The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – what a fantastic game. Like many games, especially RPGs, you are tasked with carrying out an epic quest. Should you fail, grave consequences will follow – perhaps the end of the world. But, despite owning this massive responsibility, you are not the true hero. You don’t save the world. This crucial development choice has always intrigued me, so please, allow me to explain.
I’ll try to keep this as spoiler free as possible, so I apologize if something slips through the cracks. You first start Oblivion, like any Elder Scrolls game, in a prison. You don’t know why you are there, nor how long you’ve been there for. And so, your mind starts racing. Did I steal something? Did I kill someone? What did I do to deserve imprisonment?
From this moment on, the game owns you. Not just in the “OMG I don’t want to put this game down” sense. But by allowing you fabricate your own backstory the instant you turn on the game, the game has wrapped its arms around you and brought you in.
Well…this sucks
Soon after creating your character (my female Khajiit thief named Evarwyn), you meet Emperor Uriel Septim VII as he and his personal guard, the Blades, walk through your prison cell to escape the Imperial City. Without spoiling anything, stuff happens and he gives you the Amulet of Kings (there is some seriously sick lore associated to this amulet, but, I digress). He tells you to find a priest named Jauffre in Weynon Priory at Chorrol. And so, duty bound by your Emperor, a descendent of Tiber Septim himself, you trudge off to Chorrol.
Once you arrive and find Jauffre, he instructs you to find the Emperor’s only living heir, Martin Septim (voiced by the badass Eddard Stark). Soon after you find Martin, you bring him back to Weynon Priory. Spoilers aside, you quickly realize that Martin is the key to stopping the Daedric assault on Cyrodiil.
Winter is coming
Right then, in that instant, you know what is about the transpire. In that moment, you realize that you, the player, are NOT the hero of this game. Um, what? So you’re telling me you’ve given me this massive world, all the quest options available to me, complete freedom, only to tell me that I’m not the hero? Really? Really?
Yes. Really. And you want to know something else? It works.
Look back to what I said above. Emperor Uriel Septim and his son Martin are descendants of Tiber Septim. Who is Tiber Septim? Well, in Skyrim, you probably know him best by his Nordic name, Talos.
Yeah, that Talos. You know, the Dragonborn? The guy who single-handedly unified the provinces of Tamriel creating an empire in the Third Age? The man whose accomplishments in life impressed the Aedra so much that in death, he ascended to take a place amongst them? Yeah, him.
“So what, Shank?”, you may be asking. ”What does this have to do with being a hero?” Well, dear readers, I only ask that you look at your own character in Oblivion. Who is he? Is he the descendant of a god? Is he royalty? Does he have any powers to speak of? No. You are just some lowly prisoner who helps the real hero, Martin, on his path to save Nirn.
By being a loyal squire, you bear witness as the Heir of Talos slowly accepts his role as a leader. You watch a man go through a journey of acceptance and see him struggle with the difficult moral and tactical decisions any leader faces. And because of this, you feel for the man. You want to tell him, “Listen Phillip G, I got your back yo.”
Nice crib
However, that is not to diminish the tasks that you, the player, has left to do. Even though you’re not the hero, it actually works in your favor. You must support your leader. The fate of the world isn’t on your shoulders, but then again, on some level, it really is. And because of this, you want to do everything in your power to help your Emperor succeed.
This is precisely why playing the non-hero works in Oblivion. You feel a sense of enormous weight upon your shoulders, knowing that what Martin must be going through is much, much more difficult. You believe in him. You want your leader, your Emperor, to defeat the evil that is knocking on your doorstep.
So, you may not actually end up saving the world, but think about this. Without you, the world didn’t have a chance of being saved. That’s not so bad, is it?
Shadow hide you.
Very interesting perspective, Shank, and very true. It certainly represented a big departure from Morrowind, where the player character was not only the hero but almost a god. Of course, as you point out, the Oblivion crisis cannot be solved without the player, but in the end, the player cannot claim all the credit like he could in Morrowind (and Skyrim as well). I wonder what type of hero the player will be in TES VI.
Excellent article – in a world of FPS and other RPG games where you are the centre of the universe its definitely interesting to see a different perspective in that you are integral to the story without ‘being’ the story.
I always loved this aspect of the game. It would be interesting for them to do something similar in a future Elder Scrolls title.
p.s. I’m totally loving your articles Shank.
Thanks bud. I love writing them!
Shadow hide you
Are you kidding me? How many Daedra Gates did Martin go through? NONE.
Solvier has a point lol but it is true the center of the story is Martin…… but without you Martin would have never known and the world would have never been saved. So while you may not be the center I still believe you’re the hero behind the scene.. very “dark knight” ish I guess.
And yes I am also loving your articles. I am very happy with the network getting you on board. Great work keep em comin shank.
If memory serves me right, don’t you get a statue of yourself built in some point in the game?
You get a statue built in Bruma after closing the Oblivion Gate. Unfortunately for my character, they decided to make the statue of me lying in a fetal position.