When it comes to games that have made a huge impact in recent years, Skyrim would be far up on anyone's list. And it's no wonder why; Bethesda really outdid themselves on this one. They created a huge fantasy world with an almost countless amount of things to do, with an emphasis on letting the player do whatever they desire. Whether that be playing as a heroic warrior, a skulking life-taker, or anything in-between, players and critics alike lauded Skyrim for its open nature.

But with such a big world, you are going to find things that are rather strange or incredibly gamey. There are a lot of bugs and ridiculous logic present in the game, such as everyone's favorite method of putting a pot over someone's head so they can't see you rob them blind. That never gets old. But rather than these things be a detriment to the game, they are something that really makes the game memorable.

As it was such a hugely popular release, Skyrim found itself with a huge following of gamers. Many of which who had no qualms about pointing out the stranger facets of Skyrim's design to create some hilarious memes. I have trawled the deep web to find twenty-five of the funniest Skyrim memes for your viewing pleasure. You can thank me later.

25 Helmet Of The Dragonborn

via:ranker.com

Within all the trailers and promotional art that was shown before the release of Skyrim, the Dragonborn was always depicted wearing this helmet. It became synonymous with the Skyrim protagonist and you can't say it doesn't look cool. With it being depicted so much, players assumed that it would be pretty good gear for them to use on their adventures within the world of Skyrim.

But when the game actually hit, players found themselves a bit disappointed.

In what seems to be a strange decision, the most iconic helmet of Skyrim is actually junkse. It doesn't even have a unique name. It is called the Iron Helmet and it can be found absolutely everywhere in the game, with even some random bandits and marauders donning it. As it's part of the Iron set, it can be useful at the very start of the game, but with a few levels you will quickly find something much better that can easily replace it, and the signature helmet will be forever lost to the depths of your inventory.

I can see why they have made it so readily available; it's so new players can quickly jump into feeling like the Dragonborn from the trailers. But in my opinion and many others, it would have been a lot more exciting if this was a powerful, well-hidden unique helmet for the players to find.

24 Not The Smartest Bunch

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For people trusted to protect the common folk from any kind of danger (including sometimes actual full-on dragons), the guards of Skyrim are a little slow on the uptake. They meander around, talking about sweet rolls and joint problems caused by arrows, and if there is a problem they will rush at it swinging their swords wildly.

The AI of Skyrim and, in fact, most other Elder Scrolls games are something players love to mess around with. Many guards can sometimes be completely oblivious to something which should be incredibly obvious is a problem, like the meme above. But I guess they do fulfill their role in the end, they do manage to put some effort in helping the Dragonborn put down dragons or other beasts that enter a settlement, and they'll waste no time in trying to put down the Dragonborn themselves if they attempt to resist arrest.

But I really think Skyrim could do with some kind of school for guards; teaching them that maybe getting hit in the head with an arrow isn't just a random occurrence and it might be a Dragonborn having a bit too much fun. Then maybe they could also actually solve crimes without having the player to hold their hand.

23 Hoard All The Pretty Things!

via:halo.wikia.com

This one hits a little too close to home. I always have a huge amount of problems with inventory space in games, especially if a game lets me pick literally everything up like Skyrim does. But it's nice to see other players of the game have the same problem as me.

I have never leveled Alchemy in any of my playthroughs of Skyrim, but each time I'd come to the end of a run I would find myself absolutely encumbered with the number of flowers, mushrooms, and uh, human hearts I had picked up on my adventures. I legitimately can't stop myself if I come across some flowers that I can pick up. I might need them one day! What if a quest involves me bring flowers to a first date?! Or a human heart?!

It's quite hilarious to think if a bandit manages to put down the Dragonborn, who is the legendary warrior of the realm who can blow things apart with his voice and has plundered the most dangerous ruins for mythical loot would find that half of his belongings are flowers that can be found literally everywhere. But who knows! Maybe that bandit has the same hoarding problem and the cycle begins anew.

