Summary
- Many memorable Elder Scrolls villains may have been forgotten over the years due to the franchise's extensive history.
- Characters like Lord Woodborne and Mankar Camoran had intriguing storylines but were overshadowed by more popular entries in the series.
- Obscure antagonists like Quintus Varus and Umbra'Keth from forgotten titles may never receive the recognition they deserve.
The Elder Scrolls is a venerable franchise of RPGs known primarily for their open worlds rich with dungeons, caves, and side quests. Like many other open-world games, Elder Scrolls titles tend to be remembered more for their maps than for their characters, but there are still some very memorable figures. Mehrunes Dagon, Alduin, and the evil Molag Bal are all very distinctive and iconic villains from the franchise.
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That said, however, the Elder Scrolls franchise has been around for a long time. With so many entries, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that sometimes major antagonists can completely fall through the cracks. Here are some Elder Scrolls villains who've been forgotten over the years.
10 Agarmir
An Underappreciated Tutorial
- Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Race: Nord
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Agarmir is the main antagonist of one of the first side quests a player is likely to get involved with in Oblivion. This sinister Nord thief supplies a merchant in the Imperial City who's able to offer much lower prices than his competition, thus putting the local merchant's guild at risk. By eavesdropping on his conversations and sneaking into his house, the player is able to learn that he offers such low prices by stealing his goods from mausoleums in town. A confrontation in the graveyard leads to his demise.
Agarmir's side quest is an engaging way to introduce new players to the game's social elements. It also rewards the protagonist with a valuable enchanted sword which should be invaluable to them in the early game. Unfortunately, the character suffers from being one of the first antagonists the player is likely to ever face. By the time the credits roll, Agarmir will likely have been forgotten completely.
9 Olaf One-Eye
The Bard College's Missing Note
- Game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Race: Draugr
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
The lore of Olaf One-Eye is pretty remarkable in its own right. This sinister ancient tyrant rose to power as High King after slaying a powerful dragon, but his tyrannical rule was questioned when a bard wrote an epic poem accusing him of lies and treachery. Now he haunts his ancient tomb, sealed away with the sole surviving copy of the inflammatory text.
Unfortunately, this interesting story is locked behind participation in the bard's college questline, a minor Skyrim faction that most players are likely to overlook or dismiss. While bards are a fantasy staple, the college's quests simply don't offer as many tangible gameplay rewards as groups like the Companions or the College of Winterhold. Because of this, the entire questline, and the climactic showdown with Olaf One-Eye, go unseen by many Skyrim players.
8 Umaril
A Forgotten Piece of the Past
- Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Race: Ayleid
Oblivion was one of the earliest games to bring downloadable content to the mainstream. While the game's infamous horse armor DLC earned it considerable scorn from fans, expansions like The Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine did add substantial new story content to the experience. Knights of the Nine in particular introduced Umaril, an Ayleid sorcerer-king who rises from the dead to seek vengeance on Pelinal Whitestrake and his chivalrous legacy.
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Unfortunately, given the small scope of Knights of the Nine, many players would end up overlooking the questline and its main antagonist. The fact that Umaril never makes a direct appearance until the final showdown at the end of the DLC makes it much harder for this ancient warrior to stand out so many years after Oblivion's release.
7 Krev the Skinner & The Silver Hand
The Companions' Underwhelming Foe
- Game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Race: Randomized
The legendary Companions are one of the most prominent factions in Skyrim. This legendary band of mercenaries hides a secret curse of lycanthropy which it spreads to all of its members. Joining the Companions is in fact the only way to become a werewolf in-game. The Silver Hand, led by Krev the Skinner, vigorously opposed the Companions, seeking to eradicate lycanthropy in its entirety.
Unfortunately, in practice, the Silver Hand are rather forgettable. Despite their unique mission statement, most of its members appear with randomized gear that makes them almost completely indistinguishable from normal bandits, with the exception of their trademark silver weapons. Krev in particular has a completely randomized design, including race and gender, meaning they don't have any sort of distinct visual design for the player to remember them by. Despite how they're initially presented, Krev and the Silver Hand end up feeling like a minor footnote in the Companions' questline.
6 Mankar Camoran
The Leader of the Mythic Dawn
- Game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Race: Altmer
The Mythic Dawn is the primary antagonistic force in Oblivion, and they are a constant thorn in the player's side for the entire length of the game. From the moment one of their red-robed agents cuts down the Emperor in front of the protagonist, these sinister cultists and their apocalyptic mission are the main focus of the game.
