IT'S THE ESO BEST VILLAIN FORUM POLL COMPETITION!!! (Spoilers)

Cadbury

Shalidor
Angof
King Kurog
Naryu
The Tribunal

anitajoneb17_ESO

Let's take daedric princes / lords / "gods" out of the discussion (because it's "too easy" to be very very bad if you're overpowered).

Let's take standard story quest villains out of the equation too, because there are too many of them, and we always end up 2-shotting them at he end of their respective quest line, which makes them both too weak and too forgettable to be true villains.

That leaves us with the one true evil : Mannimarco. Cruel, powerful, ambitious, dominating, selfish, traitor, enduring, clever, manipulating... the guy has everything and more.

That being said... listen to Lady Laurent talking to / about poor Stibbons... maybe she can beat Mannimarco as the true villain.

Olauron

I think it is good to have links in starting post with the poll or in the separate thread, because some NPC are more complex, than it is seen from the first sight and sometimes there are interesting twists in their story not always known to the player. For example, it is possible to fully know Lady Estre only if she is freed in Coldharbour and you finally can speak with her.

NewbieOKS

Empress Regent Clivia Tharn aka Molag Kena

Saucy_Jack

How about this: we'll take out the daedric princes, because their plots completely eclipse anything the regular villains can do and it would be a complete blowout. Plus, we've already done the best deity competition, so daedrics have already had their turn.

We'll stick to the overarching villain per each zone, unless that villain happens to also be a daedric prince, in which case they're out. For good measure, I'll also put in the main villains for some (but not all) of the dungeons/trials. I'll leave some out because the main boss in some dungeons isn't a villain per se, it's just like "oh this dwemer construct came to life! oh noes we have to kill it"

That sound like a plan to everyone?

Thannazzar

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

Pacrooti ?

Definitely!

jamesterj14

1. King Kurog, even with your input he still nearly succeeded and genuinely thought he was doing the right thing (heck, even i have a hard time saying he didn't have the best thing in mind for his people).
2. The hound (enemy from greenshade), unpopular opinion i know but i loved this story and felt sorry for him, you could see why he joined hircine, dude lost everything.
3. Meridia, just gonna say one word, "Darien", yeah, this hag's definitely on the villain list

Iccotak

Can't take Main Story Villains seriously when their fights are laughably easy and clearly designed for new players.

If they added difficulty options for the Story Bosses (like Solo dungeons) then that would be different

Nairinhe

jamesterj14 wrote: »

3. Meridia, just gonna say one word, "Darien", yeah, this hag's definitely on the villain list

^ This.

Ufretin

Abnur Tharn, when he was still a (semi-)villain and not yet the "softened-by-old-age" bore they made of him in Elsweyr...

Reverb

This should be good!!

LadyLethalla

Rada al Saran, and not just because he tortured my boyfriend.

Saucy_Jack

Next point of order: do you guys want each new matchup to be a surprise, like past competitions? Or do you want a bracket?

Sheridan

If we are talking about most nefarious and well-thought plans (your guideline #2), then I can think of no better candidate than Nocturnal. The sheer magnitude of her scheme and goals in Summerset (which is the final part of the multi-staged plan hundreds of years in the making) is breathtaking. Even other daedric princes, including Molag Bal with his local Planemeld (not to mention dragons or vampires) look like petty road bandits compared to her. There was nothing this big in ESO before Summerset, and there was nothing this big ever since, even remotely comparable.

Of course, other than that, she's more like a classic cartoon villain in ESO, and if we are talking about interesting and well-written villains, it's the whole another story and nomination. Mannimarco, or members of the Tharn family come to mind, King Kurog, even Veya.

Aigym_Hlervu

DAGOTH UR

Those who have visited the Sixth House bases in 3E 427 won't forget that sense of something dark, ancient and horrific, the flows of lava and the sound of a Sixth House' chime. I think Dagoth Ur is the most interesting character there - a noble hero said to be both a traitor and a loyal friend, a powerful mage and a dark god who shared his power with his servants. Unlike many other characters he is not a typical villain and, in my opinion, the most unstoppable by all means. He has honor and noble goals, but evil means. Unlike all the other villains, Dagoth Ur cannot be killed without the Tools of Kagrenac. And even with them it is crucial to know the way how to use them! His victory over the Tribunal and the Nerevarine would have caused the ash storms all over Tamriel, all the denizens would have been turned into monsters and nothing could have stopped him, his hordes of monsters, his Akulakhan (or Numidium if the Tribunes were loyal to their word) and the power of the Heart of Lorkhan itself. Unlike the Daedra, Dagoth Ur was not bound by any compacts, he could not be both killed or banished - he is the machine of an unstoppable conquest and the doom to entire Nirn who could perform all the plots of the other TES villains we have ever met.

