Who was/is your best character?

[The Dread Lord]

Which one of you TES characters was/is the best you have ever had?
My best character was my Morrowind mage. His name was Voldemort and he became the Arch-mage of the Mage's guild and Arch-magister of House Telvanni at the same time. I also completed Bloodmoon and Tribunal with him.

[vhiran]

my champion of Cyrodiil. I had a lot of time on my hands so I did every quest in the game in a single playthrough.

Archmage of the Mage's guild, leader of the Fighter's guild, reformed KOTN, leader of the thieves guild who doesn't kill, yet listener for the dark brotherhood who killed plenty of people.

So when I finally took over for Sheogorath, and I sat down on his throne, I realized that my character was probably [&@%!] crazy at this point and was perfect to be the new prince of madness.

I made one final save as my character sat on his throne, turned off Oblivion and never looked back.

It was... complete.

[DikaSmausha]

I too had a Champion of Cyrodiil with everything done.

[Avron the S'wit]

I think my best character was my Oblivion character, a Dunmer warrior mage named Javieth Alor. He wasn't the best in terms of being a completionist (none of my characters do everything - I find it sort of strange to have someone who would be involved in every little thing ), but he was definitely my most playable and I had the most fun with him. I had chosen to do effective leveling, so I found gameplay to be really adventurous, and for some reason I just really got into, and thus enjoyed, his character. He was in the Fighters Guild and had quite a few other accomplishments tucked under his belt, on top of rising to the glory of being the CoC...although even just riding around on horseback was a great deal of fun.

It was a great deal of fun and if my save file had never corrupted, I would still be playing him today!

[Mauin]

I don't think there's really a best among my characters, but there is a favorite. Her name is (this should come as no surprise) Vulom Staadnau.
Harbinger of the Companions, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, Guild Master of the Thieves Guild, a Nightingale, Lord of the Volkihar Clan and Destroyer of the Dawnguard, a Legate in the Imperial Legion, and more.

She has close to 900 years of (mostly unwritten) history. This is one character I simply cannot leave behind.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Hard to say. I still harbour tender feelings towards my Nord Nerevarine back in Morrowind, Finn Wolfshorn, but taking 'best' to refer to character complexity and roleplaying fun, I'll have to divide the crown between these three from Skyrim (in chronological order):

Marilyn, Bosmer vampire:

Hidden:

Listener, Guild Master/Nightingale, Lady Volkihar and lately Arch-Mage of Winterhold; my second Skyrim character ever and the one with whom I first explored the darker side of Skyrim. Originally a cheerful, mischievous magpie who learned to dream darker dreams through her career in the Brotherhood; deeply wounded by Mercer's and Astrid's betrayals, she turned into a cynical nihilist and ended up selling her mortality for the power of the Volkihar so she would never get hurt again.

Comes-Up-Last, Argonian bandit/vampire hunter:

Hidden:

Former highwayman semi-reformed, member of the Companions, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood (but hasn't completed any of the three), joined the Dawnguard to protect his family and led them to victory against the Volkihar. An unscrupulous thief and killer, a brutally efficient fighter, and a loving (if not the most dutiful) husband to his dear Shahvee.

Sylvaine Emrys, Breton/Forsworn witch:

Hidden:

A fierce freedom fighter, compassionate towards the poor and lowly, ruthless to the point of cruelty towards those she percieves as oppressors and enemies of her people, devoted servant to whatever Aedra or Daedra will further her intentions, with an uncanny curiosity for all dark arts and a liking for bawdy jokes and herbal tea. Also a lunar werewolf.

[Dark Spark]

Casandra Serein, a Daughter of the Niben in every way imaginable. Born in a brothel near Bravil, Cassie's grandmother was an Imperial noble married to a Breton baron in Evermore. Her daughter, Casandra's mother, later escaped the oppressive machinations of House Serein and returned in hiding to Cyrodiil, making her living within a house of earthly pleasures.

Casandra's own father was a Nord sellsword of strangely noble bearing and educated demeanor. He was also marked for death by assassins. The time between mother and father was brief, but it obviously carried far-reaching consequences. Casandra never met her father, and her mother died while she was a child. She was raised in the brothel by the other ladies, sheltered from the burdens of the business but learning everything through furtive observation between door cracks.

When coming near of age, the madame of the house would have given Casandra a choice as to her future. Young noblemen from Castle Bravil denied her that. The Count's son took a fancy and he solicited. The ladies of the house refused him. Later that night, in a drunken fervor he and his friends razed the brothel to the ground. Casandra was the only survivor.

