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Oblivion
I'm so happy I could just tear out your intestines and strangle you with them!
Jyggalag! He is the Prince of Order. Or biscuits...no, no, Order! And not in a good way. Bleak. Colorless. Dead. Boring, boring, BORING! And not a fan of my work, I can tell you. Hates it, hates me. You've seen his knights. Not the warm and cuddly sort.
Jyggalag's forces are gathering in The Fringe... And I HATE IT when people gather forces in my Fringe!
I once dug a pit and filled it with clouds....or was it clowns.... it doesn't matter, it didn't slow him down. But it really began to smell! Must have been clowns. Clouds don't smell, they taste of butter. And tears.
... and OUT comes the intestines! And I skip rope with them!
I'm a little busy here! I'm trying to decide what to have for dinner. Oh, how I love to eat. One of my favorite things to do. Go talk to Haskill, he's got more brains than a brain pie! Ooh...brain pie... perfect! ...Care to donate?
I hate indecision! ... or maybe I don't. Well, make up your mind. Or I'll have your skin made into a hat. Maybe one of those arrowcatchers. I love those hats!
Ta! Come visit again! Or I'll pluck out your eyes, ha ha ha!
[About Jyggalag] Malacath is more popular at parties! And Malacath is NOT popular at parties!
Wonderful! Time for a celebration... Cheese for everyone! Wait, scratch that. Cheese for no one. That can be just as much of a celebration, if you don't like cheese, true? You've run a maze like a good little rat. But no cheese for you yet. Well, maybe a little.
And Xedilian? Seeing as you're standing here, I assume you've succeeded. Or you're terribly confused. Or really lacking in good judgment.
The Isles. THE ISLES! They're a wonderful place to be, except when they are horrible. Then they are HORRIBLY WONDERFUL! Good for a visit! Or for an eternity.
YOU dare interrupt ME? Only I interrupt me! Like just then.
You're making my teeth itch!
It'll move mountains! It'll mount movements!
Daedra are the embodiment of change, change and permanency. I'm no different. Except in the ways that I am.
Woops! I guess the cat's out of the bag on that one! Who puts cats in bags anyhow? Cats HATE bags.
You really shouldn't have done that. Enjoy the view. - If the player attacks him.
Now get out of here before I change my mind....or my mind changes me.
Wondering why I let him/her go, don't you? I can see it in your face... mostly in your eyes. I may take those from you when all of this is over.
Skyrim
More tea, Pelly my dear?
You are far too hard on yourself, my dear, sweet, homicidally insane Pelagius. What would the people do without you? Dance? Sing? Smile? Grow old?
You are the best Septim that's ever ruled. Well, except for that Martin fellow, but he turned into a dragon god, and that's hardly sporting...
You know, I was there for that whole sordid affair. Marvelous times! Butterflies, blood, a Fox and severed head... Oh, and the cheese! To die for.
H'afrumph! Well then, if you're going to be like that... Perhaps it's best I take my leave. A good day to you sir. I said good day!
Was it Molag? No, no... Little Tim, the toymaker's son? The ghost of King Lysandus? Or was it... Yes! Stanley, that talking grapefruit from Passwall.
Jolly good guess. But only half right. I'm a mad god. The Mad God, actually. It's a family title. Gets passed down from me to myself every few thousand years.
WRONG!! Actually, you do. Sort of.
I am a part of you, little mortal. I am a shadow of your subconscious, a blemish on your fragile little psyche. You know me. You just don't know it.
Now you. You can call me Ann Marie. But only if you're partial to being flayed alive and having an angry immortal skip rope with your entrails. If not... Then call me Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness. Charmed.
Now that's the real question, isn't it? Because honestly, how much time off could a demented Daedra really need?
Well, I suppose it's back to the Shivering Isles. The trouble Haskill can get into while I'm gone simply boggles the mind...
And as for you, my little mortal minion... Feel free to keep the Wabbajack. As a symbol of my... Oh, just take the damn thing.
You take care of yourself, now. And if you ever find yourself in New Sheoth, do look me up. We can share a strawberry torte. Ta ta!
