The Elder Scrolls franchise began in 1994
As with many successful games franchises, the groundwork was being laid back in the 1990s, when Bethesda were working on their first original concept, Arena. The game was also Bethesda’s first attempt at creating a role playing game, as they had previously been focused on sports games, or video game adaptations of popular movies.
The franchise started as a gladiator game
Arena, the first ever Elder Scrolls game, originally started its life as a gladiator-style game, where the player would have to travel around competing in swordfighting battle tournaments. To make the concept more interesting, Bethesda developers added in side quests, which they soon found to be more entertaining than the main storyline tournaments.
The Elder Scrolls title was a last-minute addition
Once they realized that they were really making an RPG rather than a fighting game, Bethesda developers decided that they should probably update the name of the game, as Arena didn’t suit the RPG genre. The problem was that they had already printed out most of their promotional posters, which featured ‘Arena’ in huge writing. This is when they decided to add The Elder Scrolls just above ‘Arena’, making it more genre-appropriate.
The first Elder Scrolls game only sold 2000 units
Despite the developers’ excitement for the game, Arena didn’t sell very well in its first months on store shelves. It only sold around 2000 units to begin with, which would have classed it as a flop. Thanks to word of mouth, the positive murmerings surrounding the game began to get louder, and sales did eventually start to pick up.
The second Elder Scrolls game sold out within days
In a completely contrasting manner to Arena, the second Elder Scrolls game, Daggerfall, sold over 100,000 copies within days of its release. In fact, the game had sold out in many areas before a second delivery of the game was even sent out, leaving Bethesda scrambling to release more copies of the game.
Daggerfall’s map is almost the size of Florida
The second game in the Elder Scrolls franchise, Daggerfall, features a huge map, which spans around 161,000 square kilometres. To put this into a real-life perspective, it is less than 10,000 square kilometres smaller than the state of Florida, and two-thirds the size of the United Kingdom.
Skyrim is tiny compared to Daggerfall
You’d think that with more memory space on the newer consoles, video games would be getting bigger. However, this isn’t the case with Skyrim, as its gameplay area is just 0.023% of the size of Daggerfall’s map. Skyrim is noted for having a decent-sized map as well, which puts into perspective how large Daggerfall really is.
Arena’s map is almost the size of Australia
So, Daggerfall has a large map, but it doesn’t come close to the size of Arena’s map. The playable area in Arena is six million square kilometres, which is almost the size of Australia. The developers managed to generate this size of map using procedural generation, rather than handcrafting every aspect of the map like they would in the more detailed modern games.
Daggerfall was the first Elder Scrolls game with 3D vision
Although Arena was ahead of its time using a first-person view in 1994, players could only look from side to side. 1996’s Daggerfall introduced a full 3D engine, which allowed players to look up and down as well as left and right. The Elder Scrolls beat games like Fallout and Grand Theft Auto to this feature, as they were still relying on a bird’s eye view at that point.
Daggerfall is the only Elder Scrolls game that doesn’t start with the player being imprisoned
In four out of the five Elder Scrolls games, you begin by figuring out that you have been arrested or restrained. Daggerfall is the only game that doesn’t start with the player’s character being imprisoned, instead starting with a live-action cutscene. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, all feature prison escape scenes at the start of the game.
There are multiple references to fish sticks in the Elder Scrolls games
In amongst all the magic, dragons, and castles, Bethesda developers have made a few references to fish sticks, or fish fingers, depending on where you’re from. You’ll see the food item mentioned in books and in NPC dialogue from time to time. This is because of a meme that did the rounds on the official Elder Scrolls forums back in the 2000s and early 2010s.
There is a fairytale reference in Skyrim
If you cross over a certain bridge in Skyrim, which is located under Markarth, you’ll be greeted by two goats, with a third joining them from underneath the bridge. Go under the bridge and you’ll find the dead body of a troll. This is of course a reference to the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, a famous Norwegian fairytale.
