20How many hours have you spent playing this open-world role-playing game? Ten? One hundred? A thousand? Don’t worry you can tell me — I won’t judge as I too have spent countless hours playing Skyrim. I played the game with a controller in one hand and my iPhone in the other. The reason for having my iPhone with me was simple; I was intrigued by the mystery of the lore of not just Skyrim but also all of Tamriel. This is because there are so many conspiracy theories surrounding The Elder Scrolls Franchise.

Now, I have spent my fair amount of time lurking around the dark corners of Reddit (Don’t go there!) reading the darkest and craziest fan theories there is about Skyrim. I have heard theories from 'adult' affairs with the dead, all the way to why some of the children in Skyrim are so annoying. Well, you should be glad to know that in this article I will be detailing the most spine tingling, toe curling and frightening fan theories that the Skyrim fan community has to offer.

Now, consider this a warning as these creepy theories could change your opinion on the entire game. This is because these theories are very well thought out and put together. Which means that every time you play this video game, in the back of your mind, there will be lingering thoughts such as, “ That can’t be true can it?” Now, you’ve received your warning, so it’s time to get into these very spooky theories.

20 M'aiq The Liar Is A God

This non-playable character is currently in a total of four different Elder Scrolls games: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and TESO. The reason to why people think that M’aiq is a God is because all of these games take part in different eras of Elder Scrolls history so, how could the same character appear in all of these games? Well, the most reasonable explanation is that he is a God, which means that he is immortal. This allows him to be in every game, however, in Skyrim, M’aiq says, "M'aiq's father was also called M'aiq. As was M'aiq's father's father. At least, that is what his father said." Many believe this comment to be a lie so he could cover his tracks in case anyone realized that he was a God.

19 Fallout 4 And Skyrim Take Part In The Same Universe

I’m here to tell you that right now there is a fan theory circling around Reddit that suggests Fallout 4 and Skyrim are set in the same universe. What if I told you that the reason to why many fans believe this is because of a plant? Yes, the same exact plant appears in both Skyrim and Fallout 4. I know this sounds far-fetched but hear me out, the experimental plant that is in Fallout 4 looks pretty much identical to the Nirnroot in Skyrim. However, that is not all of the similarities as in Fallout 4 the plant is labeled "NRT," which could obviously be an abbreviation for Nirnroot. Now, whether you believe it is just an Easter Egg or that this plant is the sole thing that connects both universes is entirely up to you.

18 The Emperor Assassinated Himself

Do you remember the Dark Brotherhood mission, “To Kill an Empire?” Well, in case you don’t in this mission you had to kill the Emperor of Tamriel: Titus Mede II. It is worth mentioning that he may have been one of the most powerful people in Tamriel, but he was also one of the most miserable. This was because he signed the infamous White-Gold Concordat as soon as The Great War was over. This Treaty/Concordat was between The Empire and The Aldmeri Dominion, and it was made for the sole purpose of banning the worship of Talos in all of Tamriel. This made the people of Tamriel hate Titus as everyone loved Talos and eventually the hatred got to Titus making him depressed. The theory then ends with that he hired an assassin from the Dark Brotherhood to kill him as he couldn’t handle being miserable anymore.

17  Cicero Had His Way With The Night Mother’s Corpse

Yes, we all remember that lovable but yet annoying character Cicero, don’t we? He was the jester that had the really creepy relationship with the Night Mother, which many fans speculate was also a physical relationship. You see, Cicero used to be a member of the Dark Brotherhood 15 years before Skyrim took place. At that time, the Dark Brotherhood was out of control with members killing each other, and eventually, it dissolved. Except Cicero couldn’t accept the disbandment of the cult, so he decided to lock himself in a room with the Night Mother for eight whole years which drove him to insanity. Now, when Cicero refers to those eight years, he says lines like, "Must oil Mother soon… Get all the hard places." Now, if you want to believe this fan theory or not, you can’t disagree that his relationship with the Night Mother isn’t somewhat questionable.

16 Falion’s Obsession With Conjuration Led Him To Eat Children And The Hearts Of The Dead

This theory begins with the fact that Falion was a Conjuration teacher and then suddenly he was no longer teaching at Winterhold. Falion says that the reason he left Winterhold is because he hated the direction the College was headed. However, many fans speculate that the reason he no longer teaches there is because he was fired due to the College finding out about his secret. The dirty secret is that Falion is obsessed with Conjuration which many people associate with necromancy and after all he can cure anyone of vampirism. This has led fans to speculate that the reason he was fired because —for his dark/black necromancy magic to work— he had to eat the hearts of the dead and sacrifice children. The College kept this a secret, so it didn’t bring a disgrace to the name of magic.

