The final part of my coverage of Oblivion enemies is going to take us to the final expansion pack for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which is Shivering Isles. The story of Shivering Isles, without going too far into spoilers (because the storyline is actually pretty neat!) revolves around your character journeying into the realm of the Mad God Sheogorath, and trying to fix the many problems that is plaguing the titular Shivering Isles.
And, of course, with a new area, we get a completely new smattering of enemies! Interestingly, though, despite being supposedly the domain of insanity and madness, we don't actually get any enemies that are actually as thematic as the actual insanity the realm is supposed to represent. I genuinely feel that even with the engine limitations of the time, Shivering Isles really could've gone far, far more creative with their creature designs.
But we're not here to discuss what could have been, but rather what is included in Shivering Isles. And to be fair, the creatures of the Shivering Isles are easily my favourite of anything in Oblivion. Anyway, here goes!
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Baliwog
A neat little homage to D&D's Bullywug, a race of frog-people, the Baliwog is perhaps one of the weaker enemies in Shivering Isles, being these fun little... beasts. I always love it when combining different aspects of animals end up in something that you can vaguely describe as a "reptilian beast" and not, say, an obvious combination of animals. Like, you'd describe a gryphon as a "lion-eagle", but the Baliwog combines features of amphibians, reptiles, fishes without leaning too hard towards any of them, and looking genuinely ambiguously weird enough. "Baby Kaiju", I guess?
The Baliwog is clearly amphibious, though, dwelling in the many rivers and lakes that dot the Shivering Isles, regenerate health while swimming in the water, and tend to inflict poison or diseases when attacking. Interestingly, depending on various in-game books, the Baliwogs are either the juvenile forms of the Grummites or the Scalons -- two in-game bestiaries disagree vehemently about this, and the game never actually shows any sort of confirmation otherwise. I actually do like this little ambiguity, and considering how much real-life taxonomy tend to make mistakes and misconceptions like this, I did like this little detail.
Grummite
Grummites sort of take over the role as one of the more common humanoid enemies, I think, basically filling in the roles that generic bandits or skeletons take in regular Oblivion. They're vaguely humanoid... well, they're not quite fish-men (Scalons in this game, and Lurkers in Skyrim, fit "fish-men" far better) but I do like the fact that the Grummite does look like some sort of swamp-dwelling troglodyte or something. That's a pretty ugly-ass face! Like the Baliwogs, the Grummites tended to be clustered around water sources, guarding their eggs, but they're also as likely be found in ruins, or in random camps, and they are highly associated with a specific ore known as Madness Ore.
Grummites show up in all three normal variations that you tend to find in humanoid enemies -- warriors, mages and archers. I really do like, though, that unlike humanoid enemies, the Grummites are always consistently shown with their unique set of armour and weapons, which really helps to sell how their race has their own unique culture, something that vanilla Oblivion doesn't do particularly well with practically everyone pulling from the same pool of available equipment.
Now's probably a neat time to mention that the lands of Shivering Isles are divided into two parts, mania and dementia, representing... bipolar disease or something, I guess, and that plays into the factions that you can choose to help. Visually, this is most evidently seen from how the trees and surroundings of Dementia are far more drab and dreary, while that of Mania are far more vibrant... and that extends to the colouration of the enemies as well.
Scalon
Whereas Grummites are more akin to deformed humans with vague fish or reptilian features, Scalons are far more explicitly fish-people, just being this lanky, long-armed humanoid form with giant claws and an ugly fish head stapled to their necks. They are basically far more feral than the Grummites, who, while primitive, at least seemed vaguely tribal-like in their behaviour. Scalons are just beasts that will jump at your face and bite it off.
Interestingly, despite being fish-people, Scalons are actually easier to fight in the water, because the Scalon's more powerful abilities is the ability to turn invisible, a pretty wacky ability to give to the fish-men of the setting. But in water, invisibility doesn't do you good since the Scalons still cause ripples to form. Anyway, I kinda think that I prefer the Scalons to the Grummites, by simple coolness factor.
Elytra
The Elytra is one of my favourite enemies introduced in Shivering Isles, and anyone who's followed my monster reviews for any amount of time will probably know that I really, really love bug monsters. The Elytra -- named after the scientific name of a beetle's wing case -- are giant, mantis-wasp hybrids with a pretty creepy looking face that has... ear-horn things? Multiple eyes? Long, mustache-like antennae? That face is really what, I think, separates the Elytra from just being another neat bug enemy. It just looks so alien. Throw in some standard giant hornet-like abdomen, mantis claws and creepy clattering legs, and the Elytra is a pretty cool-looking bug monster! They are, interestingly, especially vulnerable to magic.
They even have a couple of dedicated dungeons that reveal that the Elytra build their nests inside gigantic root tunnel systems that run through deep inside Shivering Isle's massive trees, and that addition of unique-looking dungeons built for them adds so much extra flavour to them. Also, while the mania and dementia variants of the scalon and grummite don't look super different, I really do love how the mania variant of Elytra are brightly coloured like many real-life insects... while the dementia variant of Elytra are dull-coloured, also like many real-life insects that prioritize camouflage.
