The Elder Scrolls 6 is very likely one of the most anticipated games of all time, considering it's been around three years since it was first announced, and because it's following up after Skyrim. There is a lot of pressure about how good The Elder Scrolls 6 has to be, both because of Skyrim's legacy, and the fact that Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed will supposedly be coming in 2022 as well. Also, considering how Starfield may impact the production of The Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda has to make sure the game lives up to their standard by launch.
Considering how tense things must be because of all the expectations for The Elder Scrolls series' next entry, Bethesda could seize this opportunity to let one of Oblivion's classic features come back for The Elder Scrolls6. Oblivion was a pretty grim game right from the start, with the fall of Kvatch and the Daedra invading Tamriel, but it had its uplifting moments thanks to some side quests and, more specifically because of the hilarious figure the Adoring Fan. This NPC became extremely popular in the community of The Elder Scrolls games, but not limited to it, making the Adoring Fan one of the most iconic characters in the series and beyond.
Who The Adoring Fan is in Oblivion
Players first meet the Adoring Fan in the Imperial City's Arena District, right after they become the new Grand Champion. As a part of the storyline for the Arena, Oblivion players get to have a follower that helps them on their journey across the land, and that companion is the Adoring Fan. This young Bosmer is a commoner with no special abilities nor combat abilities of any sort. He's an expert at carrying a torch and being cheerful, or depending on the players' perspective, extremely annoying.
This character became a sort of meme, with players killing him in creative ways, leaving him to wait in very dangerous (and potentially lethal) places, and pushing him off of high places to see him fall to his death. However, despite the gamers' sadistic practices towards the poor Adoring Fan, the Bosmer would always respawn at the Arena if he ended up killed or was dismissed by the main character, perpetuating an endless cycle of fun.
Regardless of the fact that all the Adoring Fan ever meant to do was to help, his main purpose became that of being a training dummy or end up on YouTube compilations. Players even made their starting character in Oblivion look exactly like the Adoring Fan, so as to have a look-alike follower when completing the Arena quests and add an extra layer to the meme.
The Legacy Of The Adoring Fan In Other The Elder Scrolls Games And More
The legacy of the Adoring Fan is not lost with Oblivion — or, to oblivion, rather — but it lives on in several ways. The Adoring Fan was added to Skyrim by passionate modders who even went to great lengths to have the annoying Bosmer have his own lines and interact with players. This, of course, meant that even more players got to know this iconic character if they hadn't played the previous chapter in The Elder Scrolls saga. That's not all, though; by reading more about Skyrim's lore, players encountered an entry in Cicero's journal that seems to imply he was posing as the Adoring Fan in Oblivion. However, this is likely just a reference, not a new implication.
The Elder Scrolls Online, too, was not immune to the inclusion of references to Oblivion's most notorious character. The game features an arena, called the Hammerdeath Arena in the area of Stormhaven, where a ghost NPC can be found observing the matches and cheering for fighters. This character is a Bosmer, too, and he is one of the two references to the Adoring Fan in The Elder Scrolls Online. The second one is a furnishing item that can be used to decorate a player's house, and being an ornamental fan, it's called "An Adoring Fan."
Oblivion's Adoring Fan is also part of The Elder Scrolls:Legends, a card game inspired by the characters, locations, lore, and enemies of The Elder Scrolls series, developed as a spin-off title by Bethesda. In The Elder Scrolls:Legends, gamers can select a mode called Arena, which allows them to make a deck to play with. Upon defeating an Arena boss for the first time, they are awarded the Adoring Fan's own card. Very much like in Oblivion, in Legends the Bosmer cannot be Silenced, albeit in a different way.
Lastly, the Adoring Fan has made a comeback in many other shapes and forms, and in other games as well. Players have been known to make the Adoring Fan out of everything, including in HeroForge, and as a Guardian in Destiny 2, thanks to the transmog system.
Why Oblivion's The Adoring Fan Should Come Back To The Elder Scrolls 6
Oblivion players are clearly not over the Adoring Fan just yet, despite it being 15 years since the game first came out. As such, this reason alone would be enough to warrant the Bosmer's return in the new chapter of The Elder Scrolls saga. Another reason is, of course, the sheer amount of references that the Wood Elf got over the years, and how The Elder Scrolls 6 should have something as fun as the Adoring Fun was in Oblivion.
Features like this are what make players come back to a game, even years later. Adoring Fan making a comeback in The Elder Scrolls 6 could be the perfect injecting of levity into the game's story. Interactions with unique items, special magic spells, and more would make the Adoring Fan even funnier now, depending on how his return is contextualized. Whether The Elder Scrolls 6 will indeed have room for the Adoring Fan's comeback is mere speculation, but pretty much everything else about the game is based on assumptions due to the lack of official information about it. Here's to hoping the Adoring Fan will return in The Elder Scrolls 6, though. He's a homie.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development.