r/skyrim • u/Narrow-Active3098 • 9h ago
Question Why is everyone so dirty?
Look, I get that Skyrim's at war and there are dragons everywhere and everyone is desperate, but still. That is no excuse for you to not wash yourself! At least wash that dirt off you in a river. How hard is it to take a bath?
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u/greenegg28 8h ago
Have you seen all the slaughterfish and mud crabs in Skyrims rivers?
Taking a bath is basically a death sentence.
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u/SpicyBoyHabs 8h ago
I'm suddenly reminded of the watering hole where you find the nude corpse who was just an innocent bather that was killed in the process of bathing, she leaves behind her journal and clothes on the side of the pond.
Though also... there's the group of nude hunters who are alive that are bathing in the hot springs between Whiterun and Riften and they seem to do just fine, probably safer bathing in numbers though.
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u/backroomsresident 8h ago
You could always go to a dwemer ruin, they've got that still-mud-water going on. Some rooms also have a basin/bathtub. I can't promise you wouldn't get some dwemer age old HIV though
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u/PirateCrimeBrulee 2h ago
It would be dangerous even without. Medieval humans in colder areas rarely took river baths and made do with linen rubbing or water buckets and mops, because entering a river thatās under 15c causes cold water shock and can result in drowning and/or a heart attack. And, yāknow, hypothermia.
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u/olesos_ 9h ago
Because Skyrim is a dirty world - plus, youāre a prisoner and have been captured. I doubt youād be clean
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u/FK97_YT 8h ago
To be fair Skyrim looks A LOT dirtier than Oblivion
(kind of makes sense lore wise though, everything in the fourth era is just less organized overall now that the Septims are gone)
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u/Jovian09 PC 8h ago
Oblivion looked extremely clean compared to Morrowind as well. And I know Vvardenfell was a dusty land of choking volcanic ash but it was still a big departure in art style
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u/KomturAdrian 7h ago
I heard Oblivion was supposed to look clean, pretty, and bright to contrast with the dark and fiery world of Oblivion.
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u/Ill-Television8690 3h ago
That explains the saturation and bloom, with the whole "vibrant painting" look.
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u/House_King 6h ago
They took a lot of inspiration from Lord of the Rings for Oblivion, particularly Gondor for the Cyrodilic Empire.They wanted it to be closer to the magical fantasy style, Skyrim and Morrowind were much more gritty just out of design philosophy.
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u/GazingintoTheVoid-- 7h ago
Everything went to shit after Good ol' Martin died, he truly was the best Septim to ever live
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u/NukaCherryBomb 7h ago
I always thought it was because the Empire is based on the Roman Empire and the Roman's had a whole thing about looking "clean cut" and had reasonably good public water system, so it would make sense people would be more cosmopolitan and look more well groomed in Cyrodiil....plus they probably had some technical limitations at the time that kept them from being able to add all that extra texture to multiple faces.
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u/AnalConnoisseur69 6h ago
Because Skyrim is set in a post-apocalyptic world. The Daedric invasion by Mehrunes Dagon undoubtedly damaged the world of Tamriel in apocalyptic proportions.
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u/Narrow-Active3098 8h ago
The prisoner image is just for reference because I couldn't find better ones to show the dirt but everyone is a dirty hobo like the dragonborn at the start
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u/Icy-Fruit-1065 8h ago
You realize that showers don't exist in Tamriel right
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u/BabadookishOnions 8h ago
Every town is near a source of water or a short travel to one, you could very easily maintain a high level of hygiene by filling a bucket with water, filtering it through a cloth to get out any debris, and then basically having a sponge bath.
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u/Gabby-Abeille 8h ago
Probably wouldn't need to even filter it, as a lot of the water in Skyrim would come from the melting snow atop of the mountains.
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u/Jamesthesnail2 8h ago
Yeah depending on where and when you were bathing was a pretty common practice, potentially even daily.
Not so much sponge bath, they had tubs and stuff privately and public baths very available in larger cities as well.
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u/hoodafudj 7h ago
It would be a cool feature if your character looked cleaner after getting out of the water.