Gnarl
Tree monsters! Are these the genesis for Skyrim's far more tree-based Spriggans? Whatever the case, though, the Gnarl are far, far cooler than either Oblivion or Skyrim's Spriggans, being just walking trees, but I really love the sheer misshapen-ness of the Gnarl's limbs and body. That torso isn't symmetrical, the arms are bent in awkward angles, the three legs are arranged in a way that looks bizarre and unnatural... but it really, really works and sells the illusion that a tree just got up and walked about, ready to unleash the wrath on nature on us fleshbags.
The Gnarl's Mania variant is pertty dang cool, with white bark and autumn-orange leaves, whereas the Dementia Gnarls just look like walking dead trees. Pretty sure this is my favourite dementia/mania variants. The Gnarl also have a wacky mechanic going on -- if hit with a magic spell, they 'eat' the magic and grow larger, becoming essentially immune to the element it was just struck with, but becoming weak to other elements. It's something that's never really explained and doesn't really make particular sense for a tree monster, but I guess that's where the "madness" comes in?
The Gnarls play a crucial role in one of the final main story quests of the Shivering Isles, with the central tree or whatever being maintained by Gnarls -- some of whom work alongside us, while some are corrupted by the forces of order. We also learn that the Gnarls are incubated in these weird chrysalis pods within the giant tree, which is just such a bizarre and almost insectoid contraption. While it might just be "the game designers didn't do their research and thought it'd be cool", I do like that pretty alien little feature.
Hunger
This dude is a returning species of Daedra from Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and, interestingly, don't actually seem to be native to the Shivering Isles. We don't get "variations", for one, and previous and subsequent lore establishes that Hungers are creatures that tend to reside in the realm of a different Daedric Prince, Boethiah, the prince of deception.
Whatever the case, though, I do really like the design of the Hungers! They look really, really emancipated, with those gangly limbs and really flesh-on-bones abdomen really selling a 'hungry' demon, and I really do love that disturbingly shaped head with the vertical mouth. Also, it attacks by lashing out its tongue, while casting an ability that drains your fatigue. Not really all that much to say, but I do like this creature. It does look pretty damn creepy-cool.
Skinned Hound
Among the many bizarre Daedra in Sheogorath's realm are... the Skinned Hounds. They're basically reskinned (heh) versions of the wolves from base Oblivion, but look so much cooler with the skull-head, glowing red eyes, and the general look of a half-desiccated corpse. Some people in Shivering Isles even keep them as pets! Not really much to say here, but undead hounds are always a welcome addition to any game.
Shambles
Aw, shit, now these are cool. I've noted how much potential there are in undead enemies, and how I'm sometimes disappointed with Elder Scrolls games for just including the mere basic variations of undead enemies... but here we have the Shambles! And I really, really love how the whole concept of the Shambles is basically "what if we made a Frankenstein's Monster, but instead of limbs, we use bones"? And I really, really love how at a glance it's just a huge skeleton with a creepy beast head, but upon a closer look, everything in the Shambles' anatomy are actually not made up of proper bones of their anatomy. Their 'ribcages' are made out of long arm or leg bones, they have random pelvis bones near their chest, their 'kneecaps' are made up of human skulls, which is pretty awesome. Also love how both arms end in different kinds of claws. They're also pretty massive, towering almost twice the height of the average person in Oblivion, and when they die, as a final dick move they explode.
The Shambles' attacking animation is also pretty neat, too, with some parts of their chest and head bones dislocating and acting like some sort of weird fang-like protrusion... a pretty damn cool skeletal monster, and I really, really love how the "Decrepit", weaker variants actually tend to missing their arms, or horns, or head, or part of their head. Easily one of my favourite enemies in the Shivering Isles.
Flesh Atronach (also, Gatekeeper)
The Flesh Atronachs are some of the more rare enemies, tending to act as bosses or mini-bosses... and they're, well, basically actual Frankenstein's Monsters. Not sure why they are called "Atronachs" when the game explicitly shows some characters constructing them, but hey, I guess being built in a daedric realm counts? They're massive dudes with scars and magical runes, as well as metal chokers and accessories. Not particularly interesting for me personally, but a fantasy trope that I don't mind them including. My favourite part of them is their animation, because once in a while they do this ridiculous kick that basically has them doing a split, something that is so bizarre to see a stitched-up strongman doing.
The one on the right is the Gatekeeper, one of the first bosses you encounter in the Shivering Isles storyline that bars your way from entering the actual Shivering Isles, and he's basically a modified version of a Flesh Atronach with a big fuck-of blade for an arm, and being twice as large as a Flesh Atronach. We actually get to rebuild him, Frankenstein-style, as part of the main quest storyline, which is neat!
