The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The Nerevarine

  • The Ageless: Thanks to the positive effects of the Corprus Disease you get to keep after being "cured".
  • Anti-Hero: If you take some of the more morally questionable paths.
  • Badass: The original was definitely regarded as one, and a huge part of the main quest requires being recognized as a worthy successor, which includes being seen as a war leader.
  • The Chosen One:
    • The Unchosen One: For once, these aren't mutually exclusive: by selecting the right dialogue options, it's possible to play a Nerevarine who's only fulfilling the prophecy because they think it's the right thing to do, not just Because Destiny Says So.
  • Cursed with Awesome: For starters, once you start gaining notoriety as the Nerevarine, this can get you the attention of some awesome allies..... and some really nasty enemies. Also, once you get the Corprus cure, you still have the disease, minus any of the negative effects, meaning you no longer have to worry about getting any type of disease again.
  • Deadpan Snarker: In the Journal, your character will make some pithy comments on occasion.
  • Featureless Protagonist: As with any The Elder Scrolls game, the Nerevarine can be anyone and anything the player wants them to be. There are a few facts established: the Nerevarine was a prisoner, he or she was sent from the Imperial City's prison to Morrowind, there was something special about his or her day of birth ("born on a certain day"), and his or her parents are unknown. A Dunmer Nerevarine apparently wasn't born in Morrowind either.
    • Worth noting the intro states the character who is to be known as the Nerevarine is "male", but this is apparently metaphorical, as the original Nerevar was male, and whatever gender you are, you are still their reincarnation or are assumed as much.
  • Guile Hero: The original Nerevar was one of these, and to complete much of the game, the player will have to be the same.
  • Player Character
  • Put on a Bus: Apparently, they've traveled to Akavir by the events of Oblivion.
  • Rags to Riches: You start off as a penniless prisoner fresh off the boat with nothing more than the clothes on your back. By the end of the game, you'll very likely have more gold than you could ever spend, a vast collection of legendary artifacts and a mansion stronghold to store it all in.
  • Reincarnation: Of Nerevar. Maybe, maybe not. The game is never quite clear if the Nerevarine is the reincarnation of Nerevar, or has simply just stepped into his shoes to fulfill the prophecy.
  • Weapon of Choice: Up to the player, naturally.

Cammona Tong

As a whole:

  • Equal Opportunity Evil: Subverted hard. They only accept native Dunmer who have been born in Morrowind. You could be an outlander Dunmer who went full native in belief and practice, and they'd still treat you as a foreigner.

Orvas Dren

  • Devil In Plain Sight: His being a scumbag is hardly a secret to anyone, he's just smart enough he can't be legally touched or directly associated with the scummy acts done under his aegis.
  • Evil Counterpart: To his brother Vedam, who is rather upright and respectable.
  • The Man Behind the Man: House Hlaalu, where he holds a lot more sway than it looks.
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: Racist, slave-owning drug dealer... it's like the guy is running off a checklist of asshole tropes.


House Dagoth

Dagoth Ur

  • Affably Evil: Quite charming for an alleged Evil Overlord. Even engages you in a bit of conversation and advises you come back to fight him if you made it to him long before you could even stand a chance against him.
  • Big Bad: Of the main game.
  • A God Am I: He even mocks you if you try to kill him, saying it's amusing you think you could off a god.
  • Freak-Out: Will go ballistic if you attempt to harm the Heart of Lorkhan, one of the few things that changes his normally relaxed demeanor.
  • Large Ham: One of the few fully voiced characters, and nigh all his lines are bombastic.
  • Physical God
  • The Battle Didn't Count: You fight him twice. You can win the first time, but the second time he's effectively immortal. Oddly, you can capture his soul with an appropriate gem the first time around.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Is at least 4,000 years old.
  • We Can Rule Together: Offers this to the Nerevarine at one point, and an actual chance to do so was cut from the game before release.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Just wants to drive the empire out of Morrowind (and optionally take over the world later). Specifically, he admits his motives are in fact Dunmer-centric, and they are From a Certain Point of View, just he's willing to enforce them in a really heavy-handed way because he believes nothing less as effective. He makes no secret he want to be the one in charge, but even this is because he believes he's got the most farsighted interests of the Dunmer in mind.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Trying to kill him makes him laugh. Trying to kill the Heart of Lorkhan, on the other hand, will make him lose his cool fast, as it's the source of his power.