Ah! Good, good! No more barking at all hours, and chewing up my slippers. You used the hemlock, then? Damned good idea! I... Um... We're not talking about Barbas, are we? Clavicus Vile's... dog? Oohh... awkward.
Ooh, ooh, what kind of message? A song? A summons? Wait, I know! A death threat written on the back of an Argonian concubine? Those are my favorite.
You know, you remind me of myself at a young age. All I cared about was riding narwhales (sic) and sleeping in honeycombs and drinking babies' tears. Word of advice, if you ever ride a narwhale, mind the pointy end.
Do you mind? I'm busy doing the fishstick. It's a very delicate state of mind!
Mortal, insufferable.
Now surely even you know about Pelagius' decree? On his deathbed - oh, and this was inspired - he forbade... death! That's right! Death! Outlawed!
Hmmmm... "Fixed" is such a subjective term. I think "treated" is far more appropriate, don't you? Like one does to a rash, or an arrow in the face.
Time to go I guess, let me check everything. Clothes? Check. Beard? Check! Luggage? Now where did I leave my luggage?
Online
Look Haskill! Forky's back! It's so nice to see him again! Oh. And good to see you too, mortal. I guess.
The game is a foot. Or a leg. Or all manner of severed limbs!
Ah, my little mortal. I'm a man of many personalities, but tell you what? They're all very fond of you.
Catch? Such an untrusting soul. If there were a catch, I'd say it's that two of my guests are murderous cannibals.
It's been so long since we had guests. You would have loved my old Uncle Leo, back in the day. Charming dinner conversation, when he wasn't bringing up old girlfriends. Literally, regurgitating them. Nasty habit.
Why do I need a reason for everything? Mortals, mortals, mortals! Always needing a reason to do things. For example: people think light chases away the shadows! I prefer to think that without a few lights, there'd be no shadows to enjoy.
I should make you fight Narwhals on the open ocean. I should make you run a gauntlet of angry Argonian concubines! But I won't. Book's yours.

Divine beings that did not take part in the creation of the world, but are often involved in the affairs of mortals. Most tend to be seen as evil, often drawing comparisons to demons, though this varies between cultures.
The most powerful and important of the Daedra are the Daedric Princes. They typically inhabit various planes of Oblivion, though they are known to journey to Mundus from time to time. Mortals who gain their favor become their champions, and are gifted with one of their artifacts, a unique and enchanted item. There are 17 known Daedric Princes following the events of Shivering Isles. 16 appear in Daggerfall; 7 appear in Morrowind, and all 17 appear again in Oblivion, but only 16 of them appear in Skyrim. Note that while they may appear as male or female, Daedric Princes are beyond any such qualification.
Tropes applicable to all Daedric Princes:
Big Bad Ensemble: Most of the Big Bads for the games have come from the ranks of the Daedric Princes. Mehrunes Dagon for Battlespire and Oblivion (and being The Man Behind the Man for Arena); Hircine for Bloodmoon; Jyggalag for Shivering Isles; Molag Bal for Online (and Bigger Bad for Dawnguard); and Hermaeus Mora as the Bigger Bad for Dragonborn.
Blue and Orange Morality: Mortals tend to see them as evil or good (mostly evil), but Daedric Princes often insist they are far beyond these petty limits. Even the "good" Daedra would point out that applying human morality to beings like the Daedra operates on certain flawed assumptions.
Characterization Marches On/Early Installment Weirdness: The personalities of many of the Princes are very different in Daggerfall than they would go on to be depicted in later games.
Complete Immortality: Princes can be battered, beaten, defeated and even fundamentally changed, but nothing in the setting has ever been able to actually kill one. This includes Princes that ascended to their position, like Mehrunes Dagon, Malacath, and the new Sheogorath.
Deliberate Values Dissonance: Further complicating the Blue and Orange Morality issue is that many of the princes are seen differently through different cultural lenses. Boethiah is considered a "good" daedra by the Dunmer, but their culture celebrates Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. Meanwhile, Malacath is considered a "bad" daedra by the Dunmer, but most of the Orsimer consider him their hero and divine ancestor.
Dimension Lord: Each rules over one or more realms in Oblivion.
