Staff of SheogorathThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has been out for nearly a decade now, but the sheer amount of lore it contains (and the entire Elder Scrolls universe contains) makes for plenty to talk about all these years later. Skyrim's Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath, is one being with an incredibly colorful biography to discover.
By the time Skyrim takes place, Sheogorath has gone on a "vacation" of sorts, but the Prince of Madness is known for his extreme unpredictability--and how dangerous that unpredictability makes him. His dialogues in-game are often amusing, even ridiculous, and Skyrim-era Sheogorath also has a secret or two in his past that is only ever hinted at in the game.
Who Is Sheogorath?
Long ago, ages beyond reckoning, Jyggalag was the Daedric Prince of Order, and his power was growing so immense and wide-spread across the realms that the other Daedric Princes began to fear him. Their solution was to join forces and curse him into becoming the things that Jyggalag hated above all others: he became the embodiment of chaos and madness; in other words, he became Sheogorath.
Sheogorath's realm in Oblivion is called the Shivering Isles, a strange place divided cleanly in two: there's Mania, the colorful and fantastical side of the isles, where art enthusiasts and insane revelers dwell, and then there's Dementia, a horrific place where the darker sides of Sheogorath resides. Sheogorath himself can lay claim to a number of different titles: the Fourth Corner of the House of Troubles, the Lord of the Never-There, the Mad Lord, the Mad Star, and the Mad God.
He has a tendency to show up on Nirn (the main world in The Elder Scrolls) disguised as a well-dressed, eccentric old human man carrying a cane. The people of Nirn also have a superstition involving Sheogorath: they say that it's important to avoid thunderstorms, as they belong to Sheogorath. The Prince's followers are most prevalent in Morrowind and Elsweyr, and surprisingly, he has many of them.
Artifacts of Sheogorath
Sheogorath--like many Daedric Princes--has numerous powerful artifacts of his scattered throughout the world of men and mer. Funnily enough, the protagonists of various Elder Scrolls entries tend to be the ones to find them.
The Wabbajack
Sheogorath created this strange Daedric artifact; it looks like a simple staff, engraved with multiple angry faces gaping at the very top. It's an unpredictable thing, much like its Princely maker, with a wide-ranging set of powers: the Wabbajack can heal, deal damage, turn an enemy to stone, or instantly kill someone. However, its greatest (and most unpredictable) power is the ability to transform a target into some other totally random creature. That leaves a lot of possibilities since a great, roaring dragon could be turned into a docile rabbit with the Wabbajack in hand. Or, more worryingly, the opposite could happen too.
The Wabbajack is found during the events of Daggerfall, Oblivion, Skyrim, and Online after doing a series of tasks for Sheogorath.
The Fork of Horripilation
The extremely cursed Fork of Horripilation is affectionately nicknamed "Forky" by Sheogorath and smells slightly of roast beef. However, the Fork of Horripilation is so dangerous because it looks like a perfectly regular iron fork, despite the fact that it carries a powerful ability that energizes and causes a reaction in any and all magicka that's around it. Sheogorath finds it particularly funny to force mortals into using it as a weapon. A Statue of Sheogorathin in Ihinipalit, in St. Delyn's Canton's Waterworks gives this fork away during the events of Morrowind.
Folium Discognitum
Sheogorath created this tome of knowledge, and while it is filled with many insights, they're all compiled from the ramblings of various madmen. Thus, the book is nearly incomprehensible and the writing actually moves to avoid the gaze of whoever tries to read the book. Supposedly, the power that can be gained from reading the book successfully is the equivalent of absorbing six skyshards. The Folium Discognitum is a quest item found in The Elder Scrolls Online.
Staff of Sheogorath
The Staff of Sheogorath is a symbol of the god himself, and contains the power of the Shivering Isles within it. This Daedric artifact is needed to assume the mantle of the Mad God and sit on Sheogorath's Throne of Madness. It looks like a plain walking stick with an eyeball stuck to the top, although during each Greymarch, the staff's power leaves it and it becomes a mere twig; this signifies Sheogorath's transformation into Jyggalag. The enchanted staff is a quest item in the Oblivion DLC, Shivering Isles.
New Game, New Sheogorath
The Staff of Sheogorath actually serves as the perfect lead-in for this next section, because one sort-of secret is that the Sheogorath in Skyrim may actually be the player character from The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. At the end of Oblivion's Shivering Isles DLC, the Champion of Cyrodiil takes the old Sheogorath's place as the new Prince of Madness. It's never really been confirmed that this is the case, but there are some hints in Skyrim that strongly suggest it.
At the end of Shivering Isles, the god remarks that his title was "passed down from me to me." It could be possible that the then-Sheogorath had also not been the original, but rather an inheritor of the mantle. Then, during the quest in Skyrim where the Dragonborn encounters Sheogorath talking to Pelagius the Mad, the Prince says, "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."
During Oblivion, Martin does ascend into draconic godhood at the end of the game, the "fox" refers to the Gray Fox in the Thieves' Guild quests, and "severed head" alludes to the Dark Brotherhood. The Champion of Cyrodiil would indeed have been present for all of that, so this statement could be the new Sheogorath's hint that he's the protagonist of Oblivion.
Regardless, the possibility in itself makes Sheogorath a fascinating character, especially since it's never been established that any of the other Daedric Princes operate in the same way. Whatever Sheogorath is, he's sure to be an enduring enigma in the Elder Scrolls games to come.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now.