Some few weeks later the Count's son was murdered within the castle, stabbed and slashed with such fury that it seemed hardly possible the creature behind the act was in a sound state of mind, but nevertheless the culprit escaped with deft skill and nary a trace. Shortly thereafter a silent figure, hooded in black, walked into the Inn of Ill Omen. He spied a starving, half-mad blonde girl curled up in a corner of the tavern, trying her best to stay hidden. She refused to meet his gaze, but it mattered not a whit. He would be the Speaker tonight...

...What became of her after that? Move your eyes one inch down. She became that.

[Hrolf Alfblod]

Dark Spark: That was awesome! I would love to read more about Casandra!

[dzio]

^This. It's a great backstory.

My best character is always my current character - the one I'm focusing all my imagination and time on.

[Dark Spark]

Well, I guess Casandra's biggest gimmick is that she is Dark Brotherhood through and through. She is down with Sithis. The trick is that her "day job" is that of a city guard. It's a rather fun cover for her— being called in to investigate a murder she did the previous night.

Hidden:

This is her as a sergeant of rangers in County Cheydinhal back in the Oblivion days. She was an actual guard under the employ of the county.

Hidden:

But in the 4th Era she simply prized the uniform off a Solitude guard and is pretending to be one. Color fits the Dark Brotherhood perfectly.

Oh, the two hundred years between the two images? She used to be a vampire. She's not one anymore. Before it went all horribly wrong with the Purification so long ago, Vicente had her for a midnight snack. Two centuries later she was convicted of some rather naughty things and got kicked out of the Dracula Fan Club. She was condemned to life: returned to mortality to wither with age or be feasted upon by her former kine. Cassie is somewhat vexed with vampires now and would happily kill any she met.

[BetaB17]

I have had plenty of test characters<_< but I eventually tie down to a few. Of my main caste, I actually have some pretty heavy lore that ties them together along with notes and stories. Rather than a single hero of countless people, acting as the champion of each guild, I prefer a band of heroes, tied to fate and gather over time. Normally the one who fulfills the leadership and main questline is ironically not my main guy I tend to play as.. not in Skyrim though!

My all time favorite hands down is Shovan. He's an argonian who is not bounded by a one class. Using sneaky kills with a bow, a single sword when pressured and Restoration to ever keep him alive. Always light on his feet, and only to speak when his silver tongue is at need. As his personality, a kind hearten one but shy. I enjoy the simple humble nature of things, a hero who seeks wisdom, not power. I even carried over an actual reasoning why he is a dragonborn, a mere series of events that followed after Oblivion

By far he was my funnest as well. Normally I create tanks, people who just burst into a dungeon and kill everything. Sneak and thieving was always a thing, but rarely for combat. I always resorted to light armor as well, but simply because I tend to become a master trader. I don't know why.. I always find a way to exploit the most cash.. Still I never would of expected how much fun is was to sneak through enemy lines, using a bow and stealth kills. I manage to find more stuff too, more keen on the search. But once I'm above ground, I pull out my sword and healing. I've rarely ever have died, and for good reason. Why use a shield to minimize the damage when I can just heal myself to full at all times.

Now then I could simply write out his history and all.. but this is not the thread for such.. also I don't feel like retyping it all.. bc I'm lazy

[Dark Spark]

Okay, I just figured some things out.

I already have an answer as to why Casandra re-entered the Dark Brotherhood as a lowly assassin rather taking control of the guild outright.

I've been thinking about her father. The wandering Nord warrior whom the Dark Brotherhood were contracted to eliminate.

He was a descendant of Olaf One-Eye: Casandra's father was the third son of the Jarl of Whiterun sitting in Dragonsreach back in 3{412. Unbeknownst to either of them, when Cassie came to Balgruuf to report the horrors of Helgen it was actually a family reunion. Small wonder Mephala decided to tweak the Dragonborn's nose by going after Cassie's kin.

No, it's doesn't really matter. Just something to know.

[Dohva.]

^This. It's a great backstory.

My best character is always my current character - the one I'm focusing all my imagination and time on.

This is how I roll, too. But I have only made 3 characters, all of which are my 'favorite'.

But perhaps my best has been Sylmirie the Altmer summoner. She became a master of the thu'um, a channel for summoning multiple daedra at once to battle for her, and an expert in destruction magic and illusion, with fire and ice spells that could take several enemies down in one cast. She was also a tricky wizard, going invisible during battle and reappearing somewhere else for better positioning. She could manipulate the minds of her enemies to fear her, and call upon her dragon brethren to have her back.

