Am I alone in disliking Naryu?

crashen17b14_ESO

Iluvrien wrote: »

esotoon wrote: »

Keldheir wrote: »

She was one of my favourite characters in the base game but after Morrowind she turned into just another boring npc that has me roll my eyes about almost everything she says or does.

She was one of my favourites from the base game too, but her personality seemed to change in the Dark Brotherhood DLC. I haven't tackled Morrowind yet, but judging from the way she spoke when promoting the game, I've been kind of fearing that they have continued down the path of the latter personality.

I would be interested to know if this was down to different writers or if a deliberate change was made for some reason.

[Emphasis mine]

This actually struck me. She has felt... darker as we have gone along. I began to wonder if this might be (trying not to get my hopes up) an actual character arc.

Some of the responses, after vanilla, in DB felt a little more fatalistic. A sense of pushing herself too far? Or having seen too much? Like the excesses that she espoused were as a reaction to the constant, ceaseless destruction.

The same in Morrowind. Almost like she was trying to be an ultimate version of the "Naryu Virian" persona: More stabby, more crafty, more flirty. Compensating.

Maybe I am reading too much into it, I haven't completed all of the quests in Vvardenfell (so I don't know if we see her again).

What I would like, is a pay-off. A crisis moment in the her life/career, something more character driven than plot drive. The player finds her on the verge of collapse and moves in one of several ways:

• Push her off the cliff (figuratively/literally)
• Get her through and back to her usual role in the Morag Tong.
• Send her off on a new path, out into the wilds of Tamriel as a free-agent.

Of course this wall, almost certainly, never take place... but a mer can dream, eh?

I got the same impression. Between nearly every quest in balmora she either talks about or already is, completely hammered.

In a way, she feels like a normal mortal paralleling the protagonist, advancing through the Morag Tong, traveling the world, fighting crazy battles and getting embroiled in intrigue and schemes. Basically doing the same thing as the main characters. Except she is a normal mortal elf, and we are immortal vestige demigod heroes. She cant keep up with us without it costing her. We can do all that and more, and bounce back. It takes a toll on her.

Likewise, her personality seems fitting for a dark elf cultist of mephala.

Zalicius

adriant1978 wrote: »

Anyone else with me, or a I alone in not being a fully paid up member of the Naryu fan club?

She's definitely a lot less likable in Morrowind than she was in the faction quests.

KingJ

How do you start her quest line.I dont quest much but she was my favorite quest line of the entire game. This is the only quest line in the game I want to do in the expansion and I can't even find her.

Zalicius

KingJ wrote: »

How do you start her quest line.I dont quest much but she was my favorite quest line of the entire game. This is the only quest line in the game I want to do in the expansion and I can't even find her.

The quest starter is in Balmora. Some guy trying to find his daughter.

Daraugh

Faulgor wrote: »

I can't stand her snooty voice and attitude. I hope we have seen the last of her.
The constant sexual innuendo also gets on my nerves. I hate the overabundance of the word "cringe", but that's what I felt during her last lines in the Balmora questline.

But then I also don't like Malukah, so I'm a barrel of unpopular opinions.

Agree on both points. Any room in that barrel? Lol

Gedalya

flame on!

KingJ

Zalicius wrote: »

KingJ wrote: »

How do you start her quest line.I dont quest much but she was my favorite quest line of the entire game. This is the only quest line in the game I want to do in the expansion and I can't even find her.

The quest starter is in Balmora. Some guy trying to find his daughter.

Thank you so much.

Joy_Division

adriant1978 wrote: »

OK, I'm probably going to get some flames for this, but I think Naryu Virian is a colossal Mary Sue whose every action seems designed to advertise her own awesomeness, while making our characters look like blundering idiots. Does this woman ever fail? Is there nothing she can't do?

It's been a while since I did the Morrowind questline with her, but without spoilers, I do remember quite a big failure.

Zalicius

KingJ wrote: »

Zalicius wrote: »

KingJ wrote: »

How do you start her quest line.I dont quest much but she was my favorite quest line of the entire game. This is the only quest line in the game I want to do in the expansion and I can't even find her.

The quest starter is in Balmora. Some guy trying to find his daughter.