Evil Counterpart: Though they're usually seen as this to the Divines, most of them benefit from having Mundus and mortals exist. In fact, there was no distinction between the Divines and Princes before Mundus.
Evil Is One Big Happy Family: Completely averted. Most of the Princes mortals would call evil can't stand each other. Molag Bal and Boethiah have a particularly heated rivalry. That said, most of them don't seem to actively hate each other; then again, they don't mention each other often, except for Sheogorath, and only when he's trolling the rest of them.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: All of them to some extent, except perhaps for Hermaeus Mora. Because of this, it is speculated that You Cannot Grasp the True Form.
Genius Loci: One interpretation of the Princes is that their home realm or realms are the Prince, with the forms you see in the games being the personification of that realm of Oblivion.
I Know Your True Name: All Daedra have both a neonymic and a protonymic. The neonymic is their true name that they can change. It holds a certain amount of power, but is hard to use against them because they can change it at any time. However, the protonymic is their true name that they cannot change. It is heavily implied that through use of the protonymic mortals can do horrible things to even the most powerful of Daedric Princes. The player character in Battlespire managed to banish Mehrunes Dagon by using them both.
Jerkass Gods: Most of them.
Kick the Dog/Pet the Dog: Due to their Blue and Orange Morality, above, they can do either, and probably don't see much difference between the two. For example, Sheogorath's quest in Oblivion has you convincing a village that the world is about to end, driving them to mass hysteria. But in Skyrim, you need to treat an insane emperor of his (many) psychological issues in order to convince Sheogorath to end his "vacation" and return to repair the Shivering Isles.
In Skyrim, Clavicus Vile's quest has you barge into his shrine and fight past scores of vampires. When you eventually talk to him, he mentions that the vampires were trying to rid themselves of their affliction and had made a bargain with him to do so. Clavicus gleefully points out that he considers having you slaughter them all count as upholding his side of the deal.
No Biological Sex: Being pure spirits, this applies to all of them, and several of them are known to appear as differing genders at certain times. Others will only present themselves as a single gender (Azura and Nocturnal as female, Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, and Sheogorath as male), and Hermaeus Mora forgoes even trying to resemble anything with a gender (although generally speaks with a male voice).
Order vs. Chaos: Are Padomaic aligned as opposed to Anuic aligned, though Jyggalag and Peryite may be exceptions since they represent Order.
Physical God
Religion of Evil: Daedric worship is often hit with this in-universe, though given that most of the Daedric Princes are Jerkass Gods, this is understandable. Boethiah, Mehrunes Dagon, and Molag Bal, being the most malevolent of the Princes, invoke this more than most, as their worship frequently involves a Human Sacrifice. Taken to a new extreme in Skyrim, where after the Oblivion Crisis, Daedric worship was all but outlawed outside of the Dunmer, and groups like the Vigil of Stendarr were formed to wipe out Daedric worshipers before they could cause another Oblivion Crisis like the Mythic Dawn.
She Is the King: Even the female-identifying Daedra are still referred to as "Princes", though historically the term "prince" could be applied to rulers, regardless of sexnote . Also, see No Biological Sex above.



Sheogorath

Sphere: Madness, Creativity
Artifacts: Wabbajack, Fork of Horripulation, Staff of Everscamp, Gambolpuddy, Spear of Bitter Mercy, Staff of Sheogorath
The Daedric Prince of madness, he is one of the more prominent of the Daedric Princes and appears as a seemingly harmless well-dressed male.
A God Am I: Until the player becomes Sheogorath in The Shivering Isles.
Affably Evil: His domains also include creativity and music, and he always has a smile on his face. He loves his worshipers and will always reward a mortal helper... but since he's the Prince of Madness, the blessings he offers may not be entirely, ah, traditional. Or healthy.
According to legend, he gifted humanity music one day when he was travelling the mortal plane and decided it was boring, and a woman commented on the beauty of a songbird's song. Sheogorath agreed and thought it was a pity that humans couldn't make such lovely noises with their voices, so he gave them music by way of crafting them drums, flutes and lutes... from the bones, tendons and other body parts of that same woman, killing her on the spot to get the materials.