22 Gravity-Defying Horses

via:imgur.com (CabbageCrusader)

A classic quirk of Skyrim's design are horses that can scale near-vertical cliff faces. I'm not exactly sure why this is a thing, but it most definitely is. Having a mountain blocking the most direct way to an objective and you're too lazy to walk around it? Call your trusty steed and just gallop up it, because your horse never skipped leg day.

It looks absolutely ridiculous but is actually genuinely useful and something I would be sad about if they patched it out. Sometimes it's just completely frustrating to run up against an impenetrable mountain and have to slowly follow the edge around until you get to the other side. Having a horse skips all that, and you get to see the wonderful sights of Skyrim while you desperately grip your horses reigns as he starts to approach a ninety-degree angle.

It is rather dangerous to attempt this sometimes though. There is a limit to how steep a horse can climb, and a badly aimed jump can see you and your horse plummeting to the ground. But hey, anything to save time right? The world isn't going to save itself, so it's good your trusty steed has its own legendary gravity-defying magic.

21 My Poor Body Needs Sleep

via:9gag.com

We've all been here. Skyrim is pretty much a malevolent force in my life by this point, doing it's utmost to make sure I am always deprived of sleep and paying as much attention to it as possible. It just shows how much work Bethesda has put into making sure the player is always kept busy, and that they never end up bored and just aimlessly wandering around.

But they could tone it down just a bit maybe.

There have been so many times where I have planned to just finish one last thing because I have to get up early for work the next day, just for some NPC to run up and offer a quick quest with a mysterious reward, or I somehow stumble upon some ruins I have never seen before. It's like the game can sense when I am about to turn it off and it desperately throws all the interesting stuff in the area at me all at once.

It's good to have so much stuff to do in your game but Bethesda please, I can't keep doing this to myself. Just let me stop playing without a fight one of these days, I'm too idiotic to say no.

20 Priorities

via:twinfinite.net

For a legendary hero, the Dragonborn doesn't get too much special treatment from the common folk of Skyrim. Sometimes it seems like people honestly couldn't care less about your noble mission to save them all from dragons. In the meme above, we see one of the examples of that. Despite our friend Belethor here probably not wanting to be dragon food, he is willing to attempt to imprison the only one within Skyrim who stands a chance against the dragon menace.

Over something as small as picking up a piece of paper.

The inhabitants of Skyrim really have some priority issues. I know that the Dragonborn shouldn't really be able to get away with committing any crimes they want just because of their new status as a legendary hero, but really Belethor? Over a piece of paper? Sadly, the guards are under the exact same impression as him and will actually try and slay you over stealing something as small as paper if you resist arrest.

It's not surprising a lot of players just end up ignoring the main quest and joining the Dark Brotherhood when they are treated like this. If the people of Skyrim are more concerned about their precious paper than their own lives and homes, then they should just be left to their own devices.

19 If It Works...

via:cheezburger.com

When the Dragonborn is hurt, they have a variety of methods of keeping themselves breathing. They can use powerful healing magic to quickly get back into a fight, or glug down medicinal potions to regenerate their health. They can even wait it out and let natural healing take its course if they are not in any immediate danger. But what if the Dragonborn finds themselves in a situation where none of these methods are applicable?

By eating everything in their inventory that could possibly help.

This silly last resort method of regaining health is more prominent in the more recent Fallout titles, but it also has found its way into Skyrim. In an incredibly desperate situation where you find yourself without potions or mana to heal yourself, sometimes your best option is to rummage in your inventory for any food items that can restore health, then eat about a dozen of them. As ridiculous as it must look and sound it's a great method for item hoarders like me.

You don't even have to deal with the Dragonborn getting stomach cramps later on, he must truly be the chosen one if he able to eat so much cheese in a few seconds without a problem.

18 You Never Know

via:holdtoreset.com

I don't really trust game designers very much. And I mean that as a player; after playing a lot of games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne I am constantly on edge when it comes to games that a designer may have put a trap here, or hidden something incredibly powerful there. And while Skyrim has no shortage of deadly traps or ambushes, I think I should at least learn to trust that if a container is labeled as empty, it is in fact definitely empty.

