Few games can claim to be as influential asThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, which has shaped open-world games for the past decade. Bethesda’s ambitious fantasy project is iconic for its worldbuilding, memorable lines, and even its jankiness. It’s a beloved title, even all these years after its release, andfans will recognize its influence everywhere.
Being such a staple of the video game genre, it’s no wonder so many developers give nods toSkyrimin their own projects. These range from simple quotes to cheeky references to entire characters based on the fifth installment in theElder Scrollsseries. Of all the references toSkyrimacross different franchises,these ten best sum up how the gaming industry pays tribute to this fantasy classic.
10Borderlands 3 Lifts Skyrim’s Starting Line
Hey You, You’re Finally Awake
TheBorderlandsfranchise often referencesBethesda titles,Skyrimincluded. In this case,Borderlands 3used a line that has become synonymous withSkyrim’s opening scene, where the player character awakes in a prison cart to be greeted by a captured soldier. The line “Hey you, you’re finally awake” may not sound especially unique, but it has become a popular internet joke, repeated at the beginning of each new playthrough to the point thatmostElder Scrollsfans know the dialogue by heart.
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Borderlandsincludes the line as potential respawn dialogue, uttered by the New-U station as the player returns to the game. Although it only happens every once in a while, unlike inSkyrim, it’s a nod that’s easy to appreciate.The New-U stations' dialogue is typically pretty self-aware,so this reference feels right at home.
9Cookie Clicker Includes A Referential Achievement
Let Me Guess, Someone Stole Your…
Of all the games to referenceSkyrim, Cookie Clickerdoes seem like an odd choice. It’s an idle game where, as the title would suggest, the goal is to repeatedly click a cookie to gain points. It has little in common withSkyrim, other than perhaps a strange fascination with sweets, but that sets up a perfect Easter Egg opportunity. A popular voice line fromSkyrim, spoken by town and city guards, centers around a particular dessert item: the sweet roll.
The sweet roll is along-time Bethesda inclusion, and it even shows up as a food item in multipleFallouttitles.
While standing near a guard, players mayhear them say “Let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll"in a sarcastic tone. This line would not be nearly as iconic were it not repeated constantly by every guard throughout the game. That’s part of what makesSkyrim’sdialogue so recognizable, after all:its repetition, while a little janky, is part of the game’s identity.Cookie Clickerincludes an achievement called"The elder scrolls"with the description “Let me guess, someone stole your cookie,” a reward for having 777 grandmas and cursors at once.
8Runescape Features Some Questionable Reading Material
The Dusty Asgarnian Maid
The Lusty Argonian Maid books form one of the weirder recurring jokes inSkyrim,a series of spicy plays written in volumes and found all across the map. They first appeared inMorrowind, and showed up inOblivionas well, but they are everywhere inThe Elder Scrolls V, and the writing is full of innuendos and steamy undertones. It’s made even stranger by the fact thatArgonians are lizard people, and their specific naming conventions led the protagonist of these plays to have a rather on-the-nose name: Lifts-Her-Tail.
Runescape, another fantasy game, chose to reference this specific part ofSkyrim’slore with an in-game book:The Dusty Asgarnian Maid.Found in the Varrock Palace library, it’s an unmistakable reference. WhileThe Dustsy Asgarnian Maidis unfortunately unreadable, one can imagine its contents would match up with the erotic Argonian tales common in Tamriel.
7Minecraft Gets Meta With Its Reference
From A Skill, To A Joke, To An Achievement
Minecraftis another game that has had a profound impact on the video game genre since its release in the 2010s, and it’s another title that has seen its eccentricities live on in the form of internet jokes.SkyrimandMinecraftare similar in the way thatsome lines and moments from them are more popular for their referential use onlinethan from their use in the games themselves.Minecrafttook advantage of that aspect ofSkyrimand included an Easter egg that itself is a play on online humor.
10 Skyrim Memes That Are Too Hilarious For Words
Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will soon turn a decade old, which means fans have created basically countless hilarious Skyrim memes.
Skyrim’sskill trees are often used in jokes, with phrases like “Speech 100” being shorthand for someone either incredibly good or laughably bad at something. WithinMinecraft,an achievement called “Sneak 100” is awarded to players who can get up close to a skulk sensor without it noticing. It’s an impressive feat and a fun reference that calls back to both the original game and its impact on internet humor since its release.
