When the Dragonborn begins their journey in Skyrim, things aren't looking too good right from the get-go. The province of Skyrim was already in the middle of the war between the Imperials and Stormcloaks when the return of the dragons occurred, so it isn't too difficult to imagine that some (or many) of the citizens of Skyrim's lives weren't all sunshine and sweet rolls.
Among the wealthy and those that had inherited a place in a royal castle, there were many NPCs that had less than desirable living conditions. Here are some of the most notable Skyrim NPCs with the saddest backstories.
8 Narfi
- Status: Estranged Villager
- Location: Ivarstead
Narfi is a simple beggar that resides in the ruins of his family's former home, away from the rest of the small Ivarstead population. Narfi is, for the most part, ostracized by the rest of society due to the fact that the trauma he had endured (likely from the loss of his family) had driven him mad.
Narfi's quest involves the Dragonborn searching for Narfi's sister, Reyda, who is later discovered to be dead. Many players struggle with finally telling Narfi the bad news as the return of his missing sister is the only thing he has hope for.
As if poor Narfi's life isn't difficult enough, he can later even be targeted by the Dark Brotherhood! If the player decides to go ahead and kill poor Narfi, they'll discover a dagger in his inventory, even though he does not fight back if attacked. Narfi's story is already sad enough but to think someone would actively want to get rid of the poor man when he had never hurt a soul is heart-crushing.
7 Sofie
- Status: Orphaned Child
- Location: Windhelm
Sofie is a young girl that is often found wandering around in the cold of Windhelm with nothing but herself and her little basket of flowers she desperately tries selling in order to be able to afford food every day.
Sofie's mother died when she was a baby, whereas her Stormcloak father was killed in battle, leaving poor Sofie all on her own. Sofie unfortunately does not have any other relatives nearby to help her as she can be seen sleeping outside in the cold, on the hard stone floor outside of Niranye's house.
Luckily for her, with the DLC add-on, the Dragonborn has the option of adopting the young girl to give her a warm bed to sleep in and a place to call home.
6 Lydia
- Status: Housecarl
- Location: Whiterun
Lydia is one of the first true friends every Skyrim player makes in the first opening hours of their journey and new life as the Dragonborn. After helping out Whiterun with a pesky dragon problem, the Jarl gives the player the new shiny title as Thane of Whiterun. Along with the title, the Thane also is appointed a personal housecarl; in this case, Lydia.
Lydia is known to be the subject of a whole ton of mistreatment by Skyrim fans all over the world. Lydia has a few voice lines about being sworn to the Thane, acting as their sword and shield. In the end, poor, devoted Lydia is heavily ridiculed for constantly getting lost, being too weak, and is often reduced to being a pack-mule for many players; forced to carry all the loot the Dragonborn has no more room for.
5 Blaise
- Status: Orphaned Child
- Location: Katla's Farm
Blaise is yet another one of the unfortunate children of Skyrim that has lost his parents to the ongoing war. Blaise resides on Katla's Farm in Haafingar, responsible for multiple jobs around the farm. While Katla isn't actively abusive to young Blaise, it's clear that she's fairly neglectful. It's rather common to find all the adults around the farm standing around while Blaise tends to the crops and animals.
On top of this, poor Blaise isn't even allowed a comfy bed to sleep on or even a proper roof over his head in exchange for his hard work! At night, Blaise is seen retreating to the barn, taking a rest next to the horses with not a pillow or blanket in sight.
4 Meeko
- Status: Stray Dog
- Location: Meeko's Shack
Almost every longtime Skyrim player knows the beloved stray dog, Meeko. On the way to Solitude, many players will run into a little dog that seemingly wants the Dragonborn to follow him somewhere. After following the little dog and reading the journal found in the shack he leads you to, the Dragonborn finds out the poor dog had been loyal to his owner who had passed away, staying by his side the entire time.
This little (unintentionally) abandoned dog is so lost without his owner, that even after dismissing him as a follower, little Meeko, with no place else to go, will return to his shack with his deceased owner.
Fortunately, if the Dragonborn has an adopted child, the child can then ask the Dragonborn to formally adopt Meeko, so the little dog can have a proper place to call home (and a family that loves him) once again.
3 All Souls Trapped In The Soul Cairn
- Status: Eternal Undead
- Location: (Portal found in) Castle Volkihar
While players generally knew what using a soul trap spell meant, the Dawnguard DLC allowed players into the Soul Cairn to catch a glimpse of the dark prison these lost souls were subjected to until the end of time.
Many lost souls are found in the Soul Cairn, wandering, letting out cries for help, wanting to leave, or for their existence to finally end. One poor fellow can be found frantically searching for his dear horse, Arvak, stating that they both arrived in the depths of the Soul Cairn after being attacked by monsters.
After a bit of searching for Arvak's skull, the poor soul teaches the Dragonborn to call/summon Arvak. While Arvak is still able to live (somewhat) freely, his poor owner is forever trapped in the Soul Carin, happy to just get his loyal friend out of the wretched prison.
2 J'zhar
- Status: Hidden Corpse
- Location: Alftand
In the depths of Alftand, the Dragonborn can come across poor J'zhar's dead body along with a journal, telling the tale of him and his brother, J'darr. According to his writings, J'zhar's brother, J'darr, was heavily addicted to skooma, a dangerous, addictive, and illegal drug in Skyrim. In an attempt to help his brother out, J'zhar signed the two up for the expedition in Alftand with a few bottles of skooma to help ease his brother off the drug slowly.
However, to their dismay, the brothers were snowed in for weeks, causing J'darr to begin hallucinating due to skooma withdrawal. In the end, the Dragonborn encounters the pair too late; a frustrated J'darr standing over his poor brother's corpse, bloody ax nearby, shouting about his beloved missing skooma.
1 Paarthurnax
- Status: Ostracized Ancient Dragon
- Location: The Throat Of The World
Paarthurnax is in a bit of an awkward situation. On one hand, Paarthurnax's aid in Alduin's tyrannical reign during the Dragon War made him an enemy of the Blades as they seek to eradicate all dragons that were involved. However, on the other hand, Paarthurnax's change of heart and determination to aid mankind as the Greybeard's leader made him an ally to the Dragonborn and (by extension) many citizens of Skyrim.
Paarthurnax's change of allegiance made him many enemies, on both sides of the war, throughout the many years he's lived. The dragons of Skyrim hate him because of his betrayal of Alduin, but the Blades also detest him because of his association with Alduin in the first place.
Old Paarthurnax has even selflessly decided to retreat to the Throat Of The World, in order to isolate himself to ensure that his old ways (and his lust for powerful reign) would not return. Even when he does everything in his power to do things right, in the end, the old dragon is still hated by his own kind and by the ones he tried to help.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.