Who are the good guys in Skyrim?

Recommended Videos

TheVioletBandit

New member
Oct 2, 2011
579
0
0
Warning possible spoilers!

Out of the two waring factions who do you see as the good guys; the Stormcloaks or the Imperials?

Personally, I'm not sure who the good guys are. The Stormcloaks seem a little racist to me (Example: the grey elves in the grey part of town) and the Imperials are restricting a groups religious beliefs which seems equally bad to me. (Example: the ban on Talos worship) Anyway, I haven't decided who to join with yet because I feel morally conflicted, so I thought I would see what you guys think.
 

Seishisha

By the power of greyskull.
Aug 22, 2011
473
0
0
I honestly dont think either side can claim to be good or bad, its realy a matter of player choice, they both have good and bad points in favor of joining or not, as you said the empire is somwhat oppressive but they are also the main reason the altmeri dominion hasnt completely taken over, as for the stormcloaks they mostly want to free skyrim and bring back worship of talos but they realy couldnt care less about anyone who isnt a nord. A simular quest comes to mind, finding the missiing woman in whiterun, she claims to be on the run from assassins, they claim she's a traitor, there isnt any definable proof either way, i guess if you have enough time you could create two diametricly opposed characters and join both factions?
 

TheVioletBandit

New member
Oct 2, 2011
579
0
0
Seishisha said:
I honestly dont think either side can claim to be good or bad, its realy a matter of player choice, they both have good and bad points in favor of joining or not, as you said the empire is somwhat oppressive but they are also the main reason the altmeri dominion hasnt completely taken over, as for the stormcloaks they mostly want to free skyrim and bring back worship of talos but they realy couldnt care less about anyone who isnt a nord. A simular quest comes to mind, finding the missiing woman in whiterun, she claims to be on the run from assassins, they claim she's a traitor, there isnt any definable proof either way, i guess if you have enough time you could create two diametricly opposed characters and join both factions?

It would be nice if you could join the Imperials and fight against the Altmeri Dominion who are the real root of the ban of Talos worship in Skyrim.
 

A Weary Exile

New member
Aug 24, 2009
3,784
0
0
Honestly have not gotten far enough to determine who I consider "Good" yet, I think it'll end up being the Imperials though. The game just seems to want me to automatically hate them because they execute people and assumes I want to join the anti-establishment, fight-the-powah faction, but that's not happening. The Empire brings stability and security to Skyrim, not to mention that a weakened Imperial presence would (probably) create a power vacuum that the Thalmor would exploit, leading to another war.
 

Sleipnir

New member
Oct 17, 2009
93
0
0
At first I thought the Imperials were douchebags, but upon questing up to meeting Ulfric again and being insulted a buttload by everyone for being a Khajiit, I'm thinking Imperials are the way to go, but I'm probably going to make a racist Nord next time and go Stormcloak all the way.

Summary: I don't even know.
 

AntiChri5

New member
Nov 9, 2011
584
0
0
For all the flak the Stormcloaks get for their mild racism, they still treat elves better then America and my own country treated German and Japanese citizens during WW2. There are no detainment camps, they are not denied service in the military. For a primitive culture at war with a different race that claims to be superior and refuses to let them worship their own god because he used to be human, this is remarkably progressive.

War and racism always go together, so i don't have much of a problem with the Stormcloaks mouthing the occasional stupid comment. They will get over it.
 

JesterRaiin

New member
Apr 14, 2009
2,286
0
0
TheVioletBandit said:
Out of the two waring factions who do you see as the good guys; the Stormcloaks or the Imperials?
The Mankind. The elves are eeeeeeeeevil ones, much worse than dragons and that's the fact !

Imperial and Stormcloaks ? Former are trying to preserve rotting corpse of useleess union, even at cost of losing independence and becoming slaves to Mer. Latter are manipulated xenophobic rebels without a clue.

I can't fully relate to any side of this conflict, still because of my own history i always was and will be supporter of rebellion instead of perseverance.

