Dreams Of A Gamer
The only real dream is the one you can remember
The Hero
"I know the hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn’t be a very good story."
- Henry
Once Upon A Time (TV Series)
One of the biggest archetypes that is also the most obvious one is the hero. Heroes begin their quest oblivious of their role. The quote above comes from the show Once Upon A Time and gives an accurate statement about the good stories with heros. In the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim the main character that you play as becomes the legendary Dragonborn that is the hero in the Old Nordic tales. The character is only introduced to the concept of Dragonborn and is moved to believe that is what they were destined to be. Just like a hero has the choice to accept or deny fate, so does the gamer who plays his character. All of the challanges a hero would face, the main character does also. Imposters, zealous warriors, non-believers, and arch enemies are just a few of the problems that a hero would face in the old myths that the main character encounters in the main quest of Skyrim.
Sources
See Footage: The Dragonborn video
Religion
"The wonderful imagery and mythology of religions was able to express the eternal archetypes perfectly"
-Carl Jung
Religion is not just an archetype, but a way to express archetypes through different means. In the Footage section of this site there is a video about the Nine Divines, the deities of Tamriel. For the producers of The Elder Scrolls to incorporate a religion in a game gives a more realistic feel and relation to show how the characters in the game can be just like the people of this world.
"Doubtless every culture, visible or invisible, is impelled by its own conception of death"
Andre Malraux, Antimemoires(141)
"Religion is among other things a way of reconciling people to the fact that some day they must die, whether by the promise of a better life beyond the grave, rebirth, or both" (150)
The idea of religion in the world of Skyrim can best be related to the Celts religion with deities and druids. In Gerhard Herm's The Celts the above quote by Andre is mentioned regarding death. In Skyrim the mention of a "Valhalla" otherwise known as Sovngarde to the Nords. As with the ancient Celts who prayed to their many deities and believed that death was just a pause in a long life, the Nords of the world of Skyrim also made the Nine Divines and Sovngarde as a promise of a world that is better than the living one. The only problem with the afterlife in the Nords view was the way to the Hall of Valor that was plagued by Alduin, otherwise known as the World Eater and the Nordic God of Destruction.
"Alduin." The Elder Scrolls Wiki. Wikia, n.d. Web. <http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Alduin>.
Herm, Gerhaard. The Celts. N.p.: St. Martin's, 1975. Print.
"Sovngarde." The Elder Scrolls Wiki. Wikia, n.d. Web. <http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Sovngarde_(Location)>.
The Villian
In every story there is a counterpart to the hero otherwise known as the villain. Today's villains come in many forms from the local bar tender who is cheating on his wife with another young lady or a terrorist planning world domination. The villain of old in the cliche "Knight in Shining Armor" story is a dragon and the object to be saved, the damsel in distress is the prize of the quest. Usually the hero deemed worthy to challenge the beast is labeled Champion and the spoils are the attainable goals of the seemingly perilous quest.
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the villain is ironically a dragon itself, Alduin the World Eater. The catch with every villain is their powers and plans. Each villain, and this is true for heroes, is assigned qualities: a major skill or power, a fatal flaw, and an objective. Alduin's power comes from being a dragon and knowing the power of the Thu'um, his flaw is that he can still be killed by a dragonborn, and his objective is to overcome the dragonborn and to devour the world that is Tamriel.
"Alduin." The Elder Scrolls Wiki. Wikia, n.d. Web. <http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Alduin>.
The Damsel
(Alduin)
The cliche title of the damsel is just a namesake description of the people, place, or idea that a hero is assigned to save through his valiant quest.
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim the so labeled damsel in distress is the entire population of Tamriel. Alduin is not nicknamed the World Eater, because he only wreaks havoc upon various parts of Tamriel and Skyrim, but because he is the evil to bring about the end of the world.
The Holy Grail
"Elder Scroll (Dragon)." The Elder Scrolls Wiki. Wikia, n.d. Web. <http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Elder_Scroll_(Dragon)>.
Each quest has a special item that needs to be obtained by the hero in order to accomplish the quest assigned him. For different quest this object can be something that is hard to find in the immediate area, something that is abundant and needed in abundance, something needed for research, or even something so rare that even handling the artifact can be dangerous.
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, this such item can be a Dragonstone (research), Lost Family Sword (hard to find), various ingredients (abundance) and an Elder Scroll (rarity).
(Elder Scrool Dragon)