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What follows is a lengthy quest to save the province of Cyrodiil, heart land of the Empire which spans the whole continent of Tamriel from destruction at the hands of Mehrunes Dagon, the daedric prince of destruction.
 
The game boasts a huge open world with sixteen square miles of terrain to explore, hundreds of dungeons, eight cities filled with [[NPC|NPCs]]s that have their own daily routine and enough quests to fill hundreds of hours of play time.
 
The player has the opportunity to join several factions, such as the Fighter’s Guild, and all have their own storylines spanning several quests.
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** The giant slaughterfish, who shows up in one of the dungeons you explore in the Thieves Guild questline, but chances are you won't ever see this one if you don't fully explore the place.
** There's also the Uderfrykte Matron at Dive Rock.
* [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]: quite a few of the [[DLC|DLCs]]s are borderline cheat mods. (A quick and easy way of curing vampirism, a garden that supplies almost every rare ingredient, etc...)
* [[Bring Help Back]]: You can do this by getting reinforcements from the other cities when Bruma is besieged by a Great Gate (but only after you close the gates threatening ''their'' cities, naturally). It's an optional quest, though, so you can just [[One-Man Army|do it all yourself]] instead, if you prefer.
* [[Bring It]]: Attempt to/Fight an ogre with your bare hands and it may make this gesture.
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* [[Dem Bones]]
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: In the form of [[Useful Notes/Swords|weapon weights]], making them insanely heavy. Further, all "better" materials are much heavier, even when they have no reason to be (Steel is a mixture of iron and carbon and carbon weighs less than iron, making it unexplained why steel items weighs about a 6th more than iron. In Morrowind the two weighed the same amount)
** Iron vs. Steel errors are found in many [[RPG|RPGs]]s. One material that is uniquely peculiar in almost every way is glass, especially the armor.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: The climax of ''Shivering Isles'' pits you against {{spoiler|Jyggalag, the Deadric Prince of Order}}.
* [[Different As Night and Day]]: The friendly, helpful Dark Seducers and the arrogant, antisocial Golden Saints.
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** Countess Alessia Caro despises the beast races. Her speech towards you if you play a Khajit or Argonian barely even tries to disguise this. {{spoiler|She also has a secret [[Torture Cellar]] made specifically for Argonians}}. [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|Which makes it so]] [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|much fun to kill her]] [[Asshole Victim|over and over again.]]
** One minor NPC has a hobby of fostering discord between Argonians and Khajit. If you talk to him and you happen to belong to one of those two races, he'll tell you a member of the other race insulted you behind your back.
** Interesting variation in the quest Whodunit, where you're locked in a mansion with five people of various races {{spoiler|you have to kill them}}, including a Breton, a Nord, a Redguard, a Dark Elf, and an Imperial. The Breton is racist against the Dark Elf, but the most extreme racism is displayed by the Redguard towards the Nord; which is to say that the worst hatred isn't between the fantasy races, [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|but between the humans]].
** The first character you meet in the game, Valen Dreth, has a different set of insults for you depending on the race you've chosen.
* [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]: [[The Elder Scrolls]] loves this trope.
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** A nonstandard use is in the very beginning. Why am [[Featureless Protagonist|I]] in jail? [[Because Destiny Says So|"Perhaps the Gods have placed you here so that we may meet."]]
* [[Giant Mook]]: The Xivilai, massive daedra who wield [[An Axe to Grind|battle axes]] and [[Drop the Hammer|warhammers]] in ''one hand''.
** The ''Knights of the Nine'' expansion also adds Aurorans, humanoid Daedra associated with Meridia, that wear [[Light Is Not Good|golden armor]] and feature the same hulking body structure as the Xivilai. They act as Umaril's personal army of [[Smash Mook|Smash Mooks]]s, and wield Ayleid Battle-Axes in combat.
* [[Gladiator Subquest]]: The Arena.
* [[Godiva Hair]]: The mermaid statue in Anvil.
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** The main quest contains many claims the empire is in chaos with the Emperor's assassination. The game fails to show any actual chaos outside of Kvatch.
** An advertisement for the Red Diamond says it has the best guards, but it in fact has no guards. In fact, it's one of the easiest and most profitable places to rob, as it's the only store with inventory of any value that respawns (due to being in containers that are easily opened with the easily stolen key).