Golden Saint (a.k.a. Aureal)
While the Shivering Isles is populated by a lot of monsters and random humans and elves, two specific Daedric races serve Sheogorath and act as his own personal army-slash-police-force, each of them being in charge of a specific half of the Shivering Isles. As with most Elder Scrolls games, you will have to choose a side to assist as the story goes on. The Golden Saints, or the Aureals, are associated with the Mania side of the Shivering Isles, and are... well, basically golden-skinned women with more intricate armour.
Whichever side you choose, though, really doesn't end up mattering, as both Golden Saints and Dark Seducers are all but visually the same. You'd think the Golden Saints are the 'nice' ones, but no, they're as dismissive to all mortal races, as rude, and as fanatical to Sheogorath as their Dark Seducer counterparts. Both Golden Saints and Dark Seducers are also near-universally female, and the males of their races are extremely rare, and also noted to be weaker and in a much lower caste. Both of them also are apparently tied to the realm via a 'wellspring' that gets shut down by the bad guys in a main quest storyline, and every single one gets turned into rock immediately afterwards. It's an interesting detail, for sure, but I do think that the game doesn't really do enough with these bizarre extra-planar Daedra stuff in-game.
Dark Seducer (a.k.a. Mazken)
The Dark Seducers, a.k.a. the Mazken, are... well, basically purple/gray-skinned humanoids with a spikier, Gothier and more revealing outfit. They guard Dementia, and... and basically everything I said about Golden Saints apply to them, just switch Mania and Dementia as required. I really, really wished they had done more. Even if they didn't want to make one side more 'good' than the other, at least make them actually represent mania and dementia well! The uniqueness of their armour sets are neat, but everything else about the lore behind the Mazken and Aureals, especially their storylines, are honestly pretty disappointing.
EDIT: Previous games have had the Golden Saints basically be "angel-like demons", while the Dark Seducers be actual shape-shifting succubi. None of them are particularly creative, but both of those are genuinely far, far more interesting than the generic, fanatical police force that we got.
Knight of Order
The main campaign villain for Shivering Isles are these dudes, the Knights of Order. See, the Shivering Isles is a realm of madness and unbridled creativity, while the Knights of Order serve the Daedric Prince of Order, Jyggalag, and want to return everything in Shivering Isles to nothing but rigid order, summoning giant metallic crystal towers. The actual Knights of Order themselves are basically similar to the Aurorans, being walking suits of armor, but the Knights of Order are more... static, I guess? Less ornamented and far more rigid, which doesn't make them the most attractive enemies, but points for working within the theme of their lore. Not much to say here, although the way you stall Jyggalag's advance is pretty neat. Kill the knights as they are spawned from the obelisks, and then shove their hearts into the obelisks to stop them.
Priest of Order
The 'bosses' of the Knights of Order are the Priests of Order, who are a bit more... intricate, I guess, having black robes with metal stuff gilded onto them. I do like the faceless mask they have. The Priests of Order, instead of being walking suits of armor (or crystal, or whatever the Knights are) are explicitly noted to be Sheogorath's citizens that have forsaken him and have joined Jyggalag. Basically, they're spellcasters and are straight-up immune as long as the obelisk they are bound to is active, resurrecting endlessly, meaning you have to close the obelisk by doing the whole "throw hearts into the obelisk" thing. It's a fun little mechanic that makes fighting them slightly more intricate than the hack-and-slash enemies that populate Oblivion... the Priests are resurrected by the obelisks when they die, and the priests themselves, if left alive, will channel a spell to reactivate the obelisk.
Overall, not a particularly memorable design, but definitely a fun mechanic. We don't actually have any more variants for the forces of Order, unlike the many Daedra that plague the main Oblivion storyline, but since the whole point of Jyggalag is the lack of creativity, there's an in-universe reason for that and I approve.
Jyggalag
Without spoiling too much of the story, Jyggalag, the Daedric Prince of Order, is the final enemy of the game, being this embodiment of logic and order that is determined to absolutely crush the realm of madness. It's a fun inversion of how fantasy settings tend to have you fight for order instead of chaos. I do feel that the game probably could've done a lot better to show off just how much more creative and fun madness and chaos can be, but we're here to criticize the monsters as opposed to the game or storytelling.
Appearance-wise, he's what you'd expect from the boss of all of those Knights of Order, a bigger, spikier, scarier metal knight, with additional powers and whatnot. The boss fight isn't super-exciting, and I do think that they definitely could've done more with the actual appearance of Jyggalag... but, eh, he's neat enough, I guess. A good chunk of what made Jyggalag memorable is the build-up and the storyline, which makes me really satisfied when I actually challenge Jyggalag at the end of the campaign. It's a case of an enemy's design being just... kinda there, not bad but not spectacular, but the story surrounding him is neat enough that I don't mind.
And... and that's it for Shivering Isles! I'm going to see what other game I am familiar with to criticize the monsters of. I'm not familiar enough with Morrowind to really talk about that game, so... so we'll see.
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