A baby was named after Skyrim in exchange for free games
To help promote the release of Skyrim on the 11/11/11, Bethesda decided to make a promise that if anyone had a child that day, and named it Dovahkiin, they would be eligible for free Bethesda games for life. This is exactly what happened, and when Dovahkiin Tom Kellermeyer was born, Bethesda acknowledged it and announced they would stay true to their side of the deal.
Elder Scrolls games have all taken place on the same continent
All of the Elder Scrolls games have taken place on one continent, Tamriel, on the planet Nirn. There are six other continents on the planet, Akavir, Atmora, Yokuda, Thras, Pyandonea, and Aldmeris, which could potentially be the setting for a future Elder Scrolls title.
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion music was used in North Korean propaganda
There is no doubting the rousing qualities of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion soundtrack. It’s memorable and it gets you in the mood for battle, which is probably why North Korea’s media department decided to use it for one of their propaganda videos. In a surprising crossover, this actually did happen, with the music soundtracking a video about nuclear weapons.
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion received backlash for a DLC item
Video game enthusiasts have long felt hamstrung by the inclusion of content which requires you to fork out even more of your real money to own. Bethesda experienced a high level of backlash from players after releasing horse armour as a payable extra in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.
You could easily ruin the Morrowind storyline
In the most recent two Elder Scrolls games, important NPCs are impossible to kill off permanently, as they are needed in order to progress the story forward. In The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, this wasn’t the case, and you could permanently kill important characters off, preventing you from progressing through the game.
The actor who voiced Paarthurnax is the same actor who voiced Super Mario
The deep, breathy voice of Paarthurnax the Dragon comes from the prolific Charles Martinet, the same voice actor who came up with the legendary high-pitched tone of Super Mario. Listen to the two characters speak, and they could not sound any more different from each other, which is a testament to Day’s vocal range.
There are more NPCs in Morrowind than in Oblivion and Skyrim combined
2002’s The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind has more non-playable characters in it than both Oblivion and Skyrim combined. This is down to the more extensive voice acting requirements and higher attention to detail put into the characters involved in the latter two games.
There is a reference to Indiana Jones in Morrowind
Morrowind contains a not-so-subtle reference to the legendary movie character Indiana Jones. The skeleton of a man, alongside a hat and a note, can be found in one of the game’s cave systems. Read the note, called ‘A Dying Man’s Last Words’ and you will find many tales of familiar treasure-hunting adventures, as well as seeing that the note is signed by Indy.
Uriel Septim is voiced by Patrick Stewart
In The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, the voice of Emperor Uriel Septim is voiced by veteran actor Patrick Stewart. There is a small tribute to Stewart’s career in his Oblivion script, as his character quotes William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Patrick Stewart has been acting in Shakespeare’s plays for over 50 years.
Only 2% of characters have a unique voice in Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion has around 1000 characters roaming around the map. However, only 20 voice actors were employed to work on the game, meaning there are many different characters that have been voiced by the same person, as well as many characters that do not have a voice at all.
The Skyrim theme is sung in a fictional language
The intense theme for Skyrim, named Dragonborn, features lyrics written in a fictional dragon language. The lyrics will make sense to those who take the time to translate them. In order to make the atmosphere of the song perfect, a choir of 30 people was brought in.
The music for Oblivion was inspired by a car accident
The music in The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is joyous and uplifting, which it may not have been, but for an almost fatal car accident. Jeremy Soule, who also composed the music for Morrowind and Skyrim, was driving around California, when he lost control of his car, sending it flipping multiple times. After his recovery, Soule decided that he wanted the mood of the music in Oblivion to be uplifting and a celebration of being alive.
Only 100 people worked on Skyrim
Considering the size of the game, and the success it has enjoyed in the years since its release, it might surprise you to know that Skyrim was created by a team consisting of only 100 people. This might sound like a large group, but it certainly isn’t when compared to a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which had a team of 2000 working on it.
Skyrim was heavily influenced by Fallout 3
The narrative and gameplay seen in Skyrim were heavily influenced by another of Bethesda’s games, Fallout 3. Video game engines, technology, and overall standards had improved in the long time between Oblivion and Skyrim. The Skyrim team had to learn a few lessons from the Fallout team in order to bring their game up to scratch, which thankfully, they did.