Tamriel was very lucky Vivec managed to escape Red Mountain after his defeat; to keep at least one of the three Tools; to build the Great Ghost Fence in order to contain Dagoth Ur and his hordes until the arrival of the Nerevarine who was the only one in Tamriel who could at least travel to Red Mountain safely; to instruct the Nerevarine on the only way to defeat Dagoth Ur. Tamriel was very lucky to have Divayth Fyr among all the mages who could ever make it all happen by playing his crucial part of the play, though his success count was 1 of possibly thousands of tries he ever performed. Without that chain of such a specific and very lucky circumstances Tamriel would have been doomed - everyone would be dead or transformed into those horrific beasts only to fight the invasion forces of Mehrunes Dagon in 3E 433 (I suppose it would have happened much earlier, maybe years after 2E 882) and later Alduin in 4E 201. But without any of the sentient beings alive, would there be any difference who would survive that deathmatch of the three evils? Comparing him to other villains, I think Dagoth Ur posed the worst threat and fate to everyone living on Nirn.

Ah.. Stop. It's ESO only villains? Then it is Magistrix Urili Vox and Alexandra Conele, all their troops, Clavicus Vile, Emeric, Ayrenn and all those who inflicted harm to Morrowind. Morrowind did nothing bad to them to be treated that way. So, all those who inflicted harm to the Dominion and Covenant are not villains at all.

SshadowSscale

Honeslty most villians is just a sad joke in eso nowadays and you can ussally tell who is going to betray you within the first quest... But there are 2 wich does in deed stand out for me... The first is the forge mother and king kurog because that is the best zos has ever done with betrayal and I geniunly felt betrayed because I heloed them and thought I was doing the right thing and then all of the sudden kurog jams a blade through one of the chieftans wich cought me completly of guard yet I still wanted to trust that he is doing the best for the orc race for what ever reason..... The second is Manimarco... For someone to gain that much power to the point of being called the king of worms... The strongest necromancer in Tamriel with prolably the biggest cult following in all of tamriel yet he still wants more power and tries to ascend to godhood by making a deal with the god of schemes.... And then the absolute mad lad tries to out scheme the god of schemes... And he propably could have done it if the vestige did not spoil his plans..... He is one of those villians that I hate but also cannot help but admire for how far he was willing to go to get what he wanted..... And on a side note.... Zos when are we getting his staff as a motif please

Geekgirl

That necromancer from Selene's Web.

Ooooh, do I want to hurt him in interesting ways...

Auroan

Best Villain in ESO? "Best" might not be the best word, but most dangerous? Nocturnal.

Summerset had, IMO, the best story, and unfortunately, I don't think any future chapter will be able to surpass it in terms of urgency. The stakes in Summerset were set higher then anything else we've seen, or will likely see. Nocturnal was literally about to take control of the Crystal Tower and it's power, a Tower that exists in all realms and realities, thus granting her virtually infinite power. As Sotha Sil himself put it, "ingenious". It's going to be very difficult creating a villain that makes you feel a sense of urgency from having such great stakes. "If we don't stop X or Y, they'll kill the entire planet". Okay, but will they have infinite power and dominion over all realms and realities? Didn't think so, lol.

FrancisCrawford

Olauron wrote: »

I think it is good to have links in starting post with the poll or in the separate thread, because some NPC are more complex, than it is seen from the first sight and sometimes there are interesting twists in their story not always known to the player. For example, it is possible to fully know Lady Estre only if she is freed in Coldharbour and you finally can speak with her.

Yeah, I've only done that quest once or twice, and I always picked Angof. He definitely seemed more sympathetic afterwards.

FrancisCrawford

I don't think this competition is likely to go well unless there are two brackets, with daedra in one and mortals in the other.

Saucy_Jack

FrancisCrawford wrote: »

I don't think this competition is likely to go well unless there are two brackets, with daedra in one and mortals in the other.