* [[Ironic Echo]]: "You're going to die in here!" and "All of Tamreil will know my name" <ref> when you first start the game, the first NPC you meet is a Dunmer named Valen Dreth, a prisoner in the cell opposite yours. He'll insult you (depending on which race and gender you choose, even if you're a Dunmer yourself), and then finish with "you're going to die in here". Additionally, before you find him</ref> the 2nd time, he is heard taunting a guard that "All of Tamreil will know my name" when he is released, his killing winds up a major headline. [[spoiler: If you're in the Dark Brotherhood, you're given a contract to kill him. You don't have to talk to him, but if you do, you can [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|fling those exact words back at him before murdering him]].
* [[Irony]]: It is revealed that Gaiden Shinji, whose "The best techniques are passed down by the survivors." quote started ''Arena'', was '''not''' a survivor. People still think he is amazing though.
* [[Interspecies Romance]]: Lord Lovidicus, an Imperial nobleman, and Luktuv gro-Malog, an Orsimer (aka Orc) woman.
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** Alternatively, use Wabbajack, then wail on the poor Daedric Prince. Cue [[I'm Melting|melting]] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|god]].
*** By "melting god" the refer to the fact that the Mehrunes Dagon character has no proper death animation programmed, and as a result of dying, the skeleton literally gives way and the 3D character model simply collapses to the ground. This will effectively happen with anything that has no proper skeleton installed, but is quite visible here just because Dagon is so damn BIG.
* [[Low Level Advantage]]: Many players despise the leveling system used for enemies, firstly since it prevents any real advancement and secondly because it can actually cause a character to become ''weaker'' as they level "up". At higher levels, the later effect can cause enemies to become overpowered. The same mechanic can be exploited to become a [[Game Breaker]]. <ref>by leveling up your combat skills (which happens independently of your character level, especially if you don't rest in beds or sleeping bags -- in which case you'll never level up -- or if you choose or build a class in such a way that your "major skills," for which each skill raised counts for 10% of the next level, don't include the combat skills you use the most. Enemies level up based on your character's level, not on your aggregate combat skills</ref>. Thankfully there is a difficulty slider if the game mechanic goes pathalogical.
** A popular mod, "Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul", replaces this system with objective levels for enemies and loot, making player leveling meaningful.
* [[Luck Stat]]: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Luck attribute]].
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* [[Mirror Match]]: One of the bosses in ''Shivering Isles'' is a shadow clone of your character with all your attributes, skills, and spells.
* [[Money Spider]]: Sometimes generic enemies (rats, mudcrabs, imps, wolves) will be carrying a small amount gold.
* [[Moral Guardians]]: There was a huge controversy shortly after the game was released when a nude mod was released that used textures present on the game's DVD. This prompted the ESRB to re-examine the game and re-rate it from T to M, though the nude mod was not the reason for it; they apparently missed some of the prominently displayed burning hanging corpses and other images they deemed "disturbing." Remembering how Take-Two suffered from Hot Coffee, it's surprising they didn't take measures to prevent. <ref> There are now twenty competing female nude mods, three male nude mods, and at least three mods that add actual full-blown sex. If the Moral Guardians ever looked in the Adult section of the modding community, they'd have a heart attack.</ref>
* [[Mordor]]: The appropriately named Deadlands, Mehrunes Dagon's realm of Oblivion.
* [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]]: Relmyna Verenim.
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** An earlier quest has another cave full of trolls that will probably get him (and you) knocked out instantly. It's considered a better idea to go into the cave beforehand and kill them one by one first.
** In the "Where Spirits Have Lease" quest, you end up playing right into the [[Monster of the Week|monster of the sidequest's]] hands. Thankfully, you're able to correct your error immediately afterwards.
* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: In the immensely popular mod "The Lost Spires", {{spoiler|Kal Rythor could very well have succeeded in summoning [[God of Evil|Zyyr]] ''if'' he hadn't given his pendant to the PC in exchange for one of the [[Plot Coupon|Plot Coupons]]s.}}
* [[No Bulk Discounts]]
* [[No Ending]]: Aside from the fact you can continue playing after the game is over, the fact that the Uriel Septim line {{spoiler|has ended}}, the game finishes with a major question unresolved. {{spoiler|Who will be Emperor?}}
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* [[NPC Scheduling]]
* [[The Nudifier]]: In ''Oblivion'', there is a quest for the Daedric Prince Sanguine which requires the Player Character to cast the spell "Stark Reality" at a dinner party. The spell strips everyone in the vicinity to their undergarments. The Ring of Disrobing in Shivering Isles has a similar effect.
