Why do people worship daedra?

MLGProPlayer

Deadra are unquestionably evil (except maybe Meridia). Even the "benevolent" daedra have ulterior motives. So why do people worship them? They never gain anything from it, and almost always end up getting screwed over (with your character being left to clean up the mess).

The only one that made sense was Manimarco because he actually had an ulterior motive himself.

strikeback1247

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Deadra are unquestionably evil (except maybe Meridia). Even the "benevolent" daedra have ulterior motives. So why do people worship them? They never gain anything from it, and almost always end up getting screwed over (with your character being left to clean up the mess).

The only one that made sense was Manimarco because he actually had an ulterior motive himself.

Daedra aren't evil. They don't have morals and therefore are neither good nor evil. And why does anyone ever do anything in tamriel? Power of course! Most worshippers just want some of that badass daedric power, but they often end up dying a horrible death and suffer for eternity.

SoupDragon

strikeback1247 wrote: »

Daedra aren't evil. They don't have morals and therefore are neither good nor evil.

^This

Ghanima_Atreides

All Daedra follow their own interests and consider mortals to be little better than ants, utterly expendable and occasionally useful/amusing. Even the "good" ones like Meridia and Azura. They aren't evil, they just seem that way from a limited mortal perspective because mortals often get caught in their schemes. They are certainly dangerous for that reason.

People worship them because, as strikeback1247 said, they want power, and they want power quickly and without much effort. Some turn to them after being disillusioned with the Eight Divines, or in great distress when they feel nobody else can help them. Many also think that they can have their cake and eat it too (escape the consequences) or are just too blind to see the trap.

Tyrobag

In addition to many of the above reasons: Many people respect different traits, one man may respect mercy so he would follow Stenarr; another may respect love, and thus follow Mara; yet another person could respect ambition above all else, so they would instead follow Mehrunes Dagon. Generally the reason a mortal chooses to worship a god, whether Aedra or Daedra, is because that god's sphere of influence overlaps with their own morals and desires. I'm sure plenty of people would follow Sanguine.

SelfTherapy

Would be so bad ass if you could choose a Daedra lord to follow/worship in game.

MLGProPlayer

strikeback1247 wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Deadra are unquestionably evil (except maybe Meridia). Even the "benevolent" daedra have ulterior motives. So why do people worship them? They never gain anything from it, and almost always end up getting screwed over (with your character being left to clean up the mess).

The only one that made sense was Manimarco because he actually had an ulterior motive himself.

Daedra aren't evil. They don't have morals and therefore are neither good nor evil. And why does anyone ever do anything in tamriel? Power of course! Most worshippers just want some of that badass daedric power, but they often end up dying a horrible death and suffer for eternity.

But they're evil from the perspective of mortals. Torturing, ***, murdering, lying, manipulating, etc. are all "evil" behaviours.

MLGProPlayer

Tyrobag wrote: »

In addition to many of the above reasons: Many people respect different traits, one man may respect mercy so he would follow Stenarr; another may respect love, and thus follow Mara; yet another person could respect ambition above all else, so they would instead follow Mehrunes Dagon. Generally the reason a mortal chooses to worship a god, whether Aedra or Daedra, is because that god's sphere of influence overlaps with their own morals and desires. I'm sure plenty of people would follow Sanguine.

But "failing" Dagon results in eternal torture. That seems like a pretty strong deterrent not to worship him. Daedra have super strict rules about worship that are easy to fail, while aedra don't care.

MLGProPlayer

SelfTherapy wrote: »

Would be so bad ass if you could choose a Daedra lord to follow/worship in game.

I'd like to play an atheist who disregards the will of deities altogether.

Dustfinger81

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

strikeback1247 wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Deadra are unquestionably evil (except maybe Meridia). Even the "benevolent" daedra have ulterior motives. So why do people worship them? They never gain anything from it, and almost always end up getting screwed over (with your character being left to clean up the mess).

The only one that made sense was Manimarco because he actually had an ulterior motive himself.

