The Elder Scrolls franchise is known for a lot of things-- fantastical adventures, powerful wizards, and hundreds of years of history. Another beloved aspect of the franchise is its inclusion of Daedric Princes, who are known for causing mischief and mayhem throughout the games.
The Daedric Princes are often seen as terrible entities who wish nothing but harm on the denizens of The Elder Scrolls' Tamriel. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion saw Mehrunes Dagon descend from his plane to wreak havoc on the world, so they are definitely a force to be reckoned with. However, The Elder Scrolls 6 may be the time for them to step down as the franchise's main big bads.
Understanding the Daedric Princes
Despite featuring in many of the games, there are many things players may not know about the Daedric Princes. The main thing that separates a Daedric Prince from an Aedric Divine is their participation in creation of Nirn. While Aedric Divines poured their own power into creating it, Daedric Princes abstained from doing so. Because of this, they are much more powerful than the Aedra but lack the ability to directly interact with the world, which is why they often employ mortals to do their bidding. However, their bidding does always involve committing heinous acts.
While gods like Clavicus Vile trick mortals into taking bad bargains or Molag Bal ask his followers to commit cruel acts, others are much less evil in nature. However, the word evil may not exactly apply here. The Daedric Princes often follow a set of principles that decide their actions. For example, Peryite is the prince of disease and pestilence, but his actions are not wholly evil. Peryite simply wishes to retain the natural order of all things, and he sees diseases as part of that. Even so, he is not wholly uncaring, as he has shown empathy for his followers in the past who were inflicted with debilitating diseases. Daedric Princes act according to their respective spheres of influence, which can often result in them aiding mortals.
For those reasons, it may be more interesting to see a Daedric Prince on the side of mortals for the next game. Daedric Princes are often only villains because their spheres of influence works against the player characters. If that were not the case, there would be a variety of ways to involve many of the Daedric Princes as an ally, which could even include Oblivion's main antagonist, Mehrunes Dagon. For example, if the Thalmor somehow took control of the empire, Mehrunes Dagon might be willing to help overthrow them because he is the Daedric Prince of revolution. This not too dissimilar to how the player character in the Elder Scrolls Online is working with the intriguing but creepy Hermaeus Mora in its next DLC.
Having a main villain who is not a Daedric Prince also add a sense of escalation to the plot as well. For example, if the main villain were to be a mortal or organization, it would allow for the plot to grow larger and larger in scale as the player uncovers more about their plans. The Thalmor have a lot of potential to do just that, with their theorized plans to destabilize all reality. Having a Daedric Prince on the player's side would add a sense of nuance.
Regardless of whether they are the main villain or not, Daedric Princes will presumably continue to play a large role in the franchise's future. There are still many unanswered questions about the Daedra, so having them on the players side may allow players to learn some things about them too.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development.