The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim/Tropes H-M: Difference between revisions
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim/Tropes H-M (view source)
Revision as of 10:01, 7 December 2023
, 5 months agono edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 3:
* [[Hailfire Peaks]]:
** Eastmarch gives us a subtle example: the north half of it is as icy as it gets, while down south you've got geysers, hot springs, and lush forests a-plenty.
** A more video gamey example would be Solstheim. Thanks to the eruption of Vvardenfell, at least half the continent is an ashy, desolate wasteland where smoldering impact craters and fiery monsters lurk in the wilderness. The other half is [[Grim Up North]], and all it takes is several steps to immediately go from trudging across ash-choked
* [[Hammerspace]]: The player and NPC's which can s/he can pickpocket. The player can carry dozens of broadswords and battle-axes and still sprint. Some NPC's can have their entire inventory removed via pickpocket save for one item. If caught, the NPC may draw a weapon which was never in their inventory.
* [[Handicapped Badass]]: Hakon One-Eye.
* [[Harmless Freezing]]: The Ice Form shout freezes opponents and does some frost damage, but they thaw relatively unharmed in about half a minute.
* [[Hate Sink]]:
** The Thalmor are basically this trope applied to an ''entire faction.'' There's a ton of [[Grey and Gray Morality]] surrounding both the Empire and the Stormcloaks, with each faction giving you compelling reasons to side with or oppose them during the Civil War. But between the anti-human bigotry, cracking down on religious freedom, torture and murder of innocents, and elitist [[Jerkass]] behavior, it won't take long for you to start slaughtering every single Thalmor member you see.
** Most Dragon Priests are superbosses that you fight for the sake of getting a cool mask and/or them being in your way, so you're not really given much of a reason to hate them {{spoiler|aside from Morokei, but at least he's cool in his horrific presentation}}. There ''is'' an exception among the bunch, however: Rahgot. You're given an uncomfortably intimate look at the atrocities he committed during his final days as a mortal man, which had him force his entire cult to commit ritual suicide when their temple was under seige. Many innocent children were among the people living in the temple, and when his alchemist had a problem with it, he had her brutally murdered for defying him. By the time you get to him, you'll absolutely ''want'' to squash him like a bug for all the horrible things he's done.
** {{spoiler|Mercer Frey}}, the true villain of the Thieves' Guild sidequest. He's a raging [[Jerkass|douche]] to begin with, but he's so much worse than that. {{spoiler|Siphoning funds from the Guild, murdering his best friend when he found out, and framing his lover for his murder}} puts him far over the line, and every bit of screentime he gets is dedicated to making sure you absolutely hate his guts.
** It's very clear that you're not supposed to like Maven Black-Briar. She's horribly rude to almost everyone she talks to, and even if you become {{spoiler|Guidmaster of the Thieves Guild}}, she'll hold you in open contempt for daring to talk to her. Her criminal enterprises and vast network of connections ensure that Riften is always a hotbed of crime and corruption, and to make things worse? She is ''annoyingly'' untouchable and never suffers any sort of consequences for the many evil things she does.
* [[Headless Horseman]]: You may encounter a headless horseman's ghost riding along the roads at night; he's harmless though, and can't be interacted with. If you manage to follow him, he'll lead you to {{spoiler|Hamvir's Rest}} which is likely where his mortal body is buried. Going there on your own will often result in you finding him already there (occasionally, even during the daytime).
* [[Healing Factor]]:
Line 14 ⟶ 19:
* [[Here There Be Dragons]]: A mural shows a lot of dragons breathing fire on the humans down below.
* [[Here There Were Dragons]]: Fans that pay attention to the background lore raised some eyebrows when their presence was confirmed, as dragons were said to be an endangered species few in number, kept alive by the Empire only in return for helping them in war. The game eventually explains this and the fact that they're returning is mentioned from the start: {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Alduin]] is bringing all of the dragons ''back to life''. Apparently, the dragons' souls still survive unless they're absorbed by the Dragonborn, so the ones slain by non Dragonborn people (such as the Blades) simply need their bodies rebuilt}}.
* [[Heroic Mime]]: Normally you talk to people (albeit, through non-voiced dialogue options) but you can play completely silent throughout the Dark Brotherhood storyline.
* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]:
** A book on Oblivion has an introduction that is also a [[Shout-Out]] to the quote by [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], saying "He who enters Oblivion allows Oblivion to enter him."
Line 22 ⟶ 27:
* [[High Dive Hijinks]]: The "Bard's Leap", which consists of a bridge leading up to the edge of a waterfall. [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|You do the math]]. {{spoiler|Surviving nets you a free Speech bonus from the ghost of someone who didn't survive the leap}}.
* [[Hit Scan]]: There are three types of destruction spells: fire, frost and shock. Fire is the cheapest and most damaging, while frost has additional negative effects on the enemy. Shock, being the most expensive and least damaging, would look like a loser... except its attacks hit instantly, negating the need to [[Lead the Target]] and making it '''much''' easier to hit flying/fast targets.