Daedra aren't evil. They don't have morals and therefore are neither good nor evil. And why does anyone ever do anything in tamriel? Power of course! Most worshippers just want some of that badass daedric power, but they often end up dying a horrible death and suffer for eternity.

But they're evil from the perspective of mortals. Torturing, ***, murdering, lying, manipulating, etc. are all "evil" behaviours.

As Tyrobag indicated, those aren't the only qualities of Daedra. They are coupled with qualities that mortals can admire. So, in effect, they are no more evil than the ancient Greek or Norse gods. Like the Greek gods, they are just humanized into less than perfectly benevolent beings.

Tyrobag

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

SelfTherapy wrote: »

Would be so bad ass if you could choose a Daedra lord to follow/worship in game.

I'd like to play an atheist who disregards the will of deities altogether.

Atheist would be the wrong word, it implies that the person in question doesn't believe any deities exist. Which would be foolish in Tamriel, since there is physical proof of their existence. I'd assume you are looking to be more like the Dwemer, they knew and acknowledged that the Aedra and Daedra exist, but they spurned them and constantly looked for ways to gain power without bowing to any gods.

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

But "failing" Dagon results in eternal torture. That seems like a pretty strong deterrent not to worship him. Daedra have super strict rules about worship that are easy to fail, while aedra don't care.

Which is why most Daedric cults are usually fairly small; but as we see with Mehrunes Razor, Mankar Camoran, and Haknir Death-Brand, serving Dagon has its advantages (namely immense power). To some people it is clearly worth the risk.

Also the Aedra do care if you grotesquely fail to follow their teachings, just think of when Stendaar cursed Sir Casimir's family when he killed a beggar. See Gauntlets of The Crusader

Dustfinger81

The Ashlanders are a perfect example of how a people can worship Daedra. They focus on the admirable aspects while fearing and acknowledging the fearsome aspects. They seek to appease while trusting in the power of the Daedra to protect them.

DocFrost72

They've yet to hear about the only power that matters, of course. Don't worry friend, I'll show you the path.

Hail Sithis.

Axmalexia

Throwing my hat in.

I can see where someone might see the Princes as far more suitable than the Aedra mainly due to the fact that the latter aren't exactly invested in the lives of regular people. Sure they can pray to the Eight, but what are the chances of something coming from that? With a Prince you can summon them, which they do come, and then get a bargain for power. To me, seeing is believing.

Also on the topic of good and bad daedra, not all of them are exactly good nor are they bad (Except for a few). Meridia for example, many would say that she is good of the good, but she did favor Umaril. Azura, cursed an entire race for something she should have seen coming. Dagon, considered the most 'evil' along with Molag Bal did have a surprising amount of followers most likely due to the fact that his sense of revolution and destruction of this world in favor for the next might of resonated with some people, to them he is not evil.

It is all about which way you view it.

Dustfinger81

Axmalexia wrote: »

Throwing my hat in.

With a Prince you can summon them, which they do come, and then get a bargain for power. To me, seeing is believing.

This is a good point. The Daedra get personally involved. And an in-world scholar would know that the Daedra are more powerful than the Aedra.

While the Daedra can't create anything, most of the things a mortal could want is for things that were already created to be changed in their favor. That is right up the Daedras alley. The Aedra would still have their place but it would be more of a "Glad they made the world but what have they done for me lately?"

WhiteCoatSyndrome

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

They never gain anything from it,

Because this part isn't strictly true. They DO get something out of it...in the short term. A lot of people chasing Daedric pacts don't plan into the long term, or as @Ghanima_Atreides noted they think they can escape the consequences--ignoring the fact that they're dealing with entities thousands of years old. And some of them are genuinely nasty, horrid people in their own right who don't care who gets screwed over as long as they get whatever goal they were trying to accomplish completed.

ArchMikem

Why do you think people worship Satan? Or any kind of "dark arts" IRL? There are "good" people, and there are "bad" people, and some just enjoy worshiping the more malevolent powers of the Universe cause that's what they recognize most, not divinity or mercy or grace. Just power.