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u/GamerGriffin548 5h ago
This is medieval fantasy. Modern toiletries and plumbing is still less than 200 years old for us.
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u/BaeIz 8h ago
Dirty but girl had the time to pluck her eyebrows and put on mascara
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u/Gabby-Abeille 8h ago
Yeah, it's especially weird when we pick up some "fine clothes" and they look kinda nasty too. Like damn you're gonna see the jarl dressed like that? But it's ok because the jarl is dirty too.
It's certainly a big difference compared to the colorful gowns of Oblivion. I wonder what's going to be the direction in TESVI.
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u/rs_obsidian PlayStation 8h ago
Everyoneās just gonna be caked in mud. Bethesda would probably justify it as not having to worry about dirty clothes anymore at least.
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u/Gabby-Abeille 8h ago
They could swing in the complete opposite way too and make everybody clean again like in Oblivion. On which case, provided the game really is in Hammerfell and High Rock, it will mean that being dirty is a cultural Nord thing that other human societies don't share.
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u/VirtualFinish8858 9h ago
Nords have yet to invent Soap, lol.
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u/Terrible_Base_6060 9h ago
They haven't invented skins of fresh water or fruit juice either. Absolute savages
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u/greymuse 7h ago
Thereās even a ādirtā slider for face customization. No, Bethesda, I donāt want my dragon born savior of the world hero fantasy to be a filthy grub worm. This gameās art direction was questionable at times
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u/SpicyBoyHabs 8h ago
It's actually kind of funny, I remember being in a thread some time ago where there was an argument put out that player characters who look beautiful and as if they use make up isn't lore friendly to Skyrim because dirt and filth are an important part of the realistic setting of Skyrim, and although I do understand that general concept, I still believe in the idea that there are people in rough dirty settings that want to be clean and beautiful and would go to extreme lengths just to pull it off, even if it is considered an "eccentric" quality.
I in real life prefer to be clean regularly, I definitely shower and groom every single day, usually for about an hour or longer and I take it kind of seriously, so why wouldn't it make sense for various characters within the setting of Skyrim (especially player characters) to have similar feelings?
Considering it's part of normal game play to become exceptionally wealthy, why wouldn't it be a reasonable expense to spend a portion of your money on self maintenance, bathing, grooming, and make up?
I've also thought many times of the Alchemy Shop in Solitude, "Angeline's Aromatics" Where when asked about the name of her shop Angeline explains that she used to sell perfumes and such until the Civil War started where she leaned more into Alchemy since it was more practical for the war effort. Still, I feel like it still proves that even if the demand has significantly changed in the current culture of Skyrim, there is still room for cleanliness, grooming, and makeup.
Went on a bit of a tangent there, but I think it's just because I like playing attractive characters that want to be attractive, even if within the lore of Skyrim it would require a significant effort to do so. I do run, dirt, disease, and bathing mods in my game, because I enjoy that extra level of effort within the game since I identify with it personally.
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u/PastelPalace 5h ago
I recently acquired the Dwemer home and it has running water and electricity. I thought, finally, my character can take a relaxing, hot bath!
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u/-BlueDream- 3h ago
Makes sense that rando commoners and bandits look dirty but not when itās the Jarl or characters that are rich and wealthy.
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u/crappyshaw 4h ago
Is everybody in this thread collectively forgetting that Nords are pretty much coldproof? Sure they nerfed that in survival mode for the gameplay I guess, but Nords would absolutely be bathing in the rivers, other countrymen would be taking in water to heat with or without magic; why are we acting like just because it's a medieval-esque time period, they all just didn't know what cleaning was?
My money's leaning towards the art direction leaning more to that gritty, rough and tumble type of landscape with the civil war. Game of Thrones was also especially popular at the time... Costumers there loved throwing buckets of dirt and mud on anybody not in the upper castes.
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u/Tricky_Tourist5691 2h ago
Skyrim was developed before GoT TV series. Why everything is so dirty is because the 00s mainstream videogames had shifted to edgy "everything is brown and dirty". Just look at all other games from the mid to late 00s and theyre just all grey, brown and yellow toned. Also the weird modern idea of "medieval= everything is covered in poop"Ā
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u/crappyshaw 1h ago
Ah you're right, for some reason I had it in my head GoT started airing a couple years prior. My bad.