As distinct and memorable as the Mythic Dawn are, their leader, Mankar Camoran, often goes unremembered. The player fights him in his secret lair, a false paradise where his followers are tortured for eternity. While this makes for a memorable setup, Camoran ultimately spoils it by not being a particularly remarkable boss. He generally fights like a normal mage and goes down relatively easily. The cataclysmic attack of Mehrunes Dagon which follows ends up being a much more iconic part of the game and a moment that most players are likely to remember much more vividly than their fight with Mankar Camoran.
5 Lord Woodborne
A Footnote In Political History
- Game: The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
- Race: Breton
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
- Released
- September 20, 1996
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
- Platform(s)
- PC
While the first few games in the Elder Scrolls series are certainly not without fans, the franchise's later games are generally much more well-known than early entries like Daggerfall. This means that major antagonists from these earlier games are much more likely to be forgotten than characters from games like Skyrim.
This is especially true of Lord Woodborne. One of the player's main goals in Daggerfall is to lay the ghost of the late king Lysandus to rest. The king was assassinated by Lord Woodborne, a Breton nobleman, so the king's son Gothryd could take the crown in his stead. Ultimately, Lord Woodborne's schemes come to nothing, and he remains an easily forgotten part of a game that was itself overshadowed by titles like Morrowind.
4 Amiel Richton
A Spinoff Nobleman
- Game: The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
- Race: Imperial
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
- Released
- November 16, 1998
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
- Platform(s)
- PC
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard is a strange and oft-forgotten piece of Elder Scrolls history. This action-adventure spinoff takes inspiration from Prince of Persia and follows a redguard rebel named Cyrus as he attempts to overthrow Imperial rule in Stros M'kai.
The game's obscurity means that its main antagonist, Lord Amiel Richton, is a similarly forgotten figure. This pompous figure was sent by the emperor to maintain peace in the region, and he constantly opposes protagonist Cyrus's efforts to find his sister. His reign ends when Cyrus cuts him down in his own palace.
3 Umbra' Keth
A Long-Forgotten Foe
- Game: The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey
- Race: Creature
The Elder Scrolls Travels games are a series of forgotten Elder Scrolls games released for smartphones in the early 2000s. Shadowkey is the third game in the franchise, and while it concerns the events of the very first Elder Scrolls game and its antagonist Jagar Tharn, it also introduces a new antagonist in the form of Umbra'Keth.
Umbra' Keth is a unique and deadly monster, also known as the Shadow of Conflict due to its creation in the turmoil of the War of Bend'r-Mahk. It can only be wounded by the Star Teeth, unique celestial crystals with the power to destroy its shadow. Umbra' Keth represents some of the strangest parts of Elder Scrolls lore, but its presence in such an obscure title means it will likely go forgotten by many fans looking to dig deeper into the world.
2 Quintus Varus
The Mad Warden
- Game: The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold
- Race: Imperial
The Elder Scrolls franchise's first attempt to enter mobile gaming was all the way back in 2003, with Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold. This obscure phone game saw the protagonist tossed into Stormhold Prison, run by the mad warden Quintus Varus. Varus' obsessive quest for the Stormhold Crystal has driven him and his underlings hopelessly insane, and the player must defeat him if they want any hope of escaping.
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Varus' storyline has potential, but unfortunately, the enduring obscurity of the Elder Scrolls Travels games means that he's bound to go unrecognized by most fans. Even in the modern era, mobile spinoffs like Elder Scrolls Blades have struggled to find a foothold with fans, so forgotten titles like this one have little hope of establishing a fanbase.
1 The Gehenoth
A Strange and Forgotten Beast
- Game: The Elder Scrolls Travels: Dawnstar
- Race: Creature
The second Elder Scrolls Travels game tasks the player with saving a camp of refugees from the Ice Tribe besieging it, while at the same time figuring out which of its four champions has turned against the populace. Along the way, the player will regularly encounter the Gehenoth, a mysterious and vicious creature who also serves as the final boss.
One of the strangest things about the Gehenoth is that there's virtually no information about what it actually is. The creature is monstrous in appearance and vicious in battle, but none of the NPCs encountered in the game have much valuable info to offer on what it actually is. This, combined with the general obscurity of the Elder Scrolls Travels games, has prevented the Gehenoth from becoming a villain of any real renown in the Elder Scrolls community.
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