House Hlaalu

Crassius Curio

An important figure within House Hlaalu who writes plays in his spare time.

  • Camp Gay: His dialogue is written this way, even if he may not actually be gay.
  • Depraved Bisexual: For example, he wants the Nerevarine to strip down, but is willing to settle for kissing a female one. Subverted: he certainly is depraved when it comes to sexuality, what with the whole 'asking people to strip down/kiss before helping them' thing... but he is also one of the greatest enemies of corruption in House Hlaalu.
  • Dirty Old Man: To a degree. He clearly is a dirty man (as noted in the Depraved Bisexual entry), and he can't be that young, as he has gotten to the position of Hlaalu councilor the hard way, but he doesn't limit himself to young women. Or women. Or mammals.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: His creepy predilections aside, he's one of the most non-corrupt characters in-game.

House Redoran

  • Honor Before Reason: Their hat. They are the harshest house if you are caught breaking the rules of the Redoran, as that's a stain on the honor of them as a whole, no matter the cause.

House Telvanni

  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Their hat. Klingon Promotion is a huge part of this too, as this House is pretty easy to break the rules in and still get back in, as they take their rules a bit less seriously than most, especially as regards theft and murder against fellow members or superiors.
  • Evil Counterpart: To both the other Houses, which at least pay lip service to their respective rules while Telvanni barely cares most of the time. They also serve as an evil, or at least amoral version of the Mages Guild, though the latter isn't entirely lily-white by contrast, but this is the general in-game perception the Mages Guild has of their magical rivals.
  • Evil Old Folks: Quite a few of their prominent members are very old and very amoral, at the very least.

Divayth Fyr

  • Badass Grandpa: According to one of his daughter/wives, he is one of the oldest non-divine people in Tamriel and still a powerful wizard (according to the construction set files, he's level 65... the highest of any NPC in the game).
  • Cool Old Guy: One of the oldest Telvanni, and one with the rare endorsement of not only his own House, he even has won the good grace of the Tribunal Temple for his efforts to cure Corprus, which is remarkable given how unfriendly relation between the Telvanni and the Temple are otherwise.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Has the dark skin and red eyes typical of the Dunmer as well as one of only two suits of black Daedric armor in the game, but greatly aids the Neravarine.
  • Dimensional Traveler: According to the in game-book The Doors of Oblivion, Fyr is one of the few "mortals" who can freely travel between the realms of the Daedra.
  • Find the Cure: He has one for Corprus. According to him, it technically isn't. If he's to be believed, the Nerevarine still has corprus. The potion he gives them just took away all the bad effects while keeping the good effects intact. Most people suffering from the disease would probably disagree with his point of view here though.
  • Odd Friendship: With his former Argonian slave Vistha-Kai, who now serves as the warden of the Corprusarium. Also with Yagrum Bagarn, the last living dwarf and one of his earliest patients.
    • He even comments on how his Argonian partner remaining by his side out of pure loyalty surprised him, but it's obvious he appreciates the sentiment.
  • Opposite Gender Clone: Cloned himself multiple times.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Is said to be 4,000 years old, one of the oldest non-divine beings on Tamriel.
  • Retired Badass: Former member of the Psijic Order and a former councilor of House Telvanni. He left both to run his corprusarium.
  • Theme Naming: If you think of it, you'll notice his "daughters" are named after Greek letters.
  • Truly Single Parent: Of his "daughters".
  • White Sheep: Of the Telvanni. He willingly freed his slaves, tries not to get involved in anything that would harm anyone other than himself, his research is devoted to solving a known plague and he truly cares for the afflicted, and he's also one of the very few Telvanni who happens to be absurdly old and not insane or using any known amoral means of extending his own life to stick around.

Daedric Princes

  • Blue and Orange Morality: All of them have their own concept of morality, though some are considered good and evil by mortal standards.


Hircine


Imperial Cult

The missionary wing of the Nine Divines faith of the Empire, located in Ebonheart mainly.


  • Church Militant: Downplayed. While they do want to spread their faith, they prefer doing so via persuasion and good works, though combat skills are still valued for exorcising the undead and other horrors.
  • Saintly Church: They do want to genuinely help people. They suffer from the fact they are dealing with a place with an established religion that is inherently hostile to themselves, but they still want to do right by followers of the Nine Divines and even non-believers alike.