But I still can't help myself from checking. The worst places for this problem are within the crypts containing the Draugr that are found throughout the game. They always seem to have shrine rooms filled with urns that are usually empty. Yet I still feel the need to check each one just in case a pesky developer is trying to trick me by hiding something powerful in a container labeled as empty.

So I guess I have Dark Souls and Bloodborne to thank for making me a paranoid mess when it comes to literally every game now. But who knows, one day I might actually find something and prove everyone wrong. I doubt it too, but please do not bully me.

17 Chests Of Disappointment

For how hard a lot of the locked containers are to open in Skyrim, a lot of them seem to be filled with absolutely nothing of interest. Just like the meme, there are a lot of expert and even sometimes master difficulty locked chests that you think will contain incredible loot; you need such a high lockpicking skill to have much of a chance after all. But once you do actually open up the chest after a bunch of failed attempts it contains loot that is less exciting then what you would find in a chest that required no effort to open.

And just who are these people putting lockpicks in tightly secure chests in the first place? Is there some great lockpick shortage that we as the player are completely unaware of? At least you usually get the lockpicks you spent to open these chests back, so it's only a waste of your time rather than a waste of your time and resources. Thanks for that Bethesda I guess.

By this point, I've just learned to assume that these kinds of chests won't have anything too exciting in them despite the lock difficulty. But seeing as I can't even walk past a container labeled as empty without opening it, I'm not going to be able to stop myself from attempting to open these chests either.

16 The Classic Neverending Meme

via:memecenter.com

Oh boy. I hope you didn't think you would get through this list without seeing at least one arrow in the knee joke. Because it's happening! It is a very overdone meme, but I actually like this one because the art is pretty nice.

If you do not know what this joke is referring to somehow, a random line of dialogue guards will sometimes say when you walk past them is "I used to be an adventurer like you once before I took an arrow to the knee" or something along those lines. Which is fine, but it came up way too much in gameplay to the point where at least fifty percent of the guards in Skyrim had an arrow in the knee related ailment. It's just amazing how many adventurer's ambitions have been cut short by a stray arrow in the knee, rather than, I dunno, being mauled by wolves.

Luckily, if the player gets hit by an arrow in their knee you aren't forced to give up adventuring and join the closest town guard. With the power of the legendary Dragonborn comes remarkably strong knees apparently. impenetrable to all projectiles. It probably says that in the lore somewhere.

15 Chicken Or Emperor?

via:memecenter.com

Again, another meme that really shows that the guards of Skyrim need to attend some kind of class based on priorities and common sense. Within one of the Dark Brotherhood quests, the player is tasked with eliminating the current emperor. A pretty big ask. There are a variety of stealthy methods to do this, but you can also just run up to him in full view of all the guards and whack him.

And for some reason, this most heinous of crimes doesn't incur a bounty.

Apparently defeating the most influential and powerful character of the game that is a leader of the realm is not a crime worthy of a bounty. However, if a player was to attack a lowly chicken...well now we have a problem. Much like in the Zelda series, attacking a chicken is not the best idea. You will be descended upon by a wave of angry guards and NPCs, and if you choose to resist arrest you're gonna probably want to run.

So we've learned so far today that the people of Skyrim prefer paper to staying alive, and they also prefer their chickens over the Emperor. They are certainly a unique group of people.

14 Nothing Makes Sense Anymore

via:slothygeek.com

While Skyrim is a beautiful realistic looking world, sometimes it doesn't exactly work in a way that makes much sense. Physics seem to not mean too much at times, such as when a giant smashes you into the ground so hard you fly into space, or when a piece of cutlery gets stuck inside a table and starts wildly vibrating and making a huge racket.

The meme above shows another example of these strange happenings. Throughout many of the containers of Skyrim, you will find still burning torches that are somehow not burning the rest of the contents of the box or the container itself. But finding one of those in a chest underwater is truly mind-bending. I really think the residents of Skyrim need to take a course on fire safety, telling them to put out their torches before they lock them in their wooden chests.

