Skyrim players shared their most heinous in-game acts

Skyrim allows us to be and do whatever we fancy. You can play as a good Samaritan or take on the role of a villain. Or choose from a myriad of shades of gray. However, the game is full of instances where even good deeds can backfire, making you want to do something that might be considered as a cruel act.

A lively discussion unfolded at r/Skyrim recently, following a player named Surfoverwork's request to share the most heinous actions they've taken in Skyrim. As expected from such chaotic citizens of Tamriel, the responses covered a wide range of digital misdeeds.

Surfoverwork initiated the discussion by sharing their own story:

Lucia brought home a fox and asked to keep it. I said yes. Thought it was cute, and figured it'd be nice for her to have a pet. Then I found out about the Fox breathing noises. OH BOY. Well the real life version of me wasn't about to listen to that while I'm trying craft daggers and shit. I waited for my Skyrim family to go to sleep then cast fury on the fox. I watched Aela and Lucia herself kill the fox. Felt a little dirty afterward, however, the fox no longer has breathing issues.

Other players shared how they manipulated NPCs with spells, turning them into unwilling murderers and victims. One used a shout to forcibly eject an NPC stuck in a cave to complete their quest.

A player with the nickname Sparkpulse writes:

I murdered a man to steal his children. He was an abusive piece of crap and I did raise them properly and fix their relationship with each other, so I'm still not sure it was actually bad.

Another (Cosmo1222) decided to enjoy some local chaos :

Dropped a diamond in the marketplace in Riften..on purpose.. It's like setting off a firework.

And the gamer Averagecrabenjoyer69 revealed a secret of their romantic relationships:

Killed Jon Battleborn so I could marry Olfina Gray-Mane(with mod). Dude's really friendly, but I wasn't gonna be in competition for Olfina lol.

Although the thread was intended as a playful jest, it could be a topic of serious discussion about our behavior in virtual worlds, the psychology of moral disengagement through anonymity and role-playing, and whether we should worry about "villainy" in fictional settings.

But the psychology of gaming is a theme for a dissertation, maybe five. From this thread, we can safely assume that wandering through the forests and tundras of Skyrim can slowly undermine even the noblest heroic aspirations, pushing even the Dragonborns towards morally ambiguous actions.

However, the inhabitants of Tamriel have long known that heroism is often a matter of perspective.