Skyrim offers players a chance to roleplay any character they can imagine, including quests where players can be the bad guy. Many quests throughout Skyrim have choices for the players to make and most are morally gray; however, some definitely fall into the bad guy category. The 11-year-old game offers a surprising number of options for those wanting to play as a darker Dragonborn.
Most playing Skyrim will follow the path laid out by the main questline. Choosing just to play the main story can mean a very heroic, good-deeds-orientated playthrough of saving Skyrim's immersive open world of Nirn from the terrible force of Alduin. However, that can become repetitive even in a game as vast as Skyrim. While there are obvious major "bad guy" questlines like the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood, that's not all Skyrim has to offer, and even among those are particularly nefarious twists.
For those looking for something a little different, there are many quests that allow players to really drive deep into the roleplay experience. Whether players want to gather every Daedric artifact in the game or simply cause some mayhem, there are options for every playthrough. Here are some of the best Skyrim quests that let players be the bad guy.
Being A Bad Student During Skyrim's Mage Questline
As part of the College of Winterhold questline, the player will be given the quest "Hitting the Books" by the college librarian Urag gro-Shub. He will tell the Dragonborn about several books that were stolen by a former student called Orthorn, and Urag wants the player to retrieve the stolen books, saving Skyrim's history and lore from hooligans. The Dragonborn will have to travel to Fellglow Keep to find Orthorn and the group of mages he gave the books to.
Upon arriving at the keep, it will be obvious that these mages are up to no good, and the player will find evidence of their experiments throughout the keep dungeons. Orthorn can be found locked up in a cell, and this is where the player gets to option to be the bad guy. He will beg for release, promising to lead the Dragonborn to the stolen books if they free him. Players can choose to simply leave him in there, ignoring his cries for help and go find the books themselves. However, there is an even more awful option for Skyrim players roleplaying the worst Dragonborn.
Players can free Orthorn and have him lead them to the ritual chamber where the cult leader known as the Caller is along with the stolen books. If Orthorn is present when meeting the Caller, then unique dialogue options become available where it is possible to trade Orthorn for the books. Betraying Orthorn will put him back in the cell the Dragonborn had just freed from him, probably doomed to die, making this the ultimate bad guy option.
One Skyrim Dark Brotherhood Quest Makes The Dragonborn The Actual Worst
Few players looking to do a lawful good playthrough of Skyrim chose to join the Dark Brotherhood, but there is one particular quest for this faction that is darker than most. For the Skyrim Dark Brotherhood quest, "Mourning Never Comes," players are sent to speak to Muri, a young woman living in Markarth. She will give the Dragonborn a contract to kill a former lover who betrayed her, but she also has an optional contract.
Muri will ask the Dragonborn to kill Nilsine Shatter-Shield, the daughter of Clan Shatter-Shield, who failed to take Muri's side when her lover stole from them. This part of the quest is entirely optional, but it is a must for those looking to play as a really terrible person. What makes this part of the quest honestly one of the worse things a player can do in Skyrim is that Clan Shatter-Shield have already lost one daughter.
If the player chooses to kill Nilsine for Muri, there are some very tragic consequences. This is because the serial killer killed Nilsine's twin sister Friga during the events of one of the better Skyrim side quests, "Blood on the Ice." If the Dragonborn assassinates Nilsine, then after a few days in-game, her mother, Tova Shatter-Shield, can be found dead in the family home, having committed suicide after losing both of her daughters.
Two Chances To Be A Bad Guy During Skyrim's Main Story
During the main Skyrim questline, players will start the quest "Diplomatic Immunity," which offers players two chances to be the bad guy. The first comes early in the quest when a distraction is needed in order to slip out of the party. There are several options for the player depending on friends they have made and factions joined, but there is also a really awful option.
One of the party guests is a Thane of Solitude called Erikur, a particularly horrible Nord who players can overhear flirting with one of the high elf servants of the Skyrim Thalmor Embassy. Dragonborn can talk to Erikur and then to the servant, Brelas, who will ask for the player's help in getting Erikur to leave her alone. However, the player can do the opposite and instead make the situation worse, causing Erikur to lose his temper and make a scene. This will provide the Dragonborn with their distraction and also get an innocent servant girl locked up, as Brelas can later be encountered in the embassy dungeon.
The second opportunity to be a terrible person comes towards the end of the quest when it is revealed that Malborn, a Bosmer who has been aiding the Dragonborn throughout the Skyrim quest, has been captured. Now that his cover is blown, Malborn urges the player to ignore the Thalmor's threats and continue the mission. Here the player can be the bad guy and simply allow the Thalmor to kill Malborn despite him risking his life to help the Dragonborn.
Join A Cult & Get Divorced At The Same Time In Skyrim
Once a Dragonborn reaches level 30, a book called Boethiah's Proving will start to spawn in various locations in Skyrim. Reading this book will start the Daedric quest "Boethiah's Calling," which is one of the best quests for those looking to play as a bad guy. Players will have to travel to the Sacellum of Boethiah, located a short distance east of Windhelm.
Once there, cultists of Beothiah will demand that the Dragonborn bring an unwilling sacrifice back to the shrine as an offering to the Elder Scrolls Daedric Prince of Deceit, Treachery, and Conspiracy. Any humanoid follower will do, so long as they are not an essential character, which is a pretty lousy thing to do as most followers at least like the Dragonborn in some way. However, players could take their spouse to the shrine to fulfill Boethiah's will to be extra evil on top of everything.
These are not the only quest in Skyrim that allows players to be the bad guy, but they are some of the best. Skyrim offers players lots of opportunities to roleplay beyond just being the typical "hero of the world" Dragonborn. Whether players want to betray those who have aided the Dragonborn, destroy a family, or just join a Daedric cult Skyrim allows them to be as bad as they want.