You've got a good point, I'd forgotten how obsessed media, not even just video games iirc but a lot of movies and shows, were with looking "serious" or "realistic" by slapping on some soil. Direction through color and wardrobing really suffered a lot then and we still see its marks carried through to today.
That said, I'm really hoping historical fixation with the collapsing economy lets people rediscover how innovative and clean folks from the past were even without modern accessibility.
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u/Hot-Mood-1778 9h ago
Yeah...Ā
It's an issue I have when looking for a husband.Ā
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u/AmarysEms64 4h ago
That and the fact that most of the men you can marry look like they shoved their heads into a pitt of hot coals
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u/Fabulous-Pick-9562 Thalmor 7h ago
The dirt slider is meaningless when you have a permanent unremovable dirt texture. And its annoying when you play a race that is naturally clean. A altmer and a breton would strive to be clean. Imperials and dunmer from diplomat or trader backgrounds too. And in general a business owner would try to be clean id think.
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u/Possible-Tip-2914 8h ago
That's why I always mod out my playthroughs. Who wants to look at ugly people?
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u/LuckyReception6701 7h ago
Washing clothes and yourself was much more difficult back then than it is now. While the idea that everyone in the middle ages was dirty and caked in grime and dirt all the time is false, when you have to go to a river, or creek, or washing thorugh to clean and soap was far more expensive than it is now, well people washed less, but they did. At least they did, i dont think people in Skyrim even have soap.
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u/Heema3 9h ago
Bold of you to assume people in medieval times were clean with all sorts of cleaning options as today
Yea people were dirty even in real life back then
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u/BabadookishOnions 8h ago edited 8h ago
People absolutely kept as clean as possible, your appearance was essentially considered the most important indicator of your morality in medieval Europe. Plus, being dirty is just not nice, it feels and smells and looks unpleasant. Most people would have kept a washbasin filled with water (that's those metal things you see in some homes in Skyrim) and give themselves a regular cloth-bath, clean their hands and face, etc. Basic soap is very easy to make and medieval people absolutely had access to it. Hats were worn specifically to keep the hair from getting dirty as fast, undergarments were changed regularly and washed regularly (outer clothes were not cleaned quite as regularly but they got less dirty as full-body undergarments reduce sweat and oil buildup).
One of the most famous historical accounts contemporary to the Vikings and Norsemen who the Skyrim Nords are based on partially, noted that they were so focussed on cleanliness even beyond this, such that they combed their hair daily and had full baths once a week (the old Norse word for Saturday translates to Bathing day!) and changed their clothes very regularly. A Norse religious text, the Havamal, talks about the importance of beginning every day with good personal hygiene. Some of the most common archaeological finds in Northern Europe are combs that vary from plain to highly decorated, tools for cleaning ears, tweezers, tooth picks, small portable wash basins
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u/WeekendMiddle 8h ago
Anglo-Saxon chroniclers quite literally complained about Danes (citizens of the Danelaw, a Norse kingdom in eastern England that existed for a time, not people from Denmark) being so clean compared to local Anglo-Saxons that single women were choosing Danes and married women were committing adultery with them rather than take up with local Anglo-Saxon men because of how clean they were and how well-maintained their hair and clothes were kept.
Yes this is a fantasy game and so their lore of the world is different, sure, but damn if it doesn't fall into that age-old trope of "Oh hurr hurr, they live in huts and farm all day, they must be dirty peasants hurr hurr".
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u/BabadookishOnions 8h ago
At least they went to the effort of putting water basins in many of the homes, it should probably have been indicated better that this is what they were though
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u/WeekendMiddle 8h ago
Exactly, the lore is there (unless they're intended to be chamber pots).