MLGProPlayer

Tyrobag wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

SelfTherapy wrote: »

Would be so bad ass if you could choose a Daedra lord to follow/worship in game.

I'd like to play an atheist who disregards the will of deities altogether.

Atheist would be the wrong word, it implies that the person in question doesn't believe any deities exist. Which would be foolish in Tamriel, since there is physical proof of their existence. I'd assume you are looking to be more like the Dwemer, they knew and acknowledged that the Aedra and Daedra exist, but they spurned them and constantly looked for ways to gain power without bowing to any gods.

Right. I just don't think we have a word for that in the English language (or probably any language). Although I guess you can potentially apply the word here, i.e you don't consider the aedra/daedra to be "gods" but rather just powerful beings.

The Dwemer are exactly who I had in mind.

ArchMikem

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Tyrobag wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

SelfTherapy wrote: »

Would be so bad ass if you could choose a Daedra lord to follow/worship in game.

I'd like to play an atheist who disregards the will of deities altogether.

Atheist would be the wrong word, it implies that the person in question doesn't believe any deities exist. Which would be foolish in Tamriel, since there is physical proof of their existence. I'd assume you are looking to be more like the Dwemer, they knew and acknowledged that the Aedra and Daedra exist, but they spurned them and constantly looked for ways to gain power without bowing to any gods.

Right. I just don't think we have a word for that in the English language (or probably any language). Although I guess you can potentially apply the word here, i.e you don't consider the aedra/daedra to be "gods" but rather just powerful beings.

The Dwemer are exactly who I had in mind.

Apatheism.

An Apatheist is someone who is not interested in accepting or rejecting any claims that gods exist or do not exist. An Apatheist may thus decide to live as if there are no gods. The existence of god(s) is not rejected, but may be designated irrelevant.

Tyrobag

ArchMikem wrote: »

Why do you think people worship Satan? Or any kind of "dark arts" IRL? There are "good" people, and there are "bad" people, and some just enjoy worshiping the more malevolent powers of the Universe cause that's what they recognize most, not divinity or mercy or grace. Just power.

Not going to get into it since its completely irrelevant to the discussion, but actual Satanism is really a fairly positive religion.

Shardan4968

Also many people choose to worship Daedra, because you can't summon Aedra and only help you can get from it is a blessing. We have seen avatar of Akatosh in 3rd era, but people are summoning daedric princes every year.

Asardes

Why would people in our own world fanatically follow Communism, Fascism and various forms of religious fundamentalism which are oppressive by their nature? There are plenty of examples of worshipers of such "daedra" were "consumed" by them: Night of the Long Knives, Stalin's Purges. It's simply to gain power over other mortals, kill them or violently "reform" them into "new men".

Enodoc

DocFrost72 wrote: »

They've yet to hear about the only power that matters, of course. Don't worry friend, I'll show you the path.

Hail Sithis.

How does the Void have any power? The Void is the absence of Something, and the absence of Something is Nothing. Nothing, by virtue of being Nothing, has no power, and it is illogical to revere Nothing.

This has been a message from the Mainspring Ever-Wound.
By the Word, I wind the Gears.

jlmurra2

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

strikeback1247 wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Deadra are unquestionably evil (except maybe Meridia). Even the "benevolent" daedra have ulterior motives. So why do people worship them? They never gain anything from it, and almost always end up getting screwed over (with your character being left to clean up the mess).

The only one that made sense was Manimarco because he actually had an ulterior motive himself.

Daedra aren't evil. They don't have morals and therefore are neither good nor evil. And why does anyone ever do anything in tamriel? Power of course! Most worshippers just want some of that badass daedric power, but they often end up dying a horrible death and suffer for eternity.

But they're evil from the perspective of mortals. Torturing, ***, murdering, lying, manipulating, etc. are all "evil" behaviours.

Mortals have a concept of good, and evil, right, and wrong. Mortal concepts are not absolute. Also mortal concepts of such ideas vary by subject.

The Daedra seem to understand this, and use this for their simulation.