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: There are several dungeons where the local gang of enemies have someone trapped in a cage, or forcefully enthralled to carry out their bidding. Freeing the captives from their tortment will often lead to them chasing down their captors and killing them in revenge. Examples include a trio of vampires locked up by a bunch of evil mages, a friendly Spriggan imprisoned by Hagravens, and a legion of female ghosts enthralled by a necrophile necromancer.
* [[Hollywood History]]: You get to participate in creating a bit of this for Solitude. The copy of ''Olaf and the Dragon'' you find is too badly damaged to present to Elisif so you suggest to the bard that you can make up the missing parts. The Bard basically goes along with whatever you suggest if it sounds cool ("Olaf ''was'' the dragon. What a twist!").
* [[Home Run Hitter]]: It is in your best interest to make sure giants ''never'' get within melee range. At least not for more time than is needed for a quick swipe on your part, because all it takes is one solid hit to send you flying into the stratosphere.
* [[Honey Trap]]: In Morthal, there's a female vampire who seduced a man into being her guardian while she and her
* [[Honor Before Reason]]:
** Pretty standard fare for any traditional Nord. They fancy themselves a [[Proud Warrior Race]], with customs and laws that they won't bend for ''anybody''. In fact, this is pretty much what started the war, especially since there's proof that the Thalmor were manipulating things from the start.
Line 34 ⟶ 39:
** Aela the Huntress. Seriously, she has both the looks and the attitude. And that armor she wears? Made of dragonskin, according to fluff in the game, so it's heavier and tougher than it looks by a large margin. Ancient Nord Armor, for those interested.
** The Dovahkiin, if you so chose.
* [[Hot Springs Episode]]: A watery area in Eastmarch near the border of Whiterun
* [[Hotter and Sexier]]: Nothing terribly explicit, but there's definitely a ''lot'' more blatant sexual references and suggestive dialogue than ''Oblivion'' and ''Morrowind''. However, aside from the Statues of Dibella, there isn't any of the blatant nudity seen in ''Arena'' and ''Daggerfall'', which had certain enemies and Azura herself go topless, complete with properly-rendered nipples.
* [[Huge Rider, Tiny Mount]]: A certain stable master outside of Riften did this when he was drunk one night. It didn't end well.
* [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game]]: Hircine has you hunt down a Werewolf that [[Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?|stole from him]].
Line 54 ⟶ 59:
** {{spoiler|Odahviing, the dragon you capture at Dragonsreach, gives his word to be your ally if you set him free and is ''hurt'' if you ask how he can be trusted. Not only does he deliver, but he makes a [[Heel Face Turn]] from that point on}}.
*** Paarthunax comments that {{spoiler|the Blades are right to distrust dragons}} suggest this might be unusual, however.
* [[I Know Your True Name]]: Played with. Twice in the game dragons are summoned from anywhere in the world by speaking their names as a Shout, but not because it holds any power over them, it's because to speak a dragon's name as a Shout is considered a personal challenge, and humans being humans, they of course accept. Eventually, {{spoiler|the player learns a Shout that summons the dragon Odahviing into battle, but he only responds because he chooses to}}. This happens a third time in ''Dawnguard'', once you get the ability to summon [[Dracolich|Durnehviir]].
* [[I Love the Dead]]:
** Arondil's journals
** There's more. Since these female ghosts are under his thrall, it means they're being held against their will. And you factor him having sex with them in such state, it amounts to rape. And considering being under thrall can also mean they are still [[And I Must Scream|conscious and aware of what's happening]] (like the [[Apologetic Attacker]] ghosts located at another tomb), it's no surprise that if the player breaks his hold on them by stealing a particular soul gem, they [[The Dog Bites Back|go berserk and kill him]].
* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: Namira's followers have... exotic tastes. {{spoiler|The player character can also become this after obtaining Namira's Ring}}.
Line 72 ⟶ 77:
** [[Wild Mass Guessing|Maybe her late husband bragged about how amazing she was in bed]].
** If you come across the book ''A Gentleman's Guide to Whiterun'' by Mikael (the bard in the Bannered Mare, and one of the men who's after Carlotta), he states in it that she is a "magnificent beauty".
* [[Informed Attribute]]: Balimund in Riften says he feeds his forge fire salts so the flames burn hotter, and it's common knowledge among Whiterun and the Companions that something about the Skyforge makes the steel it turns out stronger. Forging weapons in these two forges offers the same weapons with the same stats as any other forge, though the Skyforge
* [[Informed Flaw]]: Walk up to a guard, any guard at all. Some time you're bound to hear them say "[[Memetic Mutation|I used to be an adventurer like you... then I took an arrow in the knee]]." In no way, shape or form, does this inconvenience their patrolling or even fighting skills. Presumably, it just made them more averse to taking risks rather than being a permanent injury. This line was included in the game as a reference to the lack of any armor covering the knees.
* [[Insistent Terminology]]: The description of High-King Torryg's death. Pro-Stormcloak characters are quick to point out that Torygg was killed in a duel that met the requirements of Nord tradition while pro-Imperial characters consider it to be murder and argue that Ulfric's use of the Thu'um prevented it from being a fair fight.
| |||