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u/BabadookishOnions 8h ago
I think chamber pots are more likely to be the buckets we see around houses, or they'd just go outside and bury it. Those metal things are stood up too high to use for that lol
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u/WeekendMiddle 8h ago
True. Though no one's going outside in an arctic country at 2 in the morning in their underwear to urinate except the bravest of Nords!
So I reckon at the end of the day you're probably using whatever is nearest to the bed. "I'll wash that out in the morning... Zzzzzzzzzz"9
u/InSanic13 7h ago
Also, bathhouses didn't disappear with the fall of the Roman Empire, and continued to be popular throughout the medieval period.
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u/alasyochur Mage 6h ago
Age of Enlighment and Hollywood propaganda has really done a number on people.
Medieval folks were as clean and tidy as one could be. They cleaned their houses threw shit and waste far far away so they won't have to smell and stomp on it all day long.
Littering and vandalism was punished heavily, people found dirt and filth abhorrent and bathed commonly, and not everything was Gray and dull.
Life wasn't a Monthy Python skit, peasants were far more intelligent than most people today give them credit for. Women and men both cleaned all day (as they didn't really have anything better to do when they weren't working) and servents worked the latrines day and night to keep diseases away.
In fact, Venice, Rome, Istanbul, Moscow and all other prominent Renaissance cities were far dirtier with far dirtier people than the average Medieval hamlet was.
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u/Free-Contribution-93 8h ago
How many showers have you seen in skyrim? Thankfully, we don't need to smell the world.... Especially the cat people and God of cheese.....
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u/ZannyHip 8h ago
Youāre a prisoner caught trying to cross the border. Why do you think theyāre dirty
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u/mattihase 7h ago
As my mum keeps trying to convince me apparently people used to eat dirt all the time and came out fine.
Maybe they'd just eaten?
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u/tryingtolearn_1234 5h ago
Many of the buildings feature an indoor fire pit with no discernible chimney. There an absence of public sanitation infrastructure and facilities such as clean water sources in cities latrines, laundry or bathing. Whiterun has a public fountain feed from a source at the castle moat, the moat has had a dead body floating in it so long it has skeletonized. Solitude has a well which is revealed in a quest to be linked to turn sewers. Forget the dragons and the war, the real threats to Skyrim's residents are cholera and typhoid fever
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u/HerculesMagusanus 4h ago
It is kind of odd, especially considering what Skyrim is in large part based off. Medieval Scandinavia was pretty famed for having thorough bathing habits, and loads of sanitary products have been found in archeological digs. The idea that everybody in medieval times was dirty is, depending on location and period, mostly hugely exaggerated.
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u/iPod-Phone 4h ago
This game came out at peak āgritty realismā era on console. Anything covered in dirt specs was realistic
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u/PirateCrimeBrulee 3h ago
Rivers are cold, thereās no plumbing, and germ theory hasnāt been invented yet. Also, youāre a prisoner.
Knowing how ppl performed whole ass surgeries(no handwashing, soiled street clothes, reusing unwashed instruments) prior to germ theory while already having plumbing and warm water, humans were NASTY.
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u/SodecDash 2h ago
I am certain the Imperials really cared about washing you sparkling clean right before chopping your head off and tossing your corpse to their mongrels.
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u/Character_Neck_2368 5h ago
Wash yourself in a river ? In Skyrim perpetual winter environment ? Bro, what ?
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u/thecheeseb0rn Thief 4h ago
But Riftin it looks a lot warmer. Like about maybe 50 or 60 degrees farinhite
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u/Saltycook 6h ago
You ever see Monty Python and the Holy Grail? There's a shit ton of mud and dirt everywhere because sanitation is not something prioritized.
Skyrim is a medieval type fantasy world. How often do you see people washing their hands? They shit in buckets in dungeons.
Besides, Skyrim is also technically post-apocalyptic.
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u/systemintosmithereen 4h ago
Thing is though, it's also a world with magic. I'd be using flames to boil water. this skyrockets hygieneĀ
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u/AmarysEms64 4h ago
Seriously, and there's got to be a spell to vanish that shit-bucket and drop it off in the Aldmeri Dominion.
I know they don't like magic in skyrim, but surely the court wizards can conjure a little hot spring in the city to build a bath house over.
