Highlights
- Grelod the Kind abuses orphans at the Honorhall Orphanage, celebrating her demise when killed.
- Mercer Frey is a selfish leader of the Thieves Guild, willing to manipulate and murder for personal gain.
- Miraak, the first Dragonborn, worships Hermaeus Mora and seeks to consume the Dragonborn's soul.
The Elder Scrolls 5:Skyrim is a land of mystical beauty and horror. As such, there results in a few oddballs in Skyrim that certainly spoil the friendly experience and some ghastly characters with dark tones that even the Dragonborn might shudder to think about, or quake in the presence of. These Skyrim characters are a sickness amongst the rest, and whilst Tamriel may see a Civil War, it’s near nothing to the actions of these characters.
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Whether Daedra or just sick and twisted, the darkest Skyrim characters often hold secrets and accounts of darkness within them that make them worth watching out for, as players can never predict when they might feel a knife in their back, or a far worse fate.
8 Grelod the Kind
An Abusive Headmistress Of The Honorhall Orphanage
Within Riften, players can find the Honorhall Orphanage, being run by Grelod the Kind. Do not be fooled by the false innocence of her name, as she is anything but kind. Grelod is abusive and hates the children that she is supposed to be caring for and nurturing. These poor orphans cannot be adopted, as Grelod simply will not allow it, nor will she allow anyone to talk back to her.
Grelod may not be a killer, but her cruelty to vulnerable children makes her a dark character, cruel and heartless. Grelod is so evil that when killed, the children do not watch in horror at witnessing a murder, and they instead, celebrate her demise.
7 Mercer Frey
The Leader Of The Thieves Guild With Selfish Motives
Mercer Frey is a thief, and one would think that being the leader of the Thieves Guild, would mean he is in it for the guild, and to share the wealth among his companions. Sadly, that’s not the case for this leader, whose wealth and greed are bound to himself. Mercer Frey is a despicable man, a manipulator, and a murderer.
Pessimistic in nature, Mercer Frey shows his sly nature in how he tries to kill the player character and confesses to the murder of others for his own gain. With no moral conviction, Mercer is a character not worth being around, for he cannot be trusted, but his possession of the Skeleton Key is definitely to be desired.
6 Cicero
A Loyal Dark Brotherhood Member With A Scrambled Mind
Whilst Cicero doesn’t have plans for world domination, and his darkness stems more out of whimsical insanity, it still doesn’t exclude him from being entirely sinister. Cicero is a devoted member of the Dark Brotherhood, and he will kill anyone, regardless of age and gender, as long as it is for the greater good of the Dark Brotherhood.
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Cicero is a loyalist to the cause, and his role as Keeper makes him ever loyal to the Night Mother, and the Dragonborn, should players enlist him as a merry companion who talks to himself and dances with glee, as long as there’s a knife in hand to plunge into others.
5 Arondil
A Perverse Necromancer
A minor character in Skyrim, this former Dawnstar citizen invested heavily into his Altmeri Necromancy and Ice Mage ways, experimenting with the dead until he was able to reanimate and enslave female draugr. His obsession with power and women is entirely creepy, and his desire to enslave them and their deceased bodies makes him a character shrouded in darkness, so it’s no wonder he seeks refuge in the icy caves of Yngvild.
If players learn more about Arondil through his journals, they will discover how he misses the young maidens of Dawnstar. He doesn’t specify how young, nor what the intoxicating beauty of them does to him, but it can be predicted through his actions that it’s nothing good.
4 Maven Black-Briar
The Most Influential Person In Riften
There is one character that players shouldn’t mess with in Skyrim, and that’s Maven Black-Briar. Whilst not humble in any sense, Maven will wander around Riften doing normal activities like she doesn’t hide secrets, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Maven has ties to the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild, and her fingers are in every pie both in and out of Riften.
Despite not being Jarl, Maven practically controls Riften and its people, and anyone who disagrees with her will face her vast wealth and political power, and they will end up in prison, or dead, at the mere thought of Maven’s request.
3 Harkon
A Vampire Lord With Evil Goals
Harkon is a dreaded vampire lord, one that all of Tamriel should fear. He is not like thralls and spawns that exist within Skyrim, festering for blood and hiding in caves. Harkon rules with an iron fist in his castle, and his ambitions take to the Moon. Harkon seeks to descend Tamriel into a blood Moon, permanently, allowing himself and vampires to rule the world, taking when they want without restrictions from the dreaded sun.
Harkon is a monster, and his pure-blood vampirism can turn others into monsters too. His confidence and his intimidating presence will have even the loudest of Dragonborns quaking in their boots, especially as they venture through his castle and find nothing but victims to those who are below him.
2 Miraak
The First Dragonborn Who Worships Hermaeus Mora
Miraak is the very first Dragonborn and first Dragon Priest, someone who at one time served the dragons that ruled over Solstheim. It wasn’t long before Miraak discovered his powers and the Voice, and when possessing the Black Book, he turned his servitude to that of Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of Knowledge and Fate. Dealing with Daedra is never a good idea, as Miraak would come to learn, even when that deal provides him with the power to tame dragons and become something they fear.
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Miraak’s return sets him on a quest to kill the Dragonborn and consume their soul so that he can have the powers of every dragon they have slain, providing him with the powers he needs to escape his prison and begin his plans to subjugate the entire world. His evil is boundless, and his cruelty and obsession will see him worshiped.
1 Alduin
The World-Eater
One of the most powerful dragons to rule, Alduin was a tyrant who dominated humanity and was worshiped as a god-king for a reason. Alduin is the harbinger of the apocalypse, and a being of immeasurable power that will see dragons rise from their ancient tombs, and awaken to reshape the world as they see fit. Alduin’s one goal as the World Eater is to consume Sovngarde and its heroes.
Alduin is not bound by the mortal plain of existence, and he will be there for the end of time, for it is fate that he will devour the world. This diabolical creature is the main antagonist of Skyrim for a reason, and there’s no sense of redemption within his dark heart and mind.
