Favourite Mage Boss?

[sticky runes]

Who is your favourite named enemy magic user that you've encountered in Skyrim? There are quite a few of them...

Sild the Warlock who traps adventurers in his hideout and uses them for his necromantic experiments. Lu'ah al-Skaven, who raises an army of the dead during her quest to revive her dead husband. Malkoran, who defiles Meridia's temple by raising the shades of dead soldiers. Vals Veran, who enslaves the ancestors of Golldir buried in Hillgrund's Tomb. Arondil, who raises an all female army of the dead to satisfy his perversions in Yngvild. Orchendor, who leads Peryite's afflicted subjects astray. Ancano, who causes another catastrophe that nearly wipes out Winterhold...

I can see why the Nords distrust mages. Look how much damage they cause!

Which one do you think has the most interesting story?

 

[Rimfaxe96]

Arondil freaked me out (and I wonder what his relationship with his mother was like).
Naris the Wicked is also worth to be mentioned. Weirded me out too when I first heard his dialogue (he speaks to himself) while sneaking around; "Ah, the sweet smell of burnt flesh. Nothing better really." and "They die too quickly. Maybe I'll try and hold off on the paralysis next time. Give me more of a moving target. Good practice." Honestly, I wonder why they didn't make him a Thalmor torturer or something.

 

[DarkBeckyhood]

I'm going to be ironic, and choose a 'named enemy' that believed that names didn't matter anymore. I think The Caller is underestimated as an antagonist, principally because of what we can infer from her motives.

She's found during the College of Winterhold quest 'Hitting the Books', after fighting your way through her subordinates in Fellglow Keep. An ex-College mage, Orthorn, stole some books from the College as he departed in an effort to ingratiate himself with the renegade mages. When you find Orthorn, his plan apparently didn't work because he's locked in cell adjacent to some wolves, to be used for some 'experiments' later on. He explains that The Caller has the three books you're looking for, and is interested in one in particular. He never tells you which.

Unlike many other bosses, The Caller isn't hugely interested in having a fight with you. She tries to get you to leave, and is more frustrated that you've "disrupted [her] work" than anything else.

What work was that? Which of those books was she particularly interested in? Was it the one that you're particularly interested in - 'Night of Tears', which suggests that the ancient Nords found 'something' which they buried deep within Saarthal?

My magey character, Giselle the Breton, strongly believed that The Caller was already aware of the Eye of Magnus, was actively searching for it, and had designs upon it long before Ancano did. Had the College of Winterhold not unearthed the thing when they did and set in motion the events of the College questline, it's conceivable that The Caller would have gotten to it first, and potentially destroyed the world as Ancano nearly did. But unlike with Ancano, nobody would have known she was doing it! She could have carried out her plans with impunity! If true, The Caller could well have been a bigger threat to Mundus than Ancano, but sheer good luck and timing saw her get relegated to secondary baddie status.