking power.
4 Ulfric Has A Notable Temper
Considering Ulfric is a man who has been at war, or training for it, for most of his life, it should come as no surprise that he has something of a temper. If the player talks to Jorleif, the Jarl’s Steward, after siding with the Imperials and killing Ulfric, he will open up to the player about his time serving under the leader of the Stormcloaks.
While he mentions that serving Ulfric was a high point in his life and that serving as his Steward was a great honor, one thing he won’t miss is the man’s fiery temper, which seems to indicate that Ulfric wasn’t an emotionally well-balanced leader.
3 He Has Little Respect For Torygg’s Wife
One of the greatest points of contention between the Stormcloaks and the other Nords in Skyrim was the battle for the seat of High King, where he used his powers of the Thu’um to his advantage in order to win the battle.
He mentions that he held great respect for High King Torygg, with several of Torygg’s former servants mentioning that they believed he would side with Ulfric had he asked. However, the Jarl of Windhelm shows nothing but disdain for Torygg’s wife, Jarl Elisif, who succeeded him after his death.
2 He Has A High Heavy Armor Skill, Despite Not Wearing Any
As Ulfric is a trained warrior who once served as a Legionnaire, it should be no surprise that his melee skills in battle are fairly high compared to other characters in the game. What is a surprise, however, is that, despite his Heavy Armor skill being level 100, he doesn’t wear a single piece of Heavy Armor in the game.
Ulfric isn’t the only character with this unusual trait, but he does stand out due to him being in the thick of battle multiple times in the game.
1 He Wears Unique Bracers
While Ulfric doesn’t wear any Heavy Armor, this doesn’t mean he wears no armor at all. The one piece of armor that Ulfric wears is a unique Light Armor bracer called Ulfric’s Armguards, alongside the clothing items Ulfric’s Boots and Ulfric’s Clothes.
These arm guards have a very low armor rating of 5, can’t be upgraded at a workbench, and can only be obtained by looting them from his corpse after killing him at the conclusion of the Civil War questline.
