So, i've decided to finally get round to my 'legacy character' playthrough of Skyrim, or at least starting it. But thats not what i'm agonizing about.

That dilema is whether to have my character of five games (how isn't relevant) actually 'be' the Dovahkiin or not.

I have a strange feeling that the destiny invovled will make their fate a little more final than we are used in TES games. Shivering Isles I could 'throw a companion' at the quest to become Sheogorth and still experiance the questline. However, with Skyrim that doesn't seem like its a good idea. Even if they don't end up becoming Talos 2.0, there is still the issue that they most likely won't have dragon shouts in the next TES game, thus having another hoop to jump through. Second is that the character can buidl up titles like Eternal Champion, Champion of Cyrodiil, and even Nerevarine if you have the scharacter be a skeptic, but the Dragonborn of Skyrim is more a state of being than a title, and it will hound and define the character outside of what i've had them do thus far.

There is one way however. I can do a 'racethrough' playthrough of the MQ and Dragonborn's MQ, take all the screenshots to fill in the story my main-character will end up missing, and then use a default-Dovahkiin companion mod and pretend my main character is his companion. Convoluted, sure, but as i do my roleplay journal my text and screenshots they are a vital part of the experiance for me. Then when I actually go through these parts of the game on my main character I can pretend she is 'daydreaming', slot the previosu screenshots in the right places, and I have a full playthrough of Skyrim where my legacy character is not the Dovahkiin. I also find it quite easy to have selective hearing at being called the Dragonborn, or can pass it off due to travelling with him a lot.

I could wrangle it next game that she voluntarily had something done to her mind to remove the ability to shout, or she has taken a vow of 'silence' int hat regard, or some other hogswash. And at times being the Dragonborn does seem cool and a 'logical' step for a character i'm effectively playing as a combination of Link from LoZ (always called up to be the Hero™ when Tamriel needs them) and Duncan Mcloud (due to Corprus). It mythically and power-wise puts her at least even with the enemies she has fought before, Daedric Princes aside. Then again, do I want the character to have that power? Being a 'normal' Dunmer who has done amazing things with only her wits, blade, and the deus ex machina of the storyline is part of her current charm. Not does she have anything to prove from a storyline perspective by becoming Dovahkiin.

I'm undecided, and i've been chasing it around my head on and off since Skyrim was released, and it may even by why I let the character rest for a long time.

Looking at the Elder Scrolls lore, i'd like to get some opinions on whether others feel it is more thematically appropriate to the Elder Scrolls series as a whole to be a normal(ish) being or a being of power who exists to keep Nirn spinning in its current incarnation? I know the thread is only vaguely lore related, but this is a very important question for a playthrough that I have spent literally months writing up the 'journal' for, and I don't want to make a mis-step that i'm going to regret from TES V onwards.

I'd like to hear some 'for' and 'against' arguments for having a long-term character be the Dovahkiin.