P.S.

<youtube=d9Q2wO1zJaA>
 

Necron_warrior

OPPORTUNISTIC ANARCHIST
Mar 30, 2011
287
0
0
Imperials all the way in my eyes.
I think Ulfric acts more of a petulant child wanting power than a good leader.
They only have one real reason they keep blurting out against the empire 'They destroy our tradition'
...
What's so good about tradition?

(On an unrelated note, I'm an imperial)
 

Neonit

New member
Dec 24, 2008
477
0
0
i would go with imperial legion. funny thing, i see myself as a person who opposes too much order and law and yet i still prefer imperial legion. but further in the game you learn a bit more about stormcloak leader.

besides, from the very start you can see that there is something iffy about ulric....
 

Ammutseba

New member
Sep 24, 2010
100
0
0
There are no good guys in Skyrim. It basically boils down to fascists and nazis. I took the "lesser of two evil"-approach and went with the fascists (Stormcloaks). They may be a bunch of racist jerks, but at least they don't kill people for having a certain faith, nor do they seem like they have any intent to take over the world.
 

TheIronRuler

New member
Mar 18, 2011
4,283
0
0
The Falmer. Those poor mer had been driven off their land by the Nords, and now they live underground in squalor and darkness. And then you, the dragonborn, comes down and massacres all of them!
 

JesterRaiin

New member
Apr 14, 2009
2,286
0
0
Necron_warrior said:
Imperials all the way in my eyes.
I think Ulfric acts more of a petulant child wanting power than a good leader.
They only have one real reason they keep blurting out against the empire 'They destroy our tradition'
...
What's so good about tradition?

(On an unrelated note, I'm an imperial)
Now, that's interesting ! :)

- Most important leaders in our own history acted exactly like spoiled, greedy brats stating that its simply "my way or no way". Sometimes it led to burning half of known world to the ground, sometimes to creation of empires that lasted for thousands of years.
- Remember first meeting with Ulfric in his castle ? The discussion he has with his subordinate ? That's actually quite plausible argumentation. He recalls war and all those that died. He feels that rebellion is the only way to make their sacrifice count.
- Tradition is one of few ways for some societies to mantain both continuity and integrity.

Ammutseba said:
There are no good guys in Skyrim. It basically boils down to fascists and nazis. I took the "lesser of two evil"-approach and went with the fascists (Stormcloaks). They may be a bunch of racist jerks, but at least they don't kill people for having a certain faith, nor do they seem like they have any intent to take over the world.
Nords :
Facist, racist or xenophobic ?

TheIronRuler said:
The Falmer. Those poor mer had been driven off their land by the Nords, and now they live underground in squalor and darkness. And then you, the dragonborn, comes down and massacres all of them!
Dirty, primitive savages led by HagRavens, committing unspeakable, bloody rituals not unlike vilest forms of necromancy. ;p
 

Brinnmilo

New member
Mar 18, 2009
91
0
0
I'm going with the Legion. The way the Stormcloaks are going they may as well hand over the entire continent to the Altmeri Dominion. I started a Stormcloaks character first but then I found that Ulfric seemed like a power hungry coward.

I do have a strong hatred of the Thalmor though. I wish I met more of them on the road, just so I could butcher their arrogant, racist, murderous asses (and yes I know that was a very hypocritical tirade of insults).

Out of interest for those who went with the NCR instead of the Strip residents in Fallout NV:
Have you gone Stormcloaks or Imperials?
 

theonecookie

New member
Apr 14, 2009
352
0
0
Imperials For sure the stormcloaks or nothing more than a bunch of racist pricks with a too stupid to live leader who wants nothing more than to be high king

sure the empire outlawed talos worship but its not like they had much of a choice with losing the war with the elves and even then they where doing a suspiciously poor job of enforcing the ban until the stormcloaks started acting like retard children and at that point they sorta had to crack down
 

Ronin08

New member
Nov 18, 2009
14
0
0
I made my decision when I met the Jarl Elisif of Solitude, whose husband was killed by Ulfric. I'd already met Ulfric and General Tullius, and I'd already concluded both were different kinds of assholes, but she was the one who finally swayed my decision. I realized if joining the stormcloaks would put me on a path to kill her, I wasn't going to be happy with the so-called "freeing Skyrim for the Nords." She didn't strike me as power-hungry or oppressive, just a woman trying to do the best for her people whilst mourning the loss of her husband.