Thank you so much.

You are very welcome.

Enodoc

Zalicius wrote: »

adriant1978 wrote: »

Anyone else with me, or a I alone in not being a fully paid up member of the Naryu fan club?

She's definitely a lot less likable in Morrowind than she was in the faction quests.

Agreed. I'm not too keen on new Naryu. Though I liked old Naryu well enough.

phbell

Naryu's hot.

Ghanima_Atreides

ParaNostram wrote: »

I mean I get her personality grating some people but I think people throw around the term Mary Sue much too quickly. She isn't some overpowered character that everyone loves etc etc, she's an accomplished assassin who has spent likely a human's life time doing her job and getting very good at it. Also what is wrong with a sexually promiscuous character boasting of her accomplishments in that department? Besides it's hyperbolic, nobody literally seduces everyone they come across. I can get that personality trait bothering you though, but a strong confident woman isn't automatically a Mary Sue, OP.

Except she isn't an accomplished assassin who's spent a human's lifetime doing her job, she is a "a relatively new operative" who not long ago was a junior agent apprenticed to Varon Davel (when you first meet her during the Deshaan quest line). This is also written in her Meet the Character article.

As for her being a Mary Sue or not, I would argue that she absolutely IS one, or at least has very strong Sue tendencies. To quote further from the same article:

" Naryu has seen the world, from Deshaan to Eastmarch, Mournhold to the Gold Coast, she's racked up more seals on her travel documents than most of the Morag Tong in recent years. "

So, in a short time, she has risen higher than most Morag Tong.

"I'm not one to tell you what you already know, but the reports I've been privy to concerning Naryu's activities read like the adventures of Investigator Vale! Stopping a plague, saving a king, catching a relentless murderer—all the while completing each and every writ and contract assigned to her. That's impressive! Add to that her sardonic wit, her I-don't-give-a-fetch attitude, and the fact that she makes even Morag Tong leathers look good, and is it any wonder they call her “the Beautiful Darkness?"

I seriously gagged at this description - Beautiful Darkness, really? It makes her sound like some early 00's emo teen's Myspace profile name...if anyone here remembers those.

"What can we expect of Naryu Virian now that she's back in Vvardenfell? From all indications, only the best. She's a warrior without equal, capable of cleaving her way through an army of cultists or nonchalantly slipping a dagger between the ribs of a single target with relative ease. She knows more ways to disable or kill a person than even I do, and that's saying something. Poison, garrote, knife, arrow, sword, polearm, stew pot, bed sheet, hairpin, even a copy of Lord Vivec's Twenty-Fourth Sermon—she can turn even the most inoffensive bauble into a deadly weapon. I can't wait to see how she handles a writ that targets House Redoran or House Hlaalu! I expect it to be an eye-opening experience, to say the least."

Even more over-the-top descriptions meant to convince us just how totally awesome and without peer she is, a "warrior without equal" who can kill you with her little finger while seducing the breeches off you. Yes, the constant innuendo annoys me greatly, not because I have a problem with confident, even sexually promiscuous characters, but because I dislike it when they turn every other remark into an innuendo I have no choice but to accept (particularly when they're as cringeworthy as hers). Maybe my characters AREN'T attracted to her; maybe some of them aren't even into women, but I don't get the chance to express that. Everyone must love Naryu, right?

Her personality wasn't quite this abrasive in the base game, but the writers seem to have turned her into a caricature of a "sexy, dangerous assassin" in Morrowind, perhaps thinking that's what made her popular in the first place? Judging by the majority of the replies here, I guess they were right.

Bouldercleave

With ESO + you also get a 10% better Naryu Virian.

vyndral13preub18_ESO

Bouldercleave wrote: »

With ESO + you also get a 10% better Naryu Virian.

Wouldn't she pop out of her leathers?

