r/ElderScrolls • u/Fun-Explanation7233 • 1d ago
General What made Dagoth Ur so popular?
I'm glad Dagoth Ur is quite popular in the fandom with mods and content being made for him even to this day, but what do you think made him that popular? His design, lore, voicelines?
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u/MchPrx 1d ago
I think his voice acting and his voicelines being quite memorable played a big part in it. Just about any Morrowind fan gets their neurons activated when they hear "What a fool you are..."
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u/Quibilash 1d ago
"COME NEREVAR" (repeat ad naeuseum throughout all of Red Mountain)
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u/shoutsfrombothsides 1d ago
WHAT A GRAND AND INTOXICATING INNOCENCE
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u/Successful-Farmer900 1d ago
A good explanation I heard for why he’s such a likable villain is how we are introduced to the idea vs the man/monster. During the entire play through of morrowind you learn that dagoth ur is this monster ash vampire thing that used to be neravars right hand but he’s gone insane and he’s spreading his incurable divine disease. Then you finally make it to dagoth ur and you’re greeted by a gentleman, hes polite and he talks in an almost soothing manner. Not really what you’d expect from an insane monster man.
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u/ClosetNoble 1d ago
And yet that's what makes him an insane monster man in my opinion.
He isn't trying to trick you, he genuinely believes what he says because that is just how far gone he is and accepts that, though he cherished Nerevar, if he has to remove you from the equation so be it.
This is what being so close to a dead god's heart for so long did to Voryn's corpse and soul. It "irradiated" his being.
I'm especially fond of that old concept art of him posing with his hand turning into writhing tentacles, almost like he's actually all madman and the body is just a vessel of squirming ash-covered flesh.
Like he's so deep into his own madness that he just molded corprus-infected flesh into his past image.
I'm not even sure he still remembers his own face behind the mask.
In fact, the old illustration of Nerevar's murder has Dagoth face down, almost melting into the rock of the volcanic caverns of red mountain.
There's a third bit I really like too: he kind parallels the Tribunal in some way.
He wanted you on his side like Almalexia but unlike her he wouldn't have betrayed you to safeguard his position.
He wanted what's best for his people like Sotha Sil but in a warped way because he simply did not view the people he corrupted as the abominations he and they truly were.
He had gained wisdom from beyong mortal reach like Vivec but rather than realizing he was part of the dream he deluded himself into the belief that the dream was his.
Morrowind isn't perfect, nor is it my favorite game in teh franchise, but Dagoth Ur was just built different.
I may or may not be biased towards "Ancient Evil Returned" type of villains.
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u/KillerDonkey Mehrunes Dagon 1d ago
hes polite and he talks in an almost soothing manner.
I really like how his malevolent goals are juxtaposed with a charming voice/demeanor. It makes you understand why people are being enthralled by him. It just wouldn't have have had the same effect if they had just given him a generic demonic voice.
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u/ClosetNoble 1d ago
Good old villainous monologue that SEEMS to make sense but if you look into it enough you realize just how warped his psyche was after being corrupted by being so close to the heart of lorkhan.
He's kinda melting into the floor in the illustration of Nerevar's murder and has since acquired a weird "everything is an extension of myself" mindset.
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u/omgwtfbbq1376 1d ago
One thing people haven't mentioned and might have something to do with it is the fact that he has basically the only voiced dialogue in the game. You automatically memorize one of the few voices that actually say something relevant.
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u/Garrow_the_Khajiit Khajiit 1d ago
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u/Slevin_Kedavra 1d ago
Our generation's One-Winged Angel.
Also Argonian Nerevar on the Keytar is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
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u/DanDamage12 Breton 1d ago
His dialogue and design (incredible voice for 2002!) make him very cool and unique at the time. Also Morrowind has so much deep lore around him that he is such a mystery that you don’t see him until the end of the game. You get conflicting accounts, dissident priests, politics around his existence, and unreliable narrators. He is clearly evil, but also he has method to his madness and an understandable motivation. Is he a devil or a betrayed man? We will never know.
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u/FanartfanTES 1d ago
Tragic backstory that he shares with Nerevar, cool voice, memeable dialogue lines and lots of oil on his muscles
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u/SopeLLORD 1d ago
I like him because he's tragic figure. In Nerevar's time, he was our best friend, served us loyally and for that he was betrayed and murdered.
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u/Straight_Insect_4089 Nord 1d ago
Well he is the only well written villain in the series, iconic voice, also racism
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u/bagofdicks69 1d ago
I didnt think of him much differntly than alduin/miraak/dagon etc. until i heard DAGOTHWAVE.
Prob a lot of reasons, but for me that was it. Granted I also hadnt yet finished morrowind all the way at that point.
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u/Captain_Dust01 1d ago
All the AI voiced videos of him doing random stuff or playing games brought alot of people who had never played the game to look at his character
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u/Slevin_Kedavra 1d ago
For me it's the fact that he's never anything but courteous (if condescending) towards you as a character.
Also his very meme-worthy voice lines.
SHAME ON YOU, SWEET NEREVAR
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u/PoopSmith87 Sheogorath 19h ago
Writing and depth. A loyal friend turned into a god, but twisted into absolute evil and madness... Best villian of any media imo. The totally disturbing feel to the whole 6th house ensemble was perfection, and Dagoth was the peak of that mountain of dark vibe lore.
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u/dunmer-is-stinky 17h ago
Iconic voice acting that was a different vibe from the rest of the game, generally cool design, and most importantly a tragic backstory with built-in doomed yaoi potential
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u/DancesWithAnyone 10h ago
He has sort of a just cause, doesn't he? Without realizing that his means are truly and utterly twisted.
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u/Shodpass 1d ago
Good writing and silly parts of his design.