But perhaps these are just magical torches that can't burn anything around it. It's a bit far-fetched but I'll try and help you out here Bethesda and make it look like this sort of thing is completely intentional and part of the lore. I can't really find an explanation for the giants though; other than the Dragonborn being exceptionally bouncy.

13 Something We Never Asked For

via:memecenter.com

The modding community for Bethesda titles is incredible. They manage to continue to breath new life into games that have been out for many years, with new quests, dungeons, items, magic, and sometimes even entire expansions all of which reach a high professional standard. For Skyrim, this is no different. Multiple mods add entirely new sections of game world for the player to explore.

But while there are these fantastic, immersive mods that add a lot to the game, there is also a much stranger side of mods one can download if they feel brave enough. As we can see above, someone decided to retexture the normal spiders found throughout the base game with Spiderman's suit. And the result is terrifying, and I am glad he doesn't look like that in his own actual series. He is way too much spider, not nearly enough man for me to ever feel comfortable looking at.

What made someone come up with this idea and then actually implement it is unknown, but strange mods like this aren't rare. A quick glance through a mod site and you will quickly find yourself surrounded by all manner of weird modifications to the game. Want to run around as Sonic? There's a mod for that. Do you feel like all the trees in the game need to be replaced by creepy hands reaching towards the sky? Sure, that exists too. Install them at your own risk.

12 The Peaks Of Overconfidence

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The children of Skyrim are a unique bunch. They don't really seem to ever show much fear; one child summons the Dark Brotherhood to get revenge on a bad guardian as if it was nothing, for example. They will also sometimes challenge the player to a game of tag or hide and seek, despite the player most likely being an incredibly intimidating warrior covered in weaponry and emanating a strong stench of dragon blood.

But all those kids pale in comparison to Frodnar.

Frodnar is a child who lives in Riverwood with his parents and his dog Stump. He is a rambunctious child, who is constantly trying to pull pranks on the other residents of the village. He also seems to think incredibly highly of himself; he will sometimes actually try to intimidate the Dragonborn mentioning that he will go easy on them but not to get on their bad side.  Seeing as the Dragonborn can probably send Frodnar into the nearby river just by using his voice, I don't think Frodnar truly understands who he is talking to here.

I'm not sure what the children of Skyrim are being taught to end up so foolhardy and reckless. I think they might just need a little pointer from their parents about not trying to mess with or play with the legendary hero who could easily probably blow up their house by pressing the wrong button.

11 I Swear I've Heard You Before

Skyrim has an absolute ton of characters, all with their own motivations, backgrounds, and ideals. Nearly all of them have something to say to the player that is completely unique to them, whether that be a bit of flavor text about their lives or a completely new quest line.

So it isn't really surprising that voice actors get reused a lot in this game. There are a few main characters that have their own unique voice actor, but for the majority of the common folk within the game, you will quickly find that many of them have the exact same voice. It is understandable that Bethesda doesn't really have the funds to hire a unique voice actor for each NPC, but it still gets a little grating and repetitive after a while.

At least it's better than it was in Oblivion. There were even fewer voice actors for that game, and all the characters felt kinda samey because of it. Skyrim has made steps in hiring more voice actors and actresses and having more talent behind the characters so it feels a lot better. But there is always more work to be done! Perhaps with the next installment, we will see even more voice actors keep things fresh within the game.

10 Dragonborn: The Bringer Of Chaos

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Now don't lie. We've all done this at some point or another. It is much too tempting not to. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing an entire banquet be sprayed across the entire room while people watch on in silent disappointment that this is what their legendary hero is like.

Unrelenting Force being the first shout the player will obtain in the game, it's just too much fun to cause chaos with. I can vividly remember first gaining this shout and quickly using it on every object I came across that was affected by physics. I just feel bad for everyone around the Dragonborn; setting that banquet must have taken so much time for someone just to ruin it all and probably burst your eardrums while doing so.