15 Hogni Red-Arm Is A Murderer

How many of you have been in the very dodgy Skyrim city Markarth? Well, if you have you must have met the butcher Hogni Red-Arm at the entrance of the city. Hogni Red-Arm is by far one of the weirdest characters in all of Skyrim, and this has led people to believe that he has a deep dark secret. This fan theory starts with the fact that Hogni has a strange obsession with meat and blood. For example, when a lady walks up to his meat table, he says,"You there, pretty lady. You need some fresh meat for your family? Just look at the blood coming from this cut...." Through Hogni’s obsession with blood, it has led many to believe that in his spare time he enjoys cutting and killing people and that is why he loves his job, as cutting animal meat is good practice for killing humans.

14 All Elves In Skyrim Are Evil

Do you remember a historical event called The Night of Tears in Skyrim? Well, if you don’t what happened on that night was that the elves in Skyrim realized that there were a lot more humans than there were elves. This led the elves to believe that eventually, their race may become extinct and that the humans will gain control of Skyrim. The elves became filled with fear, and they decided to slaughter as many humans as they could possibly get their hands on and this became known as The Night of Tears. The fan theory goes along with the fact that all elves are still secretly jealous at humans as humans are reproducing faster than elves. This leads many fans to believe that the elves are still scared of humans gaining control of all of Skyrim and they’re just waiting for an opportunity to attack them.

13 Wilhelm Killed Narfi's Sister

Narfi is a Nord who has been driven to insanity since his sister Reyda has been missing for a year. However, if you go for a swim in a river that is close to Ivarstead, you will soon realize that she is actually dead as her corpse is in the river. Now, this theory begins when you first you get in contact with Wilhelm who is a Nord innkeeper at Ivarstead. He tells you to go searching around the area where her body actually is, so the question is how did he know her body would be there? Many fans believe that Wilhelm drowned her in the river and left her body there to be eaten by the fish to cover his tracks. Now, maybe he killed her and maybe he didn’t, but you can’t help but feel a little creeped out that he knew where the body was.

12 Narfi Murdered His Own Sister

We aren’t finished with the mysterious death of Reyda just yet as some fans speculate that it is Nafri himself who murdered his own sister. The main reason to why fans believe this is because Nafri went insane when he found out his sister was only missing not dead. This has led many gamers to ask the question,"If she is only missing why has Nafri gone insane?" Well, the theory goes like this Nafri accidentally killed his sister. However, he was so shocked by the grief that his brain tricked him into thinking that he didn’t actually kill her and this makes him think she is just missing. This means that Nafri has no recollection of his sister’s death and his brain is lying to him as he can’t cope with the fact that he actually killed her.

11 Lord Harkon Is Dragonborn

Lord Harkon is the leader of the Volkihar Clan. In case you didn’t know this clan is actually a faction of vampires and of course by Harkon being a Lord he is one of the most powerful vampires in the whole game. Now, this is where the theory begins as by Harkon being the leader it emphasizes his lust for power. His desire for power is also illustrated by his goal of blocking sunlight so that vampires can rule all of the earth. The trait of being desperate for power is common with dragons and the Dragonborn. For example, Paarthurnax even says in the game that, "We were made to dominate. The will to power is in our blood." By Harkon being hungry for power and his supernatural abilities it has led many fans to speculate that there is more to Lord Harkon that meets the eye.

10 Raerek Has An 'Adult' Dysfunction

This theory involves Raerek who is the servant of Jarl Igmund and an Alchemist called Bothela. Raerek asks you to deliver a potion to Raerek, but says that the process needs to be discreet. You will then visit Raerek, and you will give him the potion ensuring him that nobody knows anything about this delivery. Raerek then thanks you and takes the potion from you. Now, if you want to be nosey you can pick pocket the potion from him, and you can see that the magical liquid is called, "Stallion’s Potion." The name in itself has led many fans to believe that this is obviously a joke and it is some form of 'mature' performance enhancing drug. If the thought of that grosses you out, I don’t blame you, but I mean what else would, "Stallion’s Potion," be used for?

9 Aela And Skjor Are Romantically Involved

I’m not going to lie if there is a couple to ship together in Skyrim it would be these two. I mean these two werewolves have more chemistry than all of the werewolves in that teen beloved Twilight franchise. Besides the point, many believe that they are romantically involved because of the rumours that are spread around The Companions group. For example, when Njada said to Aela that she has heard rumours of the two being together. Aela in shock, replied to her with the line,"And if you want to keep having ears, you'll pretend you didn't." The secrecy here tells it all — if there was nothing to hide why would Aela get all upset if someone even brings the topic up. I don’t know about you, but if this is true, this is by far one of the greatest forbidden romances in all of Skyrim.

8 Grelod The Kind Kills Orphans When The Orphanage Gets Too Crowded

Now, if you have been to Riften’s orphanage, you have probably witnessed Grelod being emotionally abusive to the orphans. Grelod will say horrendous things to them such as, "I will hear no more talk of adoptions! None of you riff-raffs are getting adopted. Nobody needs you; nobody wants you." As you can tell, hardly any children get adopted, and the numbers keep rising, so Grelod decides to kill the children to make room for more. This theory is backed up by the fact that there is a secret room beside the children’s bedroom. In that secret room, the walls are covered with blood, and there are shackles on the walls. All I’m going to say is that if she did kill those children, I’m glad that kid gave us the order to kill her.

