The Elder Scrolls series has grown larger and larger since it was first released in the 90s with every new addition to the series, especially with the latest entries being as massive and lore-expanding as they are.
We have gathered a handful of the most exciting and must-know things about the Elder Scrolls series in-game and out for your convenience.
SPOILER WARNING: some of the entries could tackle events far into the story of the Elder Scrolls games.
Horse Amor
The fourth entry in the Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion, eventually had one of the most infamous examples of downloadable content: horse armor, per Red Bull. The DLC unlocks one short quest where the reward is armor for your horse so it can be better protected against the dangers lurking about in Tamriel, be they bandits, skeletons, or otherworldly beings.
The DLC's claim to infamy is due to players having to pay $2.50 for the DLC just to get armor for their horse, per Screen Rant. It was a price that was found by players to be too expensive for the item being bought.
Eltonbrand
In the third entry of the series, Morrowind, there is a sword called Eltonbrand named after NBA player Elton Brand, who used to play for the Duke Belue Devils, of which programmer Mark Nelson is a fan, according to Amino Apps' page for it.
To get the sword, you first have to get the Gold brand sword, complete the Shashev's Key quest for Sirilonwe in the aAld'ruhn Mages Guild, and carry exactly 11,171 gold before talking to Sirilonwe again and tell her "Go to hell, Carolina."
Arena Fighter?
Long-time Elder Scrolls fans know that the first game was titled The Elder Scrolls: Arena. This naming was due to the game initially being focused on arena combat, according to The Gamer. However, developers slowly began to add side missions into the game to give players variation in an otherwise monotonous game. After the number of side missions increased it was decided that the game will be turned into a proper RPG instead of a dungeon crawler.
Real-Life Dragonborn?
Bethesda previously announced that anyone who would name their child Dovahkiin (Dragonborn in the dragon's tongue) on November 11, 2011, will get free access to all past, present, and future Bethesda games.
November 11, 2011, was Skyrim's release date, which is the fifth entry of the series.
One absolute madlad actually named their child Dovahkiin, with the child's full name being Dovahkiin Tom Kellermeyer. As promised, Dovahkiin and his parents, Eric and Megan, now have free Bethesda games for life.
That's A HUGE MAP!
The second Elder Scrolls game, Daggerfall, is absolutely massive. It uses an auto-generated map that is several times bigger than any of its sequels. According to Bethesda's official Elder Scrolls website, the game's world exceeds that of the real-world size of Great Britain, which is over 80,000 square miles.
Morrowind's Redesign
Many Elder Scrolls fans agree that out of all the entries, Morrowind is the best among them all. However, it was vastly redesigned from its larger size during the game's initial development to its size in its final release.
The game was supposed to include both Vvardenfell and Morrowind's mainland, which would let players join one of the five main Dunmer Great houses instead of the final game's three. The game was initially found to be so ambitious the development team decided to redesign it into the game we know today.
Oh, My Gods!
According to Reddit user u/BLAZING_DUST, the Elder Scroll's gods were named after the original playtesters of the first two games.
For Instance, Akatosh is for "Also Known As The Old Smaug Himself," which is a pseudonym for one of Daggerfall's beta testers, Lawrence Szydlowski, per The Elder Scrolls Fandom page on Akatosh.
Radiant AI Mishaps
Bethesda poured over much of Oblivion's development cycle reworking the way AI behaved to make them feel as close to an actual person as they can. However, instead of the NPCs behaving as actual people do, they had unnatural dialogue and behaviors, spawning thousands of memes instead.
Let's-A Go, Paarthunaax!
During your time as Dovahkiin in the fifth entry of the series, Skyrim, you will encounter who the Greybeards call their oldest member, Paarthunaax, who will teach you how to defeat the main antagonist of the game.
You would imagine him to have a deep and intimidating voice, which is correct, as he is a dragon as old as the main antagonist. However, You'd be pleased to know that Paarthunaax's voice is also the voice actor of one of Nintendo's star mascots, Mario.
A Sweet(roll) Fascination
Skyrim's guards and NPCs have an intriguing fascination for sweetrolls. They even go so far as to say, "Let me guess: someone stole your sweetroll," whenever you interact with them in-game. The food was also popular in the first game when one of the class determiner questions was: how would you treat bullies that try to take your newly purchased sweetroll?
Bethesda eventually published a cookbook that shows people how to cook the food featured in Skyrim, including the infamous sweetrolls.
Related Article: 10 Things to Know About the Ford Model T, the World's First Affordable Car
