Hey guys!

So, awhile back (as a matter of fact just last 'chapter'), I wrote up a list of my favorite NPCs in Skyrim. This is sort of a companion piece to that, which was inspired by darceybrinker. Thank you for this idea, by the way! In this chapter, I'll be discussing the characters I like least - and why I dislike them. My feelings towards characters in this chapter will likely range from being moderately uncomfortable with them to outright disdain, and there won't be any particular order, so there's not gonna be any clear ranking of "least disliked" to "most disliked", or whatever. If you happen to like any of these characters, please don't take offense, as I don't mean to attack you in any way, shape, or form by simply stating what characters I don't like and why. Conversely, please don't attack me for sharing my opinions, as they're just that. Opinions.

Well, with that disclaimer out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! And I'd love to hear your opinions on what characters from the game annoy you!

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- The Blades

Oooh, boy, have I got a lot to say about Delphine. Esbern's not spotless himself, but whatever he's done (in the events of TESV, at least) pale in comparison to how Delphine acts and how she wants to 'fix things'. The whole purpose of the Blades to begin with was to protect and serve the Emperor/the Dragonborn, but apparently there's some sort of disconnect in her head with that concept, because she has absolutely no problems ordering the Dragonborn around to do what she thinks is best, rather than actually respecting them, their judgement, and their opinions - like she's supposed to. First off, she makes herself problematic from the start by more or less stealing a relic important to the Greybeards and blackmailing the Dragonborn into meeting with her (and leaving them no other choice in the matter). And, when the Dragonborn answers her "summons", she has the nerve to tell them she doesn't trust them yet! I mean, if anyone shouldn't trust someone, the Dragonborn has more of a right to be wary of some lady running an inn who stole a priceless artifact and claims to be a part of a once respectable faction, not the other way around. Another problem I have with Delphine is how Diplomatic Immunity went down. I have a sneaking suspicion the whole reason she sent the Dragonborn to "infiltrate" the Embassy to was to put them in such bad graces with the Thalmor they couldn't ditch the Blades or their half-cracked cause even if they wanted to, which is a pretty cheap tactic - and also scored them a powerful enemy that they wouldn't be able to face on their own, further securing these false Blades' hold on them. Also, the Dragonborn gains almost nothing from finding those Dossier files, other than learning that they were more or less sent to the Embassy over a petty grudge and the only real thing of value they find is those documents on Ulfric - which you can't even show the guy! ( Great job with that, Bethesda. But that's a rant for another day.) Furthermore, she's absolutely hellbent on getting the dragonborn to backstab the Greybeards and kill their leader, simply because "All dragons must dieeeee!!!11!!1!!" Really sound reasoning, Delphine. Esbern's no better in this regard, either. I doubt they even really believe that, as they seem okay enough with Durnehviir and Odahviing. I think they just have a massive grudge against the Greybeards. Which just makes me like the Greybeards more, considering they don't do a single thing in retaliation to the Blades despite what trashy human beings they are.

Also what makes this super awful for me was that, in Oblivion, the Blades were actually rad, respectable people who didn't act like deceitful trash bags and I really, really miss that.

- Louis Letrush

He annoys me more than anything else, really. On my main save, his quest glitched out instantly after I accepted it, and not only did I not acquire Frost, I got no payment from Maven for telling her about Letrush, and Letrush promptly disappeared from The Bee and Barb. But hey. Aside from that minor annoyance, he's still a rather ugly character and seems to have zero redeeming qualities, so that's scored him a spot on my dislikes list.

- Mikael

Do I even need to say that this guy's a pig? He wrote an entire freaking book about the women in Whiterun and proved himself to be a lecherous toad by the contents of it, and, to further accentuate how vile this twerp is, the only quest involving him is to get him to stop hitting on a single mother, Carlotta Valentia, and if you try to talk him out of it he calls your character jealous, and says he won't stop. Then again, that response makes beating him up all the more satisfying. :3

- Sibbi Black-Briar

Take Mikael and add a dash of psychopath (and a copious amount of money) and you've got Sibbi Black-Briar. If your Dragonborn is female, he has no qualms about sweet-talking them despite being behind bars and generally just being a gross human being. ...And then you find out he wants you to kill his ex - or pawn off his mother's horse because she won't get him out of jail, depending on whether you've spoken to Letrush or not.