Doesn't matter if the quest actually goes that far or not, (I found out later you don't sack Solitude), but I didn't feel like I could let her down like that. Signed up for the imperials immediately.

Props to Skyrim for managing to make my decision on taking sides of a civil war dependent on how I feel about an NPC.
 

King of Asgaard

Vae Victis, Woe to the Conquered
Oct 31, 2011
1,926
0
0
Necron_warrior said:
Imperials all the way in my eyes.
I think Ulfric acts more of a petulant child wanting power than a good leader.
They only have one real reason they keep blurting out against the empire 'They destroy our tradition'
...
What's so good about tradition?

(On an unrelated note, I'm an imperial)
Wow...
Someone who shares my opinion to the letter.

OT: In my opinion, neither are the protagonist nor the antagonist because it all comes down to the choice the player made.
That being said, I've played for both sides and I can easily state that the Imperials are (for me) the more respectable faction to side with, since Tullius seems to actually care about his position and never acts like a spoilt brat, stamping his feet because he didn't get what he wanted.
Not to mention, if you side with the Stormcloaks and take Whiterun, you can kiss Jarl Balgruuf and his housecarl and advisor goodbye.
Since he was the one of maybe three NPCs I actually liked, this was unacceptable for me.
Also, Ulfric has no sense of fashion.
 

TheIronRuler

New member
Mar 18, 2011
4,283
0
0
JesterRaiin said:
TheIronRuler said:
The Falmer. Those poor mer had been driven off their land by the Nords, and now they live underground in squalor and darkness. And then you, the dragonborn, comes down and massacres all of them!
Dirty, primitive savages led by HagRavens, committing unspeakable, bloody rituals not unlike vilest forms of necromancy. ;p
.
How dare you throw such accusations at my fellow Mer? Begone, human, or I will strike you with my arrow!
 

NeutralDrow

New member
Mar 23, 2009
9,097
0
0
The Blades.

But if you're talking the civil war, the good guys are basically anyone but Ulfric.

The Empire has a few zealots who kill first, ask questions later (like the captain ordering your execution), but they're trying to keep shit together and taking the long view. General Tullius is a bit of an asshole, but he's a jaded, cynical member of military high command who's just had a major setback (the rebel leader escaping). He even admits on the conclusion of the civil war that he hopes the remaining Stormcloaks will stop fighting, because he doesn't want to kill them all, but would otherwise have no choice. The rank-and-file Stormcloaks, on the other hand, tend to be provincial (see: racist) dickbags, but they genuinely feel they're fighting to save their country.

TheVioletBandit said:
the Imperials are restricting a groups religious beliefs which seems equally bad to me. (Example: the ban on Talos worship)
They don't want to do that...and in fact, they kind of don't. That's brought up repeatedly. The treaty with the Altmer made them officially ban Talos worship (which, trust me, upset the Imperials just as much as the Nords), and that treaty was in exchange for humanity's continued existence. Even with the ban, they do absolutely nothing to stop unofficial worship.

In fact, that's ultimately the cause of the war. Some Nords (including Ulfric) were given the freedom to openly worship Talos, and the elves found out (the Jarl who tells you admits that it was a stupid mistake) and captured them all.

Ammutseba said:
They may be a bunch of racist jerks, but at least they don't kill people for having a certain faith, nor do they seem like they have any intent to take over the world.
You're mistaking the Empire for the Aldmeri Dominion. Far as I know, you never work for the Thalmor...in fact, part of the resolution for either side of the civil war is preparing for the next war against the elves.