Imperial Legion

As a whole:

  • Ancient Rome: Their aesthetic.
  • Worthy Opponent: House Redoran has their respect more than House Hlaalu despite the latter being Imperial friendly. It goes both ways to some extent.

Larrius Varro

  • Anti-Hero: Type III. While perfectly happy enforcing the law the usual way, he's not above looking for a plausibly deniable solution to problems law and order has a problem dealing with.
  • Commissioner Gordon: To a limited extent. So long as you can avoid a confrontation with the law in a manner he cannot overlook, he's willing to look the other way if you took out someone making the area under his professional responsibility worse.
  • Shame If Something Happened: Wouldn't it be a shame if a little bloodbath washed away all the bad people?

General Darius

Commander of the Deathshead Legion in Gnisis, and will be your early commander if you join the Legion.


Mages Guild

As a whole:

  • Arch Enemy: House Telvanni, at least to some extent. Some of their leaders are fierce enemies of the Telvanni, though you can be a member of both sides with mostly no repercussions aside from a few quests that get complicated due to solution conflicting with one or the other. The Telvanni for their part are somewhat dismissive of the Mages Guild by contrasting, some to the point they barely acknowledge the Guild even exists.
  • Mage Knight: Their more martially inclined members.


The Blades

Caius Cosades

Leader of the Blades, the Emperor's spies. He's the primary quest giver for much of the game.

  • Functional Addict: If he is really a Skooma abuser like his cover says and others indicate, his health and clarity of mind are still reasonably intact.
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: He is perpetually shirtless and shoeless, and can teach hand-to-hand and unarmored combat.
  • Grumpy Old Man: If you ask one of the other Blades about him, they call him "sour" and "a worrier". His own comments tend to be a bit curt and gruff.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite the above, he very clearly cares about the player.
  • Obfuscating Insanity: Pretends to be just another crazy skooma addict as part of his cover identity.
    • Admittedly, it might not just be a cover. Conversations with some NPCs who are aware of his skooma habit are witnesses to him going to town on it for real and apparently he shrugs it off like a long-time addict.
  • Put on a Bus
  • Unstoppable Rage: He will epically lose his shit if you do something to screw up a quest for the Blades (like kill someone you need to talk to).
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: It's unclear as to why, but it's one of his defining traits nonetheless.

The Tribubal

The three figures make up the Dunmer trinity of supreme god figures.

Vivec

  • The Atoner: The main quest reveals, to an extent the enemies of the Tribunal were right, they did attain godhood by using certain artifacts that are also supporting the Big Bad. Not only will Vivec admit to this, he helps you put an end to the consequences of that admission even though he knows he, Almalexia, and Sotha Sill will suffer for it.
  • Badass: In the backstory, he taught the Dunmer how to breathe water and then flooded the island to kill the Akaviri invaders.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The player can kill him if he is strong enough. Vivec himself: his reaction to an asteroid falling towards his home city is to simply stop it in its tracks and leave it hanging a few hundred feet in the air. Just in case you'd forgotten you were dealing with a... His method backfires, as a result of the events of Morrowind and the asteroid technically not being stopped.[1]
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Is at least 4,000 years old.
  • Supporting Leader: Becomes one towards the end of the main quest when he passes the Wraithguard on to the Neravarine. He rescinds the order to kill/arrest the Neravarine and passes on his knowledge of how to destroy the Heart of Lorkhan, the source of Dagoth Ur's (and the Tribunal's) divinity. He also orders the Ordinators and Buoyant Armigers inside Ghostgate to aid the Neravarine in any way they can.
  • Warrior Poet: Actually called that.

Almalexia

Sotha Sil

Yagrum Bagarn

A resident of Divayth Fyr's Corprusarium and the last living dwarf.

  • Last of His Kind: He's the last living Dwemer. He was outside of time when the calamity that wiped out his people occurred and returned to find them gone. He caught the Corprus disease soon after and ended up in the Corprusarium.
  • Super Wheelchair: The Corprus disease has left him bloated and unable to use his legs, so he gets around on a set of steam powered spider legs.
  • Take a Third Option: Absolutely crucial in the "backpath" method to completing the game's main quest.
  1. ↑ The movement is suspended, but all that kinetic energy is still there, just... in abeyance, with cataclysmic consequences when Vivec loses his power.
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