Linaleah

I adore her. her flirtiness amuses me, and you don't actualy have to flirt back. if you have persuasion skills, you can get her to participate in quests and do extra work. and her interactions with Raz were pure gold, IMO. so.. to each their own and all that. it also takes a LOT for me to dislike a fictional character. they have to have done something particularly heinous for me to dislike them. and or extremely annoying. like a certain explorer in vvardenfell. lets just say when the quest actualy gave me an option to do what I've been itching to do for the last half an hour I spend with that nincompoop... oh... what a joyful moment it was for me. I didn't even consider whether it was in character for my nightblade before picking that option. and then I justified it so that it was kinda in character :P

adriant1978

Linaleah wrote: »

her flirtiness amuses me, and you don't actualy have to flirt back.

True, you don't, but you also can't tell her to quit it because your character is not interested. This leaves me with the impression that the writer intended there to be some sexual tension there and you have no say in the matter.

Linaleah

adriant1978 wrote: »

Linaleah wrote: »

her flirtiness amuses me, and you don't actualy have to flirt back.

True, you don't, but you also can't tell her to quit it because your character is not interested. This leaves me with the impression that the writer intended there to be some sexual tension there and you have no say in the matter.

I didn't get that impression, to be honest. some people are just flirty, even if they don't actualy mean anything by it.

DocFrost72

Enslaved wrote: »

EvilCroc wrote: »

Enslaved wrote: »

EvilCroc wrote: »

She is a filthy Morag Tong. She should be send to Sithis one time...

BTW, Morag Tong >>> DB.

In wet Dunmer dreams only.

Its lore, bro.

Weird, I viewed it as "whiny elves hiding behind writs" and real killers. Of course, I may be more than a little biased...

Hail Sithis.

DMuehlhausen

ArchMikem wrote: »

A Mary Sue is a character that is the epitome of innocence and can do no wrong. Naryu is the embodiment of wrong. She's the Morag Tong's head honcho of Contract Killing and she does it without remorse. If your name happens on a piece of paper, she'll put a knife in your throat without hesitation.

Besides she's not all that. Don't you spend a large amount of time during the Deshaan questline doing all the work for her?

That is when she was just starting off to a point. So she wasn't sure of things and needed some help.

hollywood

Naryu is the reason I bought Morrowind.

Rawreak Rovyre

This is sexist. I am triggered.

Artis

Yeah, I dislike her,too. And not just because she looks like a walking ad of all that diversity push. "Wow look, we have a woman who's badass. Let us make her tell you how badass she is in every dialogue line". And I hate when someone is pushing the narratives on me. Like come on, there are way more realistic and natural ways to do that. Look at Lyris, for example. She's badass and not bragging. But no. It's not even this.

I hate that I don't have an option to kill her or otherwise not just listen to her threatening me and telling me something about finding her blade in my back or whatever. Woman, I killed daedras of all sorts, I dealt with tons of enemies, including assassins. Who do you think you are? Oh yeah right, the next dialogue line will remind me. Facepalm. It's not just her, that other guy from Morag Tong was talking way too much, too. And to who? To a person who deals with things on a divine level, to a person writing history. Some unknown assassins can talk to me like that without being punished? Or let me do something they don't want me to, so that I can see if they can walk the walk.

Enslaved wrote: »

EvilCroc wrote: »

Enslaved wrote: »

EvilCroc wrote: »

She is a filthy Morag Tong. She should be send to Sithis one time...

BTW, Morag Tong >>> DB.

In wet Dunmer dreams only.

Its lore, bro.

link or gtfo.

vyndral13preub18_ESO

NesNes wrote: »

This is sexist. I am triggered.

Insert mildly amusing sexist comment

Yeah, I know. I was afraid of the forum ban. And I cant survive without my addiction.

Bouldercleave

Artis wrote: »

I hate that I don't have an option to kill her or otherwise not just listen to her threatening me and telling me something about finding her blade in my back or whatever. Woman, I killed daedras of all sorts, I dealt with tons of enemies, including assassins. Who do you think you are? Oh yeah right, the next dialogue line will remind me. Facepalm. It's not just her, that other guy from Morag Tong was talking way too much, too. And to who? To a person who deals with things on a divine level, to a person writing history. Some unknown assassins can talk to me like that without being punished? Or let me do something they don't want me to, so that I can see if they can walk the walk.

LOL, SOMEONE has delusions of grandeur.