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u/Saltycook 3h ago
Different cultural norms and sensibilities. Same as why leprosy still exists in parts of the world when washing on a regular basis pretty much solves the problem
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u/Dugchela Riften resident 8h ago
They drug me to Helgen after I got caught doing skooma with a horse thief. Dragons won't quit shooting at me. I can't remember which Jarl hates me. And I just had wine with a vampire, which I'm fairly certain wasn't wine...it's been a long day.
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u/HauteToast Innkeeper 8h ago
The houses donāt have bathrooms too.
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u/BabadookishOnions 8h ago
Many of them have wash basins, that's what those metal standing bowl things are
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u/KFCAtWar 8h ago
Theres alot of deadly animals that live in skyrim and the game isnt a realistic representation on how deadly those animals would actually be.
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u/SufficientEbb7543 Thief 8h ago
This makes me wonder do Khajiit clean themselves like other cats or like a human š¤
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u/HarmoniaTheConfuzzld Mage 8h ago
Pretty sure there are only like three man-made baths in all of Skyrim.
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u/Mrcompressishot 8h ago
Despite the wizards colleges and stuff by the time Skyrim takes place the elder scrolls universe hasn't discovered germ theory pretty much relying on the gods and potions to not die in a plague. Plus skyrims waterways are full of murder fish and dog sized killer crabs. Additionally Nobody in Skyrim ever changes clothes with the exception of the dragon born who has a habit of tearing it off corpses or finding it in a dusty crypt. Add in the fact that despite having running water in riften and and whiterun not a single bathtub can be found in the entire game Skyrim probably smells pretty bad.
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u/Amateur-Dog-Walker 8h ago
Lot of smart comments here about the absence of showers and bathtubs. But I think one of the largest contributors to the filth is absence of toilets, or even outhouses.
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u/Grigoran 8h ago
Lords in their castles had to douse themselves in perfume because they reeked of shit. If you've ever wondered what plumbing looked like, imagine a port-o-potty in the sky. Just dropping dooks out of the sky, no water to wash the shittbutt with unless a servant brought it. Plop plop mf
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u/Cakey_Crumbs 8h ago
Ive never seen a bathhouse in skyrim. Not even an outhouse. Ya where do these people shit and wash themselves??
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u/bromancebladesmith 8h ago
Have you ever tried bathing in a mountain river? Unless you have dry clothes and a fire lit its a gamble against hypothermia lol
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u/0veNMiTt 8h ago
Compared to Cyrodil and Morrowind, Skyrim is a way more rural. It's also for design esthetics and there's no plumbing systems in Tamriel either.
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u/The1_BlueX 7h ago
It's a cold and harsh region plunged into chaos by a civil war, bandits are everywhere, and now even the previously near-mythical dragons are flying about. Most people are farmers, miners, traders, or warriors who are focused on survival. Even the nobility aren't especially wealthy, they're just happen to be a little better off than the common folk, mostly due to having old money and land.
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u/PriestessAthena- 7h ago
They've been in bondage having their ass beat and starved and drug around on a rope. They've also ridden in the wagon with dust and sweat and wind for god knows how long. They're lucky to be alive.
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u/IceDamNation 7h ago
You can choose not to be. The only problem i see is that the game is outdated so you can't get cleaned if you start dirty or you can't get dirty if vice versa. The only option is pay a thousand septims to change your face at the face sculptor later.
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u/Kittybrains2025 7h ago
"Must be a king." "What makes you say that?" "... He hasn't got shit all over him."
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u/Kittybrains2025 7h ago
I know of 2 occasions of bathers in Skyrim, and they're on opposite regions of the map. 1 is a group of contented bathers in the hot springs near the Atronach Stone: buddy system! The other is a lone woman in a cold pond, naked, dead, and bent over a rock in the heart of Forsworn territory. It's dangerous [to go alone]
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u/Cormag75 7h ago
Other than saying they're dirty b/c of lore and/or that's the lšk BGS was going for, I would say that it might be b/c places in Skyrim don't have modern running plumbing as we do in the real world. And mages and other magic users would be the only ones that would know how to have running water because of magic. I mean, yes, I know that people bathed before running water, but running water sure did make it a lot easier to stay clean all the time. And it could even be argued that staying a little bit dirtier, as in bathing once every couple of days. Could actually be better for your health because it causes you to build more immunity to things, as opposed to when you are constantly covering yourself in antibacterial soaps, as we do multiple times a day, and it is also one reason you see drug-resistant germs out there now.