6Getting Déjà Vu In Fallout 76
An All-Too Familiar Cart Scene
Falloutis another Bethesda franchise, and it loves to include subtle and not-so-subtle nods to the developer’s other projects. WithinFallout 76, for instance, there is a pretty direct homage to the opening cart ride ofSkyrimthat will leave many players feeling a sense of déjà vu. West of Vault 96,a tractor can be found which seems to have been hauling a cart full of people,now dead and decomposing.
It’s a reference to how the playerstarts a game inSkyrim, tied up in a prison cart alongside three others and pulled along by horse and carriage. As if that wasn’t reference enough,Fallout 76players can actually “wake up” in this cart.Drinking Nukashine can cause the player to black out and wake up somewhere new,and one possible location for this is in the cart beside the dead bodies. It’s a pretty clever homage to the developer’s previous game that plays around withFallout’s dark comedy.
5Lego Fortnite Quotes The Sykrim Bandits
Never Should Have Come Here
Lego Fortniteis another game that many may not expect to referenceSkyrim. But much like many other games made in the years following TheElder Scrolls V’srelease, it pays homage in the form of quoting its popular lines. In this case,it’sthe line “Never should have come here,” which is often spouted off by banditsbefore they are promptly eliminated.
The line is used inLego Fortniteon an elimination screen, potentially a reference to howSkyrimbandits may occasionally drop dialogue after the player is already dead. And it’s not the first timeFortnitehas referencedSkyrim, either; in a much more direct instance, the game included purchasableElder Scrollsskins for players to use in the shop. This dialogue reference is little more on the subtle side, and doesn’t require players to pay to access it.
4Goat Simulator Lets Players Use The Power Of The Voice
Fus Roh Baaah
Goat Simulatorreferenced one ofSkyrim’smost iconic abilities: shouting, where the Dragonborn uses the power of voice to affect the world around them. WhileSkyrimincludes aton of different shoutsthat the player can find and learn, includingfire breath, causing fear, and slowing time,Goat Simulatoronly cares about the most famous shout: Unrelenting Force.
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This shout is the first that most players will learn, and allows them to stagger and even push back enemies with a loud “Fus Ro Dah.” Goat Simulator’s developers chose to give this power to the player with the custom option “goatborn,” which lets the goat throw around objects and people with the power of its voice. There was alsoa helmet in Goat Simulator 3, called the Dovahkiid, which referenced the power of the voicein its flavor text.
3Stray Includes A Memorable Merchant Line
Some May Call This Junk…
Straysees players in the role of a catseparated from its friends, trying to navigate its way to the surface out of an underground area full of robots and mutants. Along the way,some NPCs drop lines that directly referenceSkyrim’s characters, including one that is repeated by many a merchant throughout Tamriel.
Several shopkeepers in Skyrim will preface their interactions with the line"Some may call this junk. Me, I call them treasures.“It’s a stock line that becomes hilarious when the merchant is selling truly great gear that nobody in their right mind would call junk. InStray, this line can be heard from a robot named Jenkins, who is outside sorting through scrap. It’s a fun way to add some levity to the world and call back to another oft-repeated bit of dialogue.
2The Adoring Fan Returns In Starfield
An Elder Scrolls Staple Goes To Space
Unlike the rest of the items on this list,the Adoring Fan is technically not inSkyrim. He’s anElder Scrollscharacter who appears inOblivion, and while several books in theElder Scrolls 5reference him, he does not actually show up in person without mods. Where he does show up is inStarfield, a game set within an entirely different universe and genre of video game.
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It seems this groupie made it to space somehow and found a new hero to idolize, to the joy and chagrin of players.Fans are pretty divided on this guy,with some hating his every breath and others appreciating thehelp he can offer as a follower. Whatever the case, it seems this NPC is here to stay.
1For Honor Makes Use Of Skyrim’s Most Famous Line
An Arrow To The Knee Is Apparently A Common Injury
More than any otherSkyrimline,“I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee,“shows up constantly in other media. It’s permeated pop culture in a way that some people who have never even playedSkyrimhave probably heard this reference. The line is virtually everywhere, including in another game,For Honor.
Skyrim Player Gets An Arrow to the Knee Just Like the Whiterun Guard
An Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim player recently took an arrow to the knee after trying to defend the town of Whiterun from a vampire attack.
This is hardly the only example of this line showing up in gaming, and it has actually appeared in multiple other games on this list. But theFor Honorversion of the line is fairly funny, occurring in story mode when a certain NPC takes a shot to the leg. He complains loudly about his injury, andhopes it won’t put an end to his adventuring career.This iconicThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimline is so often used in the last tense, and it’s funny to see it happen in real time.
