Dragons were a huge part of Skyrim. Their return fueled the game's main plot, while the creatures themselves provided evolving boss battles throughout The Elder Scrolls 5. Dragons were so central to Skyrim, however, that their return in The Elder Scrolls 6 seems unlikely.
Hammerfell and High Rock are the top contenders for The Elder Scrolls 6's setting. Although little has been revealed about the game since its announcement at E3 2018, a small detail found in Starfield's E3 2021 trailer resembled an outline of the two provinces, leading many Bethesda fans to conclude that, like Daggerfall, the next game would take place across both regions. Hammerfell and High Rock have some great lore and diverse landscapes, but The Elder Scrolls 6 will need to find some monsters to rivals Skyrim's dragons if its world is going to feel as dangerous. Here are just some of the area's monsters that could replace dragons as the next game's open-world boss fights.
Spikeworms
Hammerfell is home to the Alik'r Desert, and ever since the release of Dune no fantasy desert has been complete without giant, terrifying worms burrowing under the sands. Spikeworms have only ever been mentioned in one Elder Scrolls title, the often-forgotten The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey released by Vir2L Studios back in 2004. Spikeworms only get a very brief mention in the game but are confirmed to live in the Alik'r Desert. Aside from what can be inferred about their appearance from their name, however, very little is known about the creatures.
The Elder Scrolls 6 should look for an opportunity to have large burrowing creatures in the Alik'r Desert, whether it ends up returning to the Spikeworms or not. With so little lore about them, the Spikeworms could be the perfect candidate. The Alik'r Desert could have enormous creatures shifting beneath its surface, making dying from the heat or starvation seem like a welcome respite. They could even have some relation to the Rootworms, the eight-foot-long worms which inhabit the trees of Black Marsh. Whether the Spikeworms literally make a return or not, it's likely Bethesda will find a burrowing sand creature hard to resist, similar to the terrifying Moldugas found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Sea Serpents
Between Hammerfell and High Rock lies the Iliac Bay, Tamriel's rough equivalent of the Mediterranean Sea. Hopefully, players get the opportunity to sail the Iliac Bay properly, opening up opportunities to roleplay as a corsair or privateer. The pirate life comes with big risks, however. The Elder Scrolls Online confirmed the existence of giant Sea Serpents native to Pyandonea. This may be south of Tamriel, but originally The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard was going to contain a Sea Serpent that was cut, making the existence of Sea Serpents in the waters around Hammerfell and High Rock very likely.
There are even maps depicting Sea Serpents around Stros M'Kai, a pirate-infested island under Hammerfell's domain. The Maomer used Sea Seprents to fight the First Aldmeri Dominion. By the Fourth Era, the Third Aldmeri Dominion has risen to prominence, and the Redguards have only just pushed the High Elves out of Southern Hammerfell. Just like the Dragonborn trapping Odahviing, players could find themselves using the Sea Serpents to their advantage if the Aldmeri Dominion tries its luck again now that Hammerfell has been released as an Imperial province.
Dwemer Constructs
The Elder Scrolls games so far have seen players go up against plenty of Dwemer constructs from spiders to centurions, but the Hammerfell-High Rock region offers the opportunity for some unique new automatons to fill the boss-fight role left behind by Skyrim's dragons. Both High Rock and Hammerfell are full of Dwemer ruins, and before the arrival of the Redguards from the lost continent of Yokuda the Dwemer were the dominant civilization in Hammerfell. The Dwemer also disappeared during their war with the Chimer, right when they may have been working on their most dangerous weapons.
Players exploring the ruins underneath The Elder Scrolls 6's setting could find enormous Dwemer constructs built for the war that were suddenly left behind when the Dwarves disappeared. The Elder Scrolls Online already explores some Dwemer designs not seen in Skyrim - going up against some of the Dwarves' most dangerous creations could take spelunking in The Elder Scrolls 6 to the next level.
Minotaurs
Minotaurs may be treated like simple monsters by the time of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, but The Elder Scrolls Online reveals them to be far more complex. It's even implied that they may have, like their mythological counterparts, descended from Men. In the Elder Scrolls lore, the Minotaurs were driven to near-extinction by Imperial troops, with many still surviving in the Colovian Highlands. This region borders Hammerfell, and it seems likely some Minotaurs have survived in isolated regions of both Hammerfell and High Rock.
Not only could wandering into a Minotaur lead to a great boss fight, but they might have an interesting place in the story of The Elder Scrolls 6. Like the Orsimer, the Minotaurs have been driven into the mountains by human civilizations and dismissed as monsters. Wandering Minotaurs could be both great boss fights and one of the more tragic encounters in the next game. They may even find common ground with the Orcs of Nova Orsinium.
Ogres
Tamriel's Ogres could be a great replacement for one of Skyrim's other iconic and dangerous encounters, the Giants. Redguard confirms that they can be found in Hammerfell, while The Elder Scrolls Online sees them in High Rock as well. While previous Elder Scrolls games have never quite managed to make Ogres as tough or terrifying as they could be, The Elder Scrolls 6 has the chance to change that by making them live up to their mythological counterparts.
With Ogres and Minotaurs able to use their cunning while Spikeworms, Dwemer constructs, and Sea Serpents rely on their size, The Elder Scrolls 6 could have a far greater range of dynamic open-world boss fights than its predecessor. Whether or not the next game will take advantage of that opportunity remains to be seen, by many fans will be curious to see how The Elder Scrolls 6 hopes to live up to Skyrim's dragons.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development.