Animal Eyes: Often depicted as a human with cat's eyes. Either the inspiration for, or adopted in honor of, the Khajiit's nickname for him, "The Skooma Cat".
Prophet Eyes: In Skyrim.
Artificial Daedric Prince: The original Sheogorath was created by the rest of the Daedric Princes in order to stop Jyggalag from growing any more powerful. The second Sheogorath, however, ascended to the position.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: He, as Jyggalag, is ultimately killed for good and leaves joyfully to wander the streams of Oblivion, which he sees as this. This also coincides with the player character, who ascends to godhood.
Ax-Crazy: Tends to alternate between this and Cloud Cuckoolander.
Badass Beard: In fact, beards more badass than his are outlawed in the Shivering Isles on pain of death.
Baleful Polymorph: Cats can be bats can be rats can be hats can be gnats can be thats can be thises. And doors can be boars can be snores can be floors can be roars can be spores can be yours can be mine.
Batman Gambit: Despite his status as a Mad God and his insistence that it's impossible to tell exactly what any and all beings will do, he's pretty good at them. The series 16 Accords of Madness volumes VI, IX and XII involve the humiliation of Hircine, Vaermina, and Malacath, respectively. In each of the stories, he basically has the other Princes defeat themselves. It's even brought up in volume IX, where Vaermina accuses him of doing nothing. And since there are 17 Princes, it can be assumed that the remaining 13 volumes chronicle the humiliation of the rest of the Princes.
Beware the Silly Ones: This almost goes without saying.
In Shivering Isles, attacking him will cause him to teleport the Champion of Cyrodiil high above the Shivering Isles, letting gravity do the rest. Some fans have jokingly theorized that you actually remained stationary and Sheogorath hurled the planet at you.
Cloud Cuckoolander: When he's in a good mood.
Cool, but Inefficient: His artifacts tend to fall under this category.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Just because he's insane doesn't mean he's stupid.
Deity of Human Origin: At the end of Shivering Isles, the Champion of Cyrodiil takes on the mantle of Sheogorath.
Fisher King: The state of his realm, The Shivering Isles, is directly tied to both his own power, and that of his nemesis Jyggalag, who wants to rule the Isles himself. Whenever Jyggalag grows in power and Sheogorath's power wanes, the Isles become a monochrome wasteland dotted with crystal spires.
Great Gazoo: He's a madman with incredible power.
"Groundhog Day" Loop: He's only able to become his true self during the Greymarch, once in a thousand years during which he destroys the land his mad self made and then has to witness the mad half rebuilding it.
Hailfire Peaks: His realm, The Shivering Isles, is split down the middle to represent the dual nature of madness. The northern half of the Isles, Mania, represents to positive aspects of madness, and is full of exotic plant life and brightly coloured monsters. The southern half, Dementia, embodies the negative aspects of madness, and consists mostly of dreary swampland.
I'm a Humanitarian: "Mmm... brain pie... care to donate?"
It Amused Me: Rains of flaming dogs, the heinous crime of beards, making the player flail around trying to kill a harmless airborne jellyfish with a dinner fork - none of these are really all that helpful, but they sure are funny! To him, at least.
Journey to the Center of the Mind: His idea of vacation.
Kick the Dog: Most notably in the 16 Accords of Madness. Poor Malacath...
Large Ham: "CHEEEESE! For everyone!"
Legacy Character/Previous Player-Character Cameo: The Sheogorath depicted in Skyrim is implied to be the former Champion of Cyrodiil.
Mad God: It's even one of his titles.
The Mad Hatter: He's insane and loves every moment of it.
Madness Mantra: Wabbajack. Wabbajack. Wabbajack. Wabbajack.
Magic Staff: The Wabbajack, which transforms things into other things.
Manipulative b*****d: Pulls shenanigans revolving around this for the lolz in Online, much to the detriment of Archmage Shalidor.
Mood-Swinger: "Since you're standing here, I assume you've succeeded. Or you're terribly confused. OR REALLY LACKING IN GOOD JUDGMENT!"