7 The Real Reason To Why Braith Is Such A Brat

Do you remember the little girl in Whiterun who made constant remarks about your awesome character? Low and behold there is a theory for why this little brat is so mean to everyone. Well, let me tell you that the reason to why she acts like this is because her parents are constantly ignoring and neglecting her. For example, her mother Saffir is obsessed with reading romance and adventure novels so, she completely ignores Braith. Her father Amren, on the other hand, is so infatuated with finding his family sword that he also completely ignores his daughter. Overall, this fan theory emphasizes that the reason Braith bullies people is that she is ignored at home. It's a very reasonable assumption given the way bullies learn their habbits in real life.

6 Edda The Beggar, Gave Her Child Up For Adoption

This theory again involves Grelod as she is the owner of the orphanage in Riften. Right, say for some reason you are in Riften, you will always see a beggar called Edda asking for money. Many believe that Edda hangs around Riften because she gave her child up for adoption and she wants to be as close as possible to it. This theory is further backed up by the fact that if you cast the spell fear on Grelod, she will run out of the orphanage and as soon as she steps outside Edda will kill her. Fans believe that Edda kills the old hag because she sees how Grelod treats her child and she wants revenge and justice for her kid.

5 The College Of Winterhold Can’t Be Destroyed

I must say that out of all of the Skyrim fan theories that this one is by far one of the more popular ones. The reason to why this theory is so popular is because there seems to be a lot of facts to back it up. You see, this theory begins with events that took place years and years before the events of Skyrim. Right, what happened was that in 4E 122 a massive storm that is known as The Sea of Ghosts took place in Winterhold. This storm made waves crash all over Winterhold, and it managed to bring the majority of the city into the sea. However, the weird thing about this is that the College of Winterhold was never affected in the slightest while this storm took place. Now, some gamers believe that this was pure luck, and others believe something more magical is at play.

4 Skyrim Makes References To The 2001 Video Game Rune

Right! At least hear me out before you start laughing at how silly this theory sounds. You see in Riften there is a character from the Thieves Guild called, "Rune," and nobody knows his origin story including himself. This is because as a child he was shipwrecked and he was found outside of Solitude on some sea rocks. A fisherman found him and asked who he was but the boy didn’t remember anything, not even his name, so the fisherman named him Rune. This was because he was found beside a rock which had some strange writing on it. By Rune not having an origin story many see this as an Easter Egg as his sole purpose in Skyrim is to serve as a reference to a cult beloved video game of the same name.

3 Nobody Can Claim The Dragonborn’s Soul

This is a rather interesting fan theory as it has led many gamers to analyze where the Dragonborn's soul is going to end up once the Dragonborn dies. This is because if you join the Dark Brotherhood, your soul now belongs to them and their God. However, if you become a vampire, your soul will belong to the Volkihar Clan and their God. This leads many to believe that nobody can fully claim the Dragonborn’s soul as it belongs to different groups and Gods. Now, some fans on threads such as Reddit believe that there would be a huge war between the Gods and that war would decide who would claim control of the soul. All I can say is that once the Dragonborn dies, Skyrim will be as crazy and wild as a Gamestop sale.

2 Veezara Survives The Attack On The Dark Brotherhood

I’m not going to lie the attack on the Dark Brotherhood brought a tear to my eye. The thought of walking past Veezara and seeing his dead body still gives me horrid thoughts. However, a fan theory suggests that Veezara isn’t actually dead and this theory sounds very plausible. Now, the theory starts when you run into the sanctuary as it is being attacked and you first find Veezara’s corpse surrounded by blood. The strange thing here is that after you finish defending the sanctuary, you can run back to where you found Veezara, and you will notice that his body is no longer there. This leads many fans to believe that Veezara wasn’t actually dead, but he was just unconscious when you found him. This would mean that Veezara escaped the fire and fled to safety but who knows where?

1 For A Female To Become A Vampire They Need To Be Assaulted

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Reader Discretion Advised! This fan theory started going viral once the Dawnguard DLC came out as people began to speculate how females could become vampires. Well, a character named Serena says that she and all of the other ladies in the cult had to, "Offer themselves," to the Daedric God Molag Bal. When you go to ask Serena about the ritual she says, "It’s degrading," and she no longer wants to talk about it. This has led many fans to speculate that for these innocent women to become vampires, they must be taken advantage of by Molag Bal. On the other hand, maybe they just have to kill something and offer it to him as a sacrifice. No matter what you believe, it doesn’t stop the fact that these innocent women must offer something to him in exchange for becoming a vampire.