Nirn’s moons are actually the remains of a god
The planet Nirn, on which the Elder Scrolls series is set, has two moons orbiting it, named Masser and Secunda. These moons are believed to be the remains of Lorkhan, the god of all mortals, who was cut into two after his destruction. They may also just be big space rocks, but that’s far less interesting.
The College of Winterhold holds lectures at the same time each day
The hugely vast and impressive College of Winterhold operates like a real college, holding lectures at both one and three (game time) in the afternoon each day. This helps with immersion, allowing the players to be a part of a living and breathing world, although it’s unclear who would choose to spend their gaming time in a university simulator.
There are 337 different books in Skyrim
The attention to detail that Bethesda put in when creating Skyrim is mind-blowing, with certain details having been included in the game which will only be seen by a tiny minority of players. There are 337 books to read in the game, containing a total of 316,000 words between them.
If NPCs say they’re going somewhere, they will actually go there
Unlike in many open-world games, if Skyrim’s non-playable characters tell you they are going to go somewhere, they will actually walk there. You will be able to follow them on their journey but don’t stay too close or talk to them too much, or they will get annoyed with you.
Skyrim was almost set in Westeros
Skyrim was in development long before its release in 2011. Bethesda Studios was in conversation with Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin’s representatives in 2006, discussing the possibility of setting the game in Westeros, a year before HBO got the rights to the Game of Thrones series.
Giants were inspired by the developer’s father
Jonah Lobe was one of the 3D artists working on Skyrim, which gave him a ridiculous amount of creative control over the game and some of its characters’ aesthetics. He decided to model the giants on his father, adapting their faces and their stance accordingly. What a tribute!
There is a Skyrim NPC named after a fan of the franchise
Erik West visited the Bethesda studios as part of his Make-a-Wish dream, impressing all the staff with his in-depth knowledge of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. To celebrate his life and enthusiasm for the franchise, the Bethesda developers included him as an NPC in Skyrim, named Erik the Slayer.
The ‘arrow in the knee’ line was not intended to go viral
The famous “I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee” line from Skyrim was never added with the intention of becoming famous. According to developers, it was included with the purpose of making town guards seem more human and relatable, but instead, it became an enduring meme.
Skyrim dragons are not actually dragons
Although the game Skyrim is almost entirely centred around dragon-related discourse, from the name of the player’s character to the language used in the game’s theme song, the dragons in the game are not actually dragons. They are, in fact, Wyverns, as they only have two legs, as opposed to the four legs that would classify them as dragons.
Ulfr the Blind’s book is completely blank
The NPC Ulfr the Blind, is, as his name suggests, blind. However, whenever you see him in the game, he is always sitting in front of an open book. The book is not written in braille or anything that may be of any use to Ulfr. Instead, it is completely blank, with not even an accidental drop of ink on any of its pages.
Sweet rolls exist in both Skyrim and Fallout
Sweet rolls are a form of confectionary included in The Elder Scrolls franchise. NPCs in Skyrim will often make comments about them, seemingly for very little reason. Sweet rolls aren’t just restricted to the Elder Scrolls universe, as they also appear in other Bethesda games, including the Fallout franchise.
You can unlock fast travel locations by climbing mountains in Skyrim
Although it may take you a while, and could well prove to be a frustrating adventure, you can unlock a handful of secret fast travel locations by scaling some of Skyrim’s largest mountains. This isn’t the case for every mountain in the game though, so be sure to do your research before heading up into the clouds.
Winnie the Pooh’s voice actor voiced characters in Skyrim
Jim Cummings, the original voice of Winnie the Pooh, can be heard voicing some of Skyrim’s unique characters. He recorded the voice for a total of 23 different non-playable characters in the game, so it’s safe to say that Bethesda got their money’s worth out of him.
There are 61 million items to be found in Elder Scrolls Online
Bethesda has packed The Elder Scrolls universe with so much content over the years, with every game having seemingly endless lore. This is no different for The Elder Scrolls Online, which boasts over 61 million different items featured in the game, ensuring you’ll never get bored of it.