She never took down Miraak because she felt he was beneath her. Archmage of Winterhold was not enough title and status for her either.

Gorgeous, sarcastic, power hungry, conceited, fearless, and ruthless. Sylmirie's ultimate desire has been to take down the Thalmor who were responsible for running her out of Summerset Isles. She's by far been my favorite.

[Snail's Pace]

Delia Dalomax, my Oblivion character. I thought of her as something like a cross between Anastasia Romanov and Joan of Arc. And she was politically ambitious, which opened up a lot of possibilities.

In role-play:
Publicly: Champion of Cyrodiil, beloved friend of the people, Leader of the Fighters Guild, and member of the Mage's Guild.
Secretly: Grey Fox of the Thieves Guild (honorary); infiltrated the Dark Brotherhood.

I didn't play Shivering Isles, but from what I know, the ultimate fate of the CoC was fitting for this character.

Outside role-play:
Nearly everything else in the vanilla game. Originally, I didn't intend for her to be a do-everything character, but I had to adapt to real-life time constraints preventing me from creating new characters. The only quests that went undone were the last few DB quests.

Other:

Both of my current Skyrim characters connect back to Delia in some way. One is named after her and is descended from an Oblivion NPC that was friends with Delia. The other is from a Hammerfell village that appears in Delia's backstory.

Her first name was borrowed from the Johnny Cash song "Delia's Gone". Her last name was borrowed from a Breton NPC in Morrowind (no relation).

I intend to post a short series of stories relating to this character on the Roleplayer's Thread, hopefully the first in the next few days. A synopsis of her backstory is below, which contains spoilers.

Spoiler:

An exiled aristocrat from one of the forgotten principalities of High Rock, her family was assassinated when she was a teenager. Saved by the very assassin assigned to kill her and spirited out of the country into Hammerfell, she took on her chosen name of "Delia Dalomax" and went into hiding. Although the Miracle of Peace eliminated the danger she was in, there was nothing for her to return to in High Rock, and she eventually made her way to Cyrodiil.

Having known only a life of either priviledge or hardship, she was unable or unwilling to live life in the middle. Thus, she became a beggar and petty thief on the streets of the Imperial City. She was eventually arrested and briefly imprisoned as a common criminal. Headstrong, or perhaps delusional, she never gave up the idea that it was her right to rule a kingdom.

Released by the Emperor - and witnessing his assassination - at the onset of the Oblivion crisis, she recognized the opportunity that she had been waiting for...

Edit: for clarity.

[skullclutter]

I've only got one character in Oblivion and two in Skyrim but I find all three are growing on me the more I play them. They're like characters in a book I'm writing in that they all took over the plot to some extent.

In Oblivion, Aeldra started off dabbling in the mages' guild before completing the Thieves' guild, the Dark Brotherhood and Shivering Isles. The original plan was to have her repent, do Knights of the Nine to redeem herself and then continue on with the rest of the main plot. She decided she would definitely NOT repent, since she likes her new job. Instead, she's going to become the Champion of Cyrodiil, etc, since it'd be no fun without mortals to harass.

In Skyrim, Dalvus is my "good guy". He dabbled around the thieves' guild and the Companions before finding his true calling as a mage and as the Dragonborn. He's been trying to help out everyone as much as he can, and made a lot of friends. The plan was to have him do all the 'good' quests, but he really doesn't want to go back to Companions. He has also developed a sweet tooth - sweets are the only things he'll eat.

Kadlin is my "bad guy", and the one I've done the most roleplaying with. The backstory is that she grew up as the child of two Nord immigrants to Cyrodiil, and eventually got fed up with the taunts she got growing up and decided to go back to Skyrim, even though she'd never been there. She's bitter and anti-social and is searching for a home. This has led her to the Thieves' guild, the Stormcloaks, and the Volkihar, but it's the Dark Brotherhood where she feels most accepted, especially since she was just made Listener. The plan was to have her complete the 'bad' side of these questlines, but she's been having second thoughts after talking with Lord Harkon and will probably end up going back to the Dawnguard.

[Jeelius-Tei]

My favorite character is an Argonian warrior who lives in the Priory of the Nine for now, and is named Long-Face. He makes his money off bandits and potions, and he will soon move to Cheydinhal.

My second favorite character is in Skyrim: He is also an Argonian, and his name is Watches-The-Water. He lives in Lakeview Manor, and he is also a warrior. He does pretty much the same things to get money as Long-Face.