Analysis Of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim By Bethesda Studios

What do birds mean to you? Do you view them as friends, or foes? In 2011, Bethesda Studios released The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The mega-popular single-player game takes place in a fantasy world filled with magic, castles, and powerful creatures. One of these powerful creatures is the Hagraven. Debatably the most vicious breed of monsters within Skyrim, Hagravens are extremely adept in the realm of destructive magic. Besides their mighty magical ability, the most defining characteristic of Hagravens is their bird-like qualities. In popular culture, birds symbolize both good and evil, however in the making of Skyrim, Bethesda Studios chose to focus on the malicious, unpleasant attributes of birds in order to make the Hagravens more

Some birds’ feathers evoke feelings of admiration and peace. The colorful feathers of tropical birds, for example, draw people to zoos and conservatories just to admire them. Furthermore, the Bible’s white-feathered dove represents life and survival. While making Skyrim, however, Bethesda Studios chose to give Hagravens black feathers, like those of a raven. Ravens are not generally considered beautiful, peaceful creatures. In fact, these birds commonly identify with death, both literally and symbolically. From a literal standpoint, ravens scavenge for their food. They pick at the dead bodies of other animals, which directly associates them with demise. From a symbolic standpoint, countless cases of ravens being connected with darkness exist in literature. For example, in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth mentions that “the raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements” before her husband murders King Duncan. In Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” a raven provokes a lonely man’s descent into insanity. The choice to use raven feathers on Hagravens, as opposed to white or colorful feathers, clearly illustrates the creators’ effort towards designing a bird-like monster that emanates

When these villains attack, they violently scream and shriek at the player like a vulture. Vultures, like black feathers and talons, are inherently related to death. Similar to ravens, vultures get their food from the rotting bodies of previously killed animals, which is why they commonly identify with darkness in popular culture. To illustrate, in Disney’s The Lion King, vultures attempt to eat the protagonist, Simba, when he appears to be dead. However, a bird’s voice is not always dreadful like a vulture’s – songbirds, for instance, sing beautiful, harmonious melodies. In movies, songbirds symbolize moods such as happiness and playfulness. An illustration of this befalls in both Disney’s Snow White and Cinderella, where songbirds closely accompany the princesses and sing cheerful songs. By choosing to add the cruel shriek of a vulture to the Hagravens as opposed to a soft, cheerful voice, Bethesda Studios deliberately made these villains symbols of