Each of the protagonists found in the 5 mainline games of The Elder Scrolls series is incredibly powerful. Each one can be brought to the absolute pinnacle of power through the player's actions. Whether that be making them the land's most powerful mage or training them to become the greatest swordsman in the land.

The in-game strength of these characters is only limited by the amount of time the player is willing to put into their journey. It is for this reason that many fans within The Elder Scrolls community look to the feats, lore, and cannon abilities of these characters in order to properly gauge their power levels.

Updated on February 29, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra: The Elder Scrolls is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Bethesda may not be the most popular studio right now, but no one can deny that they have the potential to make something great if they focus on their strengths and modernize their engine to craft a one-of-a-kind western RPG in the form of The Elder Scrolls 6 that will take things in a bold and new direction. The protagonist in each and every one of these games has been pretty memorable in their own right, and fans can't wait to see how powerful the protagonist in the next entry will be. The bar is set pretty high, and this main character will have some huge shoes to fill.

8 The Eternal Champion

Stopped Jagal Tharn's Plans And Saved Emperor Uriel Septim VII From The Dimension He Was Banished In

The Eternal Champion is quite a formidable opponent. Arena's story takes place in the 389th year of the Third Era and is the first Elder Scrolls game in the series. This is important to keep in mind as some of the lore found in both this game and its sequel The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall need to be taken with a grain of salt.

The only thing holding The Eternal Champion back is that he/she doesn't have the same level of feats and lore that the other protagonists do. The Eternal Champion's only real feat is defeating one of the most powerful mages in Tamriel at the time, Jagar Tharn.

Tharn is definitely an exceptional mage, imbuing his life force into a magical artifact known as the Staff of Chaos, imprisoning The Emperor and his top general in a pocket dimension, and masquerading as The Emperor in his absence. These feats are pretty impressive, but they don't really compare crazy stuff some of the other protagonists have done in the series.

7 Cyrus

Fought Vivec Himself To A Stalemate After The Events Of The Game

The Elder Scrolls received its fair share of spin-off games early on in the series' run, with the vast majority of them being forgotten relics of the past. The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard is one such action-oriented spinoff that puts players in the shoes of a Redguard named Cyrus.

He embarks on a quest to save his sister, Iszara, which he does so successfully. While his feats of strength in the series would've ideally made him the weakest protagonist in the series, what saves him is the fact that, during his adventures after the game, he got into a battle with the mighty Vivec himself. Fighting someone to stalemate who has an entire city named after him is no mean feat.

6 Josian Kaid/Vatasha Trenelle, The Apprentice

Defeats The Mighty Mehrunes Dagon Himself

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire is considered by many to be the worst Elder Scrolls spin-off game, barring The Elder Scrolls: Blades. So, it's easy to see why most people don't know that the protagonist has defeated the revered Mehrunes Dagon himself.

In fact, the Apprentice had to travel through multiple realms of Oblivion, killing off many Daedra in the process before even getting a chance at Mehrunes Dagon himself. This act would've taken out most lesser people before they even reached the end goal, making this apprentice pretty impressive in their own right.

5 The Agent

The Savior Of Iliac Bay Who Reactivated The Mantella

The protagonist of Daggerfall doesn't have an official title like many of the other Elder Scrolls protagonists. This doesn't stop Daggerfall's protagonist from being one of the most powerful individuals Tamriel has ever seen. The Savior really benefits from the expanded mechanics created for Daggerfall like improved combat and magic systems. This means The Savior has the potential to be a great wizard who knows teleportation magic or a formidable assassin who can climb up walls like Spider-Man.

Much like The Eternal Champion, The Savior doesn't have a lot of feats that make it stand out from the other protagonists. Daggerfall is unique amongst The Elder Scrolls games because it actually has multiple endings the player can choose from. Among these endings is one that sees The Savior being granted godhood, so the potential of this ending alone puts The Savior on another level to The Eternal Champion. Even with that potential ending in mind, The Savior still has a hard time competing with the remaining Elder Scrolls protagonists.