* [[Obvious Beta]]: Despite being an overwhelming success, this game is plagued by many, many, many major bugs, glitches and serious technical problems. Even with an unofficial patch for the unofficial patch on top of the latest official patch, numerous [[Game Breaking Bug|Game Breaking Bugs]]s still persist, which can seriously interfere through normal gameplay, such as the notorious "nVidia black screen bug". Cue [[Cluster F-Bomb]].
* [[Obviously Evil]]: {{spoiler|''Kalthar.''}} Seriously, he has black, messy rat's nest hair, a near permanent scowl, [[Big Ol' Eyebrows|thick eyebrows]], and he's a [[Jerkass|colossal dick]]. Oh, and he's a Necromancer.
* [[Oh My Gods]]: "By the Nines / Nine Divines!"
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* [[Retirony]]: Grommok in the Shivering Isles quest Baiting the Trap. Direct quote from his journal - "We're going to head north and explore the area around Niben Bay today. I hope that something else like this turns up on our adventures. Then I'm going to retire!". Depending on the players actions, {{spoiler|he either dies or goes insane.}}
** Enforced in the Dark Brotherhood quest Permanent Retirement, which requires the player to kill a newly retired Imperial Legion commander who spent his life investigating and interfering with the Dark Brotherhood's 'operations'.
* [[Revenue Enhancing Devices]]: The Horse Armor DLC. Long since made into a meme or a [[Running Gag]], even by Bethesda itself -- onitself—on April 1, 2009 the price of all ''Oblivion'' DLC was halved, except for the Horse Armor DLC, which had its price ''doubled.''
* [[Rouge Angles of Satin]]: Anvil's resident [[Butt Monkey]], Norbert Lelles, is the proprietor of a shop whose sign is misspelled to read "Lelles' Quality Mercandise", which draws many amused comments from various NPCs.
* [[RPGs Equal Combat]]
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* [[Vendor Trash]]: Copious amounts of it.
* [[Vicious Cycle]]: The Greymarch. Also, the fate of the Ascended Immortals in Kamoran's Savage Garden/Forbidden Grotto.
* [[Video Game Caring Potential]]: Depending on how attached you become to some of the [[NPC|NPCs]]s, you may reload certain battles multiple times to ensure that they survive past the time they're flagged as no longer essential, up to and including the ending.
* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: The game allows you to kill any non-essential characters in the game (although this may result in you failing quests that you haven't even started), and essential characters can just be knocked unconcious over and over again.
** The sheer amount of videos on [[YouTube]] about killing certain people (or yourself) in Oblivion is astounding, but admit it, starting random rampages and mercilessly massacring the guards and citizens of Cyrodiil is ''fun''.
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* [[Wham! Episode]]: Through the last three games, the Emperor has been the [[Big Good]] who the player has been doing all the missions for. In this one? He dies. At the end of the tutorial mission.
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]] - Jagar Tharn's child. According to an ingame book, he fathered a child with Barenziah, the queen of Morrowind, when he seduced her in order to fool her into showing him the way to the Staff of Chaos. Then this child just fades into space ace. Also, lore says that after the events of the very first game, the Staff of Chaos was put away somewhere in White Gold Tower, yet in the game it is nowhere to be found.
** In-game, several quest-related [[NPC|NPCs]]s are usually disabled and removed from the game once their related quest is finished. Often, this is done without any in-universe explanation whatsoever. The most egregious examples are J'Skar (the sole survivor of the attack on the Bruma Mages Guild), and Nelrene (the Dark Seducer involved in the conspiracy in the "Lady of Paranoia" quest, even though she ends up helping you in the end).
* [[Wide Open Sandbox]] - Larger than ''Morrowind'' <ref>By raw square footage anyways. Morrowind's design makes traveling in a straight line impossible without levitation, and it implements a large vertical component not present in Oblivion</ref> but still far smaller than ''Arena'' or ''Daggerfall''.
** [[Law of Conservation of Detail]]: The size comes at the cost of much of the detail gained in ''Morrowind''. Almost everything not quest related is generated from random lists in place of ''Morrowind'''s hand placed loot, and like ''Daggerfall'' dungeons were <ref>that is, they are the same in every game, but initially created in this fashion</ref> randomly generated by combination of existing parts instead of hand crafted and the world is largely flat.
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