Players will make a plethora of choices during their journey through Skyrim Special Edition. Some decisions are trivial, while others can have a lasting impact throughout the game. Most players will try to make decisions that have a positive impact. But some players may be tempted to take the evil route when making their choices.From putting a bucket on the head of a merchant and robbing them to slaughtering the population of a town, players can commit a variety of evil acts. However, some choices in Skyrim stand out over others, turning the Dragonborn into a truly evil individual.
5 Choosing To Leave Orthorn Behind
During the College of Winterhold main questline, players will be tasked with retrieving three books that will potentially shed some light on the mysterious object known as The Eye of Magnus. They will learn that the books were stolen by a former member of the college known as Orthorn, and are being kept at Fellglow Keep.
Upon arrival, players will find a group of mages and necromancers hiding out in the Keep, where they are performing experiments on a variety of creatures, including Vampires. Players will find Orthorn locked up in one of the cages and can rescue him, either sending him on his way or making him a temporary follower. In the case of the latter, Orthorn joins players for the final confrontation with the leader of the mages, known as The Caller.
The Caller offers to give the Dragonborn the books if they leave Orthorn behind as the new test subject for her experiments. If players take her up on the offer, they avoid a confrontation with The Caller, but leave Orthorn behind. He'll undoubtedly be subjected to barbaric experiments at her hands should the player make this choice.
4 Becoming A Cannibal
When visiting the Understone Keep in Markarth, players will find a priest of Arkay named Brother Verulus outside the Hall of the Dead. Upon talking to him, he tells players to investigate the mausoleum where corpses have been found desecrated.
Inside, players will find a character named Eola who will give players the Daedric quest "The Taste of Death." She's a member of a cannibal cult, whose members have been eating the corpses in the Hall of the Dead. She asks players to rendevous at their hideout at Reachcliff Cave and clear out the dungeon of Draugr.
Once this task is done, she asks the Dragonborn to lure Brother Verulus to the dungeon to kill him so that the cult may feast on his body in the name of the Daedric Prince Namira. Should players take her up on the offer, the priest of Arkay dies and the cannibals remain free to desecrate the dead of Markarth and engage in their depraved activities. Moreover, the player becomes a cannibal themselves.
3 Killing Barbas
When players arrive at Falkreath, a guard may approach them asking if they have seen a dog nearby as the blacksmith Lod has been looking for one. Upon speaking to Lod, he tells the player he'd like a dog to keep him company, and he gives players some fresh meat to lure the hound in. The dog can be found on the road leading out of the town to the west and reveals that he is actually the daedra Barbas, the companion of the Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile.
Barbas gives players the quest to escort him back to his master at Haemar's Shame. He also warns players not to accept any deal with his master as it can backfire immensely for mortals. Upon arrival, players will find the cave filled with Vampires, which they will have to defeat. Once done, players will then talk to the Deadric Prince, himself who will ask them to retrieve a Daedric artifact of his called the Rueful Axe from Rimerock Burrow.
Upon retrieval, players have two choices; they can either hand over the axe and ask Clavicus Vile to take back Barbas or use the axe to kill Barbas. Should players take Vile on his offer, they will keep the axe, but Barbas will die in the process.
2 Completing Muiri's Optional Objective
The Dark Brotherhood generally is a faction best suited for players with an evil disposition. In the quest "Mourning Never Comes," players pick up a contract by Muiri in Markarth to kill a Breton man named Alain Dufont. Muiri explains that she used to live in Windhelm and was friends with the Shatter-Shield family. There, soon after the tragic murder of Friga Shatter-Shield, she met and fell for Alain, who used her to get close to the clan Shatter-Shield in order to rob the grieving family. Alain, along with his accomplices, broke into the Shatter-Shield home and took goods worth thousands of Septims.
Muiri was heartbroken, but the Shatter-Shields made matters worse for her by blaming the girl for their misfortune. Muiri's main objective is for the player to kill Alain, but she also gives players an optional objective to kill Nilsine Shatter-Shield in order to exact her revenge on the family.
If the player kills Nilsine, and then enters the Shatter-Shield house a few days later, they will find the corpse of the clan matriarch, Tova, who committed suicide. In her note, she reveals the loss of two daughters was too much to bear for her and she chose to end her life in grief. If the Dragonborn takes these actions, clan Shatter-Shield would be down three members in less than a month.
1 Killing Characters To Adopt Their Children
With the addition of the Hearthfires DLC, players have the chance to adopt children who require a loving home. Players can visit the Honorhall Orphanage in Riften to see which children can be adopted. Moreover, a few other children can be found in various cities and holds who require a family. For example, Lucia in Whiterun or Sofia in Windhelm can be adopted by talking to them.
More options can be made available if characters with children are killed. If the parents of a child character die, the child will be moved to the Honorhall Orphanage after a few days in-game. Players who are of an evil disposition have the choice of killing these characters for the sole purpose of then adopting their children later on. They must make sure to do so stealthily and not be caught by anyone, especially the child they wish to adopt. Players will have the option to adopt the child in a few days, but at the cost of first making that child an orphan and killing their birth parents.