DocFrost72

Bouldercleave wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

I hate that I don't have an option to kill her or otherwise not just listen to her threatening me and telling me something about finding her blade in my back or whatever. Woman, I killed daedras of all sorts, I dealt with tons of enemies, including assassins. Who do you think you are? Oh yeah right, the next dialogue line will remind me. Facepalm. It's not just her, that other guy from Morag Tong was talking way too much, too. And to who? To a person who deals with things on a divine level, to a person writing history. Some unknown assassins can talk to me like that without being punished? Or let me do something they don't want me to, so that I can see if they can walk the walk.

LOL, SOMEONE has delusions of grandeur.

Maybe, but he/she brings up a good point. My bosmer would assassinate her the second she knew Nar-Nar Dinks was Tong. End of discussion.

Artis

Bouldercleave wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

I hate that I don't have an option to kill her or otherwise not just listen to her threatening me and telling me something about finding her blade in my back or whatever. Woman, I killed daedras of all sorts, I dealt with tons of enemies, including assassins. Who do you think you are? Oh yeah right, the next dialogue line will remind me. Facepalm. It's not just her, that other guy from Morag Tong was talking way too much, too. And to who? To a person who deals with things on a divine level, to a person writing history. Some unknown assassins can talk to me like that without being punished? Or let me do something they don't want me to, so that I can see if they can walk the walk.

LOL, SOMEONE has delusions of grandeur.

In this case it's not delusions. My CV is way more impressive than anyone's from Morag Tong. I'm also a Silencer of DB - more than capable of silencing her

Ghost-Shot

Yes, please leave now.

Koensol

dodgehopper_ESO wrote: »

Koensol wrote: »

I don't have that much of a problem with her. On the other hand...

That little apprentice of hers.. my god I hate her. More than once did I have the urge to throw my fist through my monitor and crush that whining, childish, dumb, reckless drama queen. I have never been so annoyed with a character before in ESO

(Warning Spoilers Ahead)
I recommend you do the Betnikh quest arc. The cabin girl (Nicolene) and the captain (Kaleen) alike are extremely annoying. I loathe even to say their names and were it in my power as a character I'd have them keel-hauled or thrown in prison. Overall the rest of their crew is alright though. It does strike me as odd that Captain Kaleen is supposed to be a traditionalist on the side of King Faharajad and yet she's willing to tap into major necromantic forces. It is not only contrary to culture but antithetical to it. The Redguards won't even fight the corpses in Alikir so why should we be delivering that orb for use by them? All in all I don't trust this duo and by at least the Captain's own laws she should be in prison at best or hunted down by the Ashaba.

You and I think alike. Nicolene is another npc that I have always found anoying, haha. "Hey YOU!! YEA YOU!!!" Ugh..

Pallmor

For someone who talks so big, she sure seems to need me to do all the work for her. She's all hat and no cattle.

vyndral13preub18_ESO

Artis wrote: »

Bouldercleave wrote: »

Artis wrote: »

I hate that I don't have an option to kill her or otherwise not just listen to her threatening me and telling me something about finding her blade in my back or whatever. Woman, I killed daedras of all sorts, I dealt with tons of enemies, including assassins. Who do you think you are? Oh yeah right, the next dialogue line will remind me. Facepalm. It's not just her, that other guy from Morag Tong was talking way too much, too. And to who? To a person who deals with things on a divine level, to a person writing history. Some unknown assassins can talk to me like that without being punished? Or let me do something they don't want me to, so that I can see if they can walk the walk.

LOL, SOMEONE has delusions of grandeur.

In this case it's not delusions. My CV is way more impressive than anyone's from Morag Tong. I'm also a Silencer of DB - more than capable of silencing her

Always a problem in fantasy games/books. They build you up you do something far more impressive they anything anyone has done before all but turn you into a god... time for the next expansion... you are a peon again...

One of the reasons I enjoyed the last Baldurs gate game. People knew who were you were and were not all ok now I will kill you little no one! Or even Mass Effect 3 and the Generic soldiers yelling, 'Holy *** That's Shepard!'

It is just nice to be recognized. Im pretty too! And I kill people. A lot of them... one of them was a god... did I mention that? Surely it is on my resume somewhere...