Why Is The Skyrim Intro So Endlessly Memed? (2024)

Hey, you. You’re finally awake. Speak these words to any gamer over the age of about 12 and you’ll be met, at the very least, by a knowing smirk. The opening scene of Skyrim is probably the most iconic in all of gaming, but why?

I strongly believe that Skyrim’s opening is one of the best in any video game. Others disagree. It has peril and jeopardy, it instantly puts you into the centre of the story that will unfold over the next 100-or-so hours, and it introduces you to the beautiful setting in a tight 60 minutes. From the execution, to the dragon attack, to the escape through the depths of a mountain and emerging into the expansive wider world, it’s perfect. Many developers could look to Skyrim for inspiration on how to open their games.

Nothing is over-tutorialised, but everything is explained. By the time you arrive at Whiterun, you’re immersed in the world, interested in the story, and ready to spend dozens of hours exploring tombs and climbing mountains (read: jumping up them at an angle rather than taking the signposted path).

Despite this perfect opening, the first scene has ascended to something greater. It has become a meme, so constantly replayed and depicted that it’s taken on new meaning. People who haven’t played Skyrim have probably seen Ralof’s face plastered across social media, and recognise him for who he truly is: a meme.

He’s not on the same level as Pikachu, where even your nan would be able to name him, but he’s bigger than Skyrim. He’s the kind of viral moment that Bethesda tried so desperately to manufacture in Starfield to force it to become a ‘forever game’. But Skyrim became a forever game thanks to the community of players, and Ralof was immortalised for the exact same reason.

While the opening hour of Skyrim is pretty tight, the first scene is long. There’s the darkness, the blinking, the long conversation as the cart trundles down the mountain path and towards the executioner’s axe. Ralof dumps some exposition on you that is pretty meaningless until you gather context later in the game. The entire period before the dragon attack is scene-setting, and Bethesda takes its sweet time to get to the point.

This would be forgotten in any other game. It might even be considered a point against it. “Oh it’s great once you get past the opening,” people might say. “Doomscroll for a few minutes while Ralof monologues,” might be the advice. But instead, people have embraced the unskippable opening cutscene.

The thing about Skyrim is, people love to play it. Then they replay it. Then they play it again, promising not to be a stealth archer this time around. After failing that commitment, they restart again, trying really hard to pick any other class. That’s four times they’ve suffered through this excruciating opening scene in a matter of months. Now imagine you want to play the entire game as a mudcrab or pacifist. Yeah, you’ve probably heard enough of Ralof’s voice by this point.

Some communities would reject this, they would roll their eyes at the opening and complain on Reddit. But not Skyrimmers. Endlessly positive, they made the most out of a bad situation.

I have no idea where the first Skyrim opening meme appeared, but I’d wager it was someone in the online Skyrim community. As the game spread beyond existing Elder Scrolls fans to become a global phenomenon, the memes followed. They exploded as the game did, and became a piece of the online zeitgeist in ways that the developers could only have dreamed of.

There’s one more factor to take into consideration: the opening line is really, really funny. It’s absurd. Why would a fellow prisoner, essentially on death row, start making conversation with you? Why would a stranger explain to you what you just did and why you’ve been arrested? You’d know that. It’s a storytelling device, sure, but when you divorce it from its context, it’s absurdly hilarious. “Hey, you. You’re finally awake,” is a distillation of the whole cutscene, it’s a sentence that can be recycled for myriad scenarios, it’s perfect for applying blocky white text above and below.

Most important of all, though, is Skyrim fans’ ability to take the mick out of themselves. They’re happy to be the butt of the joke, because they know that their favourite game can be a bit janky and silly. Among all that, though, are characters full of heart and a world ripe for exploration. If you can just make it past the opening scene.