Yuls

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

But they're evil from the perspective of mortals. Torturing, ***, murdering, lying, manipulating, etc. are all "evil" behaviours.

And yet mortals tend to do exactly that all the time too. Just look around you when adventuring thru Tamriel, and you will see an astounishing amount of "good" heroic mortal folks do shady stuff. And get rewarded for doing so.

MLGProPlayer

Yuls wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

But they're evil from the perspective of mortals. Torturing, ***, murdering, lying, manipulating, etc. are all "evil" behaviours.

And yet mortals tend to do exactly that all the time too. Just look around you when adventuring thru Tamriel, and you will see an astounishing amount of "good" heroic mortal folks do shady stuff. And get rewarded for doing so.

But that doesn't make those behaviours morally ambiguous. They're still evil according to the moral compass of every mortal. And that's really all that matters since mortals are the ones doing the worshipping. Daedra are clearly evil from their perspective.

MLGProPlayer

Asardes wrote: »

Why would people in our own world fanatically follow Communism, Fascism and various forms of religious fundamentalism which are oppressive by their nature? There are plenty of examples of worshipers of such "daedra" were "consumed" by them: Night of the Long Knives, Stalin's Purges. It's simply to gain power over other mortals, kill them or violently "reform" them into "new men".

I like this analogy.

jlmurra2

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

Yuls wrote: »

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

But they're evil from the perspective of mortals. Torturing, ***, murdering, lying, manipulating, etc. are all "evil" behaviours.

And yet mortals tend to do exactly that all the time too. Just look around you when adventuring thru Tamriel, and you will see an astounishing amount of "good" heroic mortal folks do shady stuff. And get rewarded for doing so.

But that doesn't make those behaviours morally ambiguous. They're still evil according to the moral compass of every mortal. And that's really all that matters since mortals are the ones doing the worshipping. Daedra are clearly evil from their perspective.

Every mortal does not think, and feel the same.

notimetocare

Ghanima_Atreides wrote: »

All Daedra follow their own interests and consider mortals to be little better than ants, utterly expendable and occasionally useful/amusing. Even the "good" ones like Meridia and Azura. They aren't evil, they just seem that way from a limited mortal perspective because mortals often get caught in their schemes. They are certainly dangerous for that reason.

People worship them because, as strikeback1247 said, they want power, and they want power quickly and without much effort. Some turn to them after being disillusioned with the Eight Divines, or in great distress when they feel nobody else can help them. Many also think that they can have their cake and eat it too (escape the consequences) or are just too blind to see the trap.

Close, they follow their nature. They are what they are. They have little to no moral compass (they understand mortal morals but dont care)

DocFrost72

Enodoc wrote: »

DocFrost72 wrote: »

They've yet to hear about the only power that matters, of course. Don't worry friend, I'll show you the path.

Hail Sithis.

How does the Void have any power? The Void is the absence of Something, and the absence of Something is Nothing. Nothing, by virtue of being Nothing, has no power, and it is illogical to revere Nothing.

This has been a message from the Mainspring Ever-Wound.
By the Word, I wind the Gears.

Because the void can make everything nothing, but even everything cannot change the void.

Wordplay aside, Sithis is the reason the Aedra even got created long enough to selfishly rebel against their creator and sustain themselves in a realm permanently. One day, the Dread Father will correct this mistake.

And then, we will all go home again.

starkerealm

So, with all the mentions of Meridia in the thread, no one's going to look back at Exegesis of Merid-Nunda, and realize that, maybe, just kinda, she's almost not really a Daedra at all, sometimes?

The line between Daedra and Aedra is very sketchy at times. I usually abstract it as a political or philosophical difference between the two groups, which is a little oversimplified. There are concrete distinctions, but they're, at least in some cases, permeable. Meridia is the most obvious example.

Now, granted, we're getting into some extremely esoteric parts of the lore, here.

The very short answer to, "why do people pray to the daedric princes?" is the same reason people pray to the divines. They are looking for a frame of reference to understand and explain the world, and in so doing, they seek to align themselves with powers that they hope will better their existence.