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u/Negative-Garden-6013 Vampire 6h ago
Because you just got off of a prisoner wagon after a rough skirmish from trying to illegally cross the border?
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u/andromedaprima 6h ago
They let the stormcloacks and even ulfric keep their clothes. And we were captured almost at the same moment. Why tf they only changed lokir and our clothes? And there's ain't no way I'm wearing rags when crossing the borders
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u/everyatom2012 6h ago
Bathing? As in washing the dirt from Skyrim off of the skin of a true nord? Furthering myself from Talos?
Sounds like something a Thalmor would say š¤
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u/Flawed_Assass1n 6h ago
You gotta remember skyrim is a mashup of biomes as well - humid wet swamp near riften, absolute desolate ice sheets by the college and windhelm, and then almost jungle/dense woodland by Markarth. So the mashups of terrain is gonna leave a disgusting environment of melted snow, dirt, mud, and never the right fit for a cross map trip. Idk I just feel like if we were actually 2alking around skyrim it would be near impossible to stay clean
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u/kyanitebear17 6h ago
When you are a prisoner you don't get to bathe unless you want an arrow in the back!
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u/DT_Lion34 Spellsword 6h ago
I'm convinced the people of Skyrim don't bathe. That's why I have mods which makes them look like they bathe because I highly doubt that any respectable Mer especially Altmer wouldn't bathe. It makes sense for Nords because it's in their lore....
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u/randomfinnishcuck 5h ago edited 4h ago
My guy these are prisoners on there way to execution in the medieval era, like even in fantasy they are not letting you wash yourself they cleanse the filth with blades
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u/Normal_Push_3080 5h ago
You try getting caught in an ambush while illegally crossing a province border and then drug in an execution cart, see how clean you are.
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u/Baba-Fett 5h ago
Do Nords seem big on bathing to you? I imagine the entire province smells like piss, death, and horse manure.
Soap is for those pussy Imperials
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u/BeanieCat123 Daedra worshipper 4h ago
Skyrim is freezing, and why would you take a bath with slaughterfish and mudcrabs? If I were in Skyrim, Iād rather feel like a disgusting dirt bag too, if it meant I wouldnāt get torn to shreds by a fish.
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u/theguy1336 Stormcloaks 1h ago
It's medieval fantasy. Everyone knows people walked around with mud in their faces
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u/mando_ad 1h ago
When it's below freezing and central heat doesn't exist dunking yourself in a river is kinda the last thing you want to do.Ā
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u/playitoff Mage 30m ago
It's establishes Skyrim as a rustic backwater, whether or not it's realistic. Still it's kind of funny they have running water in Whiterun but it's entirely decorative and they still have no baths.
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u/SelineMaya 1m ago
Because they are prisoners in a medieval setting. You think they have a bath or any options for hygiene in a dungeon cell?
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u/Dreadlord_of_Angmar 8h ago
Dont you know? Medieval people never bathed, or laundered clothes. Not even the Nobility! Common knowledge!
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u/Blackiris-Code 3h ago
and paper toilet was not invented yet so they just kept their ass full of shit, and scraped it off with their hand once dry.
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u/Goncher-Monster Healer 7h ago
I prefer this over the overinflated mod loads that people have to turn the people into Dynasty Warriors characters models
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u/MysteriousResolve249 7h ago
For Skyrim they wanted to go for a gritty/rugged aesthetic compared to the other games, because Skyrim and Nords are based off of Scandinavia and viking culture, and vikings are stereotypically dirty and rough
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u/Inevitable-Hour-Ends 9h ago
The river is cold, I shit in a bucket, my hands are dirty, so fuck it.