The Muse: Creativity and the arts fall under his domain.
Noodle Implements: The ritual to summon him requires a soul gem, a head of lettuce, and a spool of yarn.
Obfuscating Insanity:
He's insane, that's a given, but since he consistently seems to be ten steps ahead of everyone, it's likely that Sheogorath plays up his madness to hide the fact he's far more on the ball than he lets on.
Since the second Sheogorath is implied to be the Champion of Cyrodiil, it begs the question of how much of their behaviour in Skyrim is due to inheriting the mantle of Sheogorath, or if it's merely an affectation for when they deal with mortals. [invoked]
OOC Is Serious Business: Sheogorath stops all joking, overreacting and non-sequiturs just before his transformation into Jyggalag near the end of Shivering Isles. He's not yet under the orderly influence of Jyggalag, though, meaning that his despair over the fate of the Isles and his apparent failure to save them is genuine.
Pet the Dog: His quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is this for Pelagius the Mad.
Pimp Duds: Including a cane.
Red Baron: The Prince of Madness.
The Reveal: Is revealed in The Shivering Isles to actually be the Daedric Prince of Order, Jyggalag.
Screw Destiny: Prominent in the Shivering Isles expansion. Sheogorath attempts to avert the Greymarch. At first, it seems his attempt fails, as he turns into Jyggalag again, but then, the PC stops the Greymarch, thus breaking the cycle of fate. The fact that Jyggalag and his old chamberlain keep talking about how everything is preordained makes screwing destiny all the more satisfying. Also, while Sheogorath is a multifaceted being, a large part of what he stands for is free will and the spark of creativity. It would be utterly against the character of the lord of madness to suppose there was a preordained, predictable order.
Seinfeldian Conversation: "Cat's out of the bag on that one, isn't it? Who puts cats in bags, anyway? Cats hate bags!"
Shout-Out: Given his eldritch nature, Sheogorath's name is probably a reference to Shub-Niggurath of the Cthulhu Mythos. In fact, his name may be a reference to a 'Sheol-Niggurath' briefly mentioned in a story by one of Lovecraft's inspirations Lord Dunsany. Sheol-Niggurath = Sheogurath = Sheogorath.
In the Cthulhu Mythos the Outer God Nyarlathotep is said to often walk the Earth in the form of a tall, slim, joyous man, and was described by Lovecraft himself as "horrible beyond anything you can imagine — but wonderful." In the Elder Scrolls mythology one of Sheogorath's most favored forms is "Gentleman With a Cane", and he is both reviled as the source of madness and revered as the inspiration for (and original creator of) art, literature, and music.
Talkative Loon: "Wonderful! Time for a celebration! Cheese for everyone! Wait, scratch that! Cheese for no one! That could be just as much of a celebration if you don't like cheese, true?"
Took a Level in Kindness: It's vaguely suggested that in Skyrim, the second Sheogorath (the Champion of Cyrodil) may be much more benevolent then his predecessor.
Trickster Archetype: One of his favorite games is making mortals or even other daedra look like idiots. The lesson is usually "don't underestimate/bargain with/upset/stand near/shirk worship of Sheogorath", but it can be kinder ("there's always room for creativity") or more cruel ("there's madness within us all"), depending on his whims...
Trickster God: Well, yeah.
Troll: Sometimes, it seems he just likes to point and laugh. One story of his has him challenging fellow prince Hircine to combat-by-champion. Hircine fielded a huge, saw-toothed, dagger-clawed, vicious werebeast. Sheogorath revealed his champion to be... a songbird. The tiny bird then proceeded to goad the werebeast into tearing itself apart by perching on it, singing and then flitting away, over and over. The bird won. Sheogorath's sole reason for any of this was, apparently, that he found Hircine's fury hilarious.
Was Once a Man: In Skyrim, it's heavily implied that the being now known as Sheogorath, who looks and acts exactly like Sheogorath always has, is actually the second Sheogorath, and was once the Champion of Cyrodiil.
With This Herring: A frequent feature of his quests, probably for his own amusement. One famous implement is the Fork of Horripilation. "Horripilation" is the anatomical word for... goosebumps.