4 The Last Dragonborn

Uses Powerful Shouts To Access A Bevy Of Effects

The Last Dragonborn's placement among the other protagonists within the community is one that is very heavily debated, but the most common consensus is that he/she is definitely stronger than The Eternal Champion and The Savior of the Iliac Bay. The Last Dragonborn has access to a lot of items and abilities that these two protagonists simply can't compete with. The Last Dragonborn also has feats that are just unlike anything the first two protagonists have ever done.

The Last Dragonborn has access to dragon shouts, summonable dragons, and dragon bone weapons and armor. Shouts allow him/her to breathe fire, slow down time, summon elemental storms, and do other ridiculously overpowered things like rip a person's soul from their body.

They have also slain Alduin, the eater of worlds. Alduin was a dragon so powerful that if left unchecked, it would consume the entire world as we know it. Beating something like that is a bit more impressive than stopping an evil mage or controlling a Numidium. To be completely fair to the first two protagonists, The Last Dragonborn didn't accomplish this feat on his/her own, he/she had the warriors of Sovngarde there to back them up.

3 The Nerevarine

A Reincarnation Of Indoril Nerevar Who Defeated The Mighty Dagoth Ur

The protagonist of the Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind is known as the Nerevarine, a reincarnation of Indoril Nerevar tasked with defeating Dagoth Ur and a few other Gods found in Morrowind. The Nerevarine is often considered by many fans in the community as the most powerful protagonist in the mainline series. This is because they slay multiple gods and have access to magic the protagonists from The Elder Scrolls 4 and 5 do not.

The Nerevarine can use teleportation magic and levitation magic. With these two abilities, they can avoid pretty much any attack the other protagonists might throw at him/her. The Nerevarine also keeps their versatility of combat options as well because they can still use magic, bows, throwing weapons, or melee weapons while levitating.

They can also craft their own spells. This includes the damage of the spell, the duration, and the size, as well as combining multiple known spell effects into a single casted spell. So in theory, The Nerevarine could cast levitation, invisibility, shield, and fortify attributes all at the same time. The fact that The Nerevarine has also slain multiple gods during the events of Morrowind makes him/her an excellent fighter as well.

2 The Hero Of Kvatch

Supposedly Became The Mad God, Sheogorath, After Reaching The Height Of Their Powers

Among the strongest protagonists in the mainline Elder Scrolls series is The Hero of Kvatch. But the reason for this is a bit strange. Based on the actions done by the player character during the main game's story, The Hero of Kvatch should be placed somewhere above the first two protagonists. Sure, The Hero of Kvatch can't climb, levitate, or teleport, but he/she has pretty impressive feats of their own.

The Hero of Kvatch can become The Champion of the Arena, Head of the Mages Guild, The Grey Fox, and many other things. The most notable of which is that they travel to the realm of Oblivion multiple times in order to close numerous Oblivion gates. The Hero of Kvatch also assists Marten with stopping the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, earning them the title of Seventh Champion of Cyrodiil. Moreover, during the events of Oblivion's Shivering Isles DLC, The Hero of Kvatch earns the favor of the God Sheogorath who says to the player character, "You'll be my champion. You'll grow powerful. You'll grow to be me. Prince of Madness, a new Sheogorath."

Based on this line as well as a few lines from The Last Dragonborn's discussion with Sheogorath in the Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, it's pretty widely accepted amongst fans that sometime after the events of Oblivion, The Hero of Kvatch mantles Sheogorath and becomes him. As of now, none of the other protagonists come close to matching the power of the Dedric Prince of Madness.

1 The Vestige

Took Down Multiple Daedric Princes, Travelled Through Time, And Is Immortal

It's only a given that a protagonist in an MMORPG would be the strongest entity around, and it's easy to see why The Vestige is no exception to this golden rule. The many expansion packs and plotlines present in The Elder Scrolls Online mean that the protagonist has been through his fair share of adventures that have involved battles with powerful warriors, daunting mages, tough-as-nails dragons, and outright deities.

The fact that The Vestige has come out unscathed from all these encounters and is also immortal makes them the strongest protagonists in the series by a country mile. The Elder Scrolls Online started out on a rough note but has redeemed itself to become one of the better MMORPGs fans can get their hands on right now.