... Honestly, Riften's full of scumbags, and you don't even have to go to the Ratway to find them. As a matter of fact, most of the thieves are better people than Sibbi Black-Briar. Or any of the Black-Briars, for that matter. Despite the fact they work for them. Huh.

- Maven Black-Briar

She's manipulative and gross. And also really powerful, which, if she existed in real life, would make her terrifying to me. Honestly, she's the worst kind of person, using her influence only to benefit herself and to utterly obliterate anyone who dares defy her. And, because of her, I always feel really awful if I side with the Imperials during a playthrough, because she'll probably make a worse Jarl for Riften than Thongvor Silver-Blood would for The Reach. But only marginally worse.

- Thonar Silver-Blood

He's rather immoral and his non-confontational attitude (as well as his condescending pride) don't endear me to him whatsoever. He's behind the corrupt Markarth guards who kill Eltrys, an innocent man who just wants to see justice done, and also is behind the framing of the Dragonborn and their imprisonment in Cidhna Mine. Someone who does that sort of thing just to have somebody do a job he should be doing is really, really low.

- Elenwen

... She's messed up. Really, really messed up. Then again, most of the Thalmor are, but she's just one of the most prominent highly-ranking members present in the game. Minus riches (although I'm not entirely sure of that), she and Maven seem to share a lot of parallels, namely their desire for personal gain and political power, and their willingness to sacrifice anything or anyone to get their way. Also, something about her just screams 'classic villain'. Perhaps it's just her suave and superior attitude, and the way that she speaks, as, to me, most of the things she says sound either suspiciously innocuous or like thinly veiled threats. And then there's the fact that, at one point, she tortured Ulfric Stormcloak. Someone who does things like that to other people as part of a job has got to be really deranged.

- Ancano

From what I know of him, he's not as terrible of a person as Elenwen, but he almost did something far more horrible than she could probably ever dream of doing. Honestly he just kind of stood around and did nothing until it was convenient to the plot and then went batshit crazy. So he falls on the dislike list because, quite frankly, he was annoying. (I feel like he could've been a far more interesting character if he'd had more dialogue, but eh. I'm not a fan him, but can't really feel any hate towards him.)

- Brynjolf

Okay, this is why I decided to put a disclaimer at the beginning of this chapter. But I'll say this again. I completely respect and am 100% okay with other people liking this character, and this is not to say that the people who do like this character don't have valid reasons for liking them. I've just found him somewhat annoying, and there have been a couple of fanfictions involving him that scarred me for life, so I've lost any positive feelings I had whatsoever for his character.

First, why he annoys me. He's a popular love interest for many OCs, to the point of where it seems almost impossible to find any variation in the pairings in most canon male x female oc pairings in the whole archive. And, to be quite honest, I've never really gotten his appeal. He seemed like an interesting character to me at first, but, in my opinion, does not look particularly breathtaking and, quite frankly, his accent's got nothing on Sheogorath's. But then the end of the Thieves' Guild questline came around, and the whole ending seems kind of 'broken', with both Karliah and Brynjolf not having anything for the player to do anymore and repeating the same inane dialogue.

And then, there were fanfictions. Most of the one's I've seen involving him are fine and dandy, even if it can be dispiriting to see them all follow the Thieves' Guild's storyline without any deviations whatsoever. And I have to say I have found a few gems of stories that involve him. But one rotten story can spoil the bunch, and, well... I had the misfortune of coming across one such story. It ruined his character for me, and to give you an idea of why: He was described as 'manipulative' more than once, and found the main character's (and also love interest's) pain and fear cute. He also treated Delvin and Vex like trash. And that's not the worst there was. I just can't see the guy the same way after that. I kind of hope my disgust will wear off a bit after time, but I can't help but feel that it permanately soured my opinion of him. 

I don't exactly hate him, but... Honestly, he just kind of makes me uneasy, as a character. I can put that uneasiness aside when reading a good fanfiction, but I tend to avoid ones where he's a main focus, simply because of the reasons I've previously stated.

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Just so you guys know, for the next chapter of this book, I was thinking of either expanding upon my thoughts on the Diplomatic Immunity quest, or writing up another original one-shot - the nature of which is currently a secret. :3 Both will happen in time, but if you'd like a tale more than you want another extra, I'd like to hear your opinion on which you want first! (Though I will say it's a lot easier for me to write extras, most of the time. :P)

Thank you guys so much for reading, and I hope to see you guys next chapter!

- AA