Maybe this is why no-one shows the Dragonborn any respect and tries to get them imprisoned for the most minor of offenses. At least the dragons show some semblance of maturity as they destroy their homes. But they just don't understand. I'm sure they would act the same if given the same power to shout things across rooms. If the Dragonborn is expected to save the world, at least let them wind down by doing this.

9 Slowly...Carefully...

via:imgur.com

Just seeing this meme made me have flashbacks filled with frustration as I attempted to put some items into a display case without any wonkiness. It took an hour longer than it should have. Basically, once you have become a homeowner within Skyrim you can get these display cases to showcase items that look cool, or are something that you are proud of.

But sadly, rather than have a system in place that automatically places items into the display case in a set straight fashion, you have to do it by manually picking up items and very carefully placing them in the case. While hoping with all your heart that the physics system will work with you this time, rather than spin the item out of control. It is really one-hundred times more difficult than it should be.

I really hope Bethesda fixes this within the next installment of the Elder Scrolls series. All it needs is a small mechanic where you can automatically place items into display cases without having to try and use the finicky physics system to place it. Please think about your players that have to have everything in their house just right Bethesda, lest we get trapped slightly shifting things to try and make them straight for the rest of our lives.

8 Harsh Collectables

via:memecenter.com

Collectables can really help a game. It's yet another thing for the player to do and it encourages them to explore every nook and cranny of the game world keeping them playing for even longer. For that reason, they can be found in a lot of modern releases of games from shooters to puzzle games.

However, Skyrim's attempt at collectibles is ridiculously hard. 

The Unusual Gems, more formally known as the Stones of Barenziah, are central to a quest called "No Stone Unturned" where you have to find all twenty-four of these pesky gems. Problem is, they are pretty tiny and are spread across the entire map of the game. Some of them can be found in people's houses, others amongst loot in the deepest caverns. There are no clues or waypoints to their locations and if the player did really want to collect them all, a guide is absolutely necessary if you don't want to spend hundreds of hours combing the map.

I'm not sure how they didn't notice how hard this quest would be. Thankfully, denizens of the internet quickly managed to post guides to all their locations so if you really want to finish the quest, Google will be your lord and savior.

7 Bit Rude

via:imgflip.com

Guards in Skyrim can be a little rude sometimes. From accusations that you are just a timewaster to brazenly telling you to stop using legendary dragon shouts on the town's children, they usually seem to be in a bit of a mood. I mean, I guess I'd be a bit on edge too if a dragon could plop down at any moment and start breathing fire on me.

But luckily, they never start insulting your mom in the game like this meme depicts. You don't really seem to have a mom in the game; for all intents and purposes, you were born on the carriage leading towards your execution which isn't an amazing life. But these kinds of insults would still hurt. Maybe even make the Dragonborn cry a little bit. At least before they remember they are in fact a legendary hero and could easily shout over the insults, throwing back all the bullies.

I wonder if the Dark Brotherhood does actually have a system that depending on the size and weight of the person you may have to pay extra. Would be a bit of a sleazy way of them earning some extra gold, but hey, they are life after all.

6 You Can Really Tell It's A Fantasy Game

via:dorkly.com

There are sadly a few things within Skyrim that can break your immersion. A big world comes with its glitches of course, such as dodgy physics and some things that just genuinely don't make any sense. But if there is one thing that completely threw me out of the game, it's what the meme above states.

As a person who has gone to both college and university, this hits me very hard. I am heavily in debt, and it makes me angry that the Dragonborn can get away with free education just like that. Oh, saving the world from a dragon menace, are we? Look at you! If the Dragonborn isn't paying for their education and they are truly heroic like the legends state, then they should save my finances along with the world actually.

This is probably yet again another reason no NPC within the world of Skyrim shows the Dragonborn respect. I think as I've written this list I've begun to root for the NPCs over the Dragonborn in all honesty. Now I just need to trick them into picking up an apple of mine so I can have them arrested and can possibly get all their gold as a reward for my good citizenship.