That's why I'm leaving daedrics out - so it's not a complete blowout.

Seminolegirl1992

Stuga. Or any NPC who chases you around town.

Saucy_Jack

For the record, I haven't forgotten about this; RL stuff came up. But this'll be up soon*, I promise!

Ekzorka

Nice thread. 👍

I like a Thieves Guild storyline because the "villains" become a common people with own problems and feelings, and the all story is just an unfortunate coincidence and simple fight against crime and nobody planned to harm badly someone.

Also the best was Orsinium villains, especially for my DC character because she came to help to allies and then was forced to kill a mad leader and start the Covenant breakup with own hands. :C

LadyNalcarya

Olauron wrote: »

I think that it is too early to include Meridia in the list. She is not a villain in ESO (yet?). She will be a patron of the villain in TES 4 Oblivion. The message from Darien is simply common sense, a word of caution, for others to not forget that daedra is daedra. Same with Meridia, same with Azura. Some daedra may be beneficial for mortal races, but they will always think about themselves first.

Well, a villain doesn't have to be of a moustache-twirling kind. Meridia is very manipulative and she's known for things like helping Umaril and "purifying" mortals of their free will (according to Depths of Malatar story and skin descripton). I think that kinda makes her a villain, and a very successful one: she's yet to lose, unlike the others mentioned in this thread.

Olauron

LadyNalcarya wrote: »

Olauron wrote: »

I think that it is too early to include Meridia in the list. She is not a villain in ESO (yet?). She will be a patron of the villain in TES 4 Oblivion. The message from Darien is simply common sense, a word of caution, for others to not forget that daedra is daedra. Same with Meridia, same with Azura. Some daedra may be beneficial for mortal races, but they will always think about themselves first.

Well, a villain doesn't have to be of a moustache-twirling kind. Meridia is very manipulative and she's known for things like helping Umaril and "purifying" mortals of their free will (according to Depths of Malatar story and skin descripton). I think that kinda makes her a villain, and a very successful one: she's yet to lose, unlike the others mentioned in this thread.

All daedra lords have their own plans, all of the have their own goals. Of course, Meridia helps us, because she hates Molag Bal, not because of her big kind heart. But everything she is doing in ESO helps us and helps Nirn.

We know very little about Umaril, especially about his first appearance. He was likely half-daedra, but we know nothing about him personally. He took revenge in the 4th era, and given the circumstances of his death it is understandable.

There is nothing evil in purifying, as it was done to oath-breakers (criminals). Don't give the oath to the higher power, if you don't want to keep it, or face consequences. This is simply justice, very effective justice. Don't break law and your own word, or you will not be able to do it. Evil act would be purifying in advance to prevent potential breaking of the oath.

Meridia has two primary characteristics that define everything. First, she is a rebel. She became daedra, when she could become an aedra.That is the reason why it is bad to worship her (and why divine prosecution is against her followers).

Second, she is powerful. She can use her power the way she wants, and that is mostly determined by her domain (life and light) and her emotions. Just like any other sane and sapient creature she has emotions and thus she can love, she can hate, she can revenge. If we look at Tamriel, we will see, that this is common for all kind of gods:
- Azura (chimer don't believe in me anymore, curse them all)
- Vivec (believe in me and love me, or this huge rock will kill you all)
- Divines (ayleids in WGT don't believe in us anymore, let's create the weapon of mass destruction and flood Cyrod with blood)
- Akatosh (this world needs a reset button, come here, Alduin, my son).

caperb

I nominate Grand Warlord Dortene and Grand Warlord Zimmeron together with their false kings.

Beardimus

Lag in vMA when going for flawless?

BXR_Lonestar

Nobody mentions Rilis?

I'm not shocked...he hums slightly off key....

RaddlemanNumber7

Vivec. "Love me or I'll obliterate you all with Bar Dau". He uses "Blessing Stones" to control the minds of people living in Vivec City cantons.

A self-confessed repeat mass sex offender based solely on the fact that he always uses magical stealth or mind control to negate the principle of consent.

His worst crime - attempting to achieve transcendence by violence, and inciting others to do so, when it can only truly be achieved through love.

Many other cases to be taken into consideration, but I can't list them all here.

Basically the biggest creep on the planet.