Lorewise which main villain has the strongest elite servants? just curious.

Dagoth Ur has the Ash Vampires, Mehrunes Dagon has his Dremora Valkynaz, and Alduin has the Dragon priests.

How are we defining strength in this context?

The hardest to defeat in single combat, for champions and heros, not counting game stats of course.

Well, according to the strength of the masters... I'd say the dragon priests, considering Alduin is "stronger" than both Mehrunes Dagon (Magnus) and Dagoth Ur (though an argument could be said about the direct link of Lorkhan)

Dagon would DESTROY Alduin. Dagon could physically pull Alduin apart and then eat him. Maybe not kill him, but definitely destroy him.

As for Dragon Priest vs the Valkyn, the Valkyn are immortal and far more plentiful. They are extremely skilled in melee combat as well as magic. The Dragon Priests beat the Valkyn in the magic department, but they are still mortals.

Where did you get that idea? It was Alduin that turned the Leaper Demon King into Mehrunes Dagon. Dagon cowers before Alduin.

I got to give love to the Ash Vampires in this contest. They have the power of Lorkhan on their side. Sort of.

I don't fully believe that myth. Akatosh could smash Dagon any time. Alduin is much farther down the scale in terms of power. I think Akatosh did that to Dagon. Alduin got smashed by a couple of mortals. Dagon got smashed by Akatosh (probably twice), but never by mortals.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Battlespire:Battlespire

Wow. Never knew that. Never played that game. Still, Alduin is the... offspring(?) of a god. Dagon is a god.

Didn't Ayem and Seht beat up Dagon once? And Ur was technically beating the Tribunal before the Nerevarine turned up [and game-Alduin is a tiny little parasite compared to the Seven Fights' Alduin so does not count], therefore I conclude with little accuracy that Dagoth Ur and his posse are way the toughest.

You can't say the in-game Alduin doesn't count. The Elder Scrolls is a video game first, and a universe second.

Doesn't really matter. Dagon was beaten several times, By Akatosh/Alduin, Almalexia and Sotha Sil, a random mortal and Akatosh again... (And that's just as far as I know could be more)

As for the strongest servants I don't know...

Dragonpriests are just mortals I'd say... They can die and be beaten like any mage and they weren't the most powerful mages out there to begin with.
As for the other two, both Dagoth and Dagon had immortal servants that have trained and fought for thousands of years. Both of the servant groups have defeated powerful and more numerous enemies so I have no idea who is more powerful...

I'd say that the servants of Dagoth Ur have more potential simply because inhabitents of Tamriel (Nirn) seem to be able to learn how to beat Daedra even if they aren't the hero characters... Their link to Lorkhan might also give them an edge, but this is just a bunch of assumptions.

My point is that he's so weak in the game (one Ysmir-wannabe beat him up twice in the space of like two days) that he doesn't count, not that he just arbitrarily doesn't count.

The question's irrelevant anyway, because Vehk could beat them all up.

Alduin was beaten by the Dragonborn and a dragon but only so much that he felt like recovering on a nice vacation spot (A feeling I have everyday after just three hours of being at work). He was beaten up in Sovngarde by four people, each of whom knew a word that made him question his very immortality and existence (really Dragonrend is weak in game compared to what Paarth says about it).

This really doesn't mean that he is weak... He does look very, very weak though...

I would go with the Valkyn because they just have to close in on Dragon Priests (which would be pretty easy with wards), and because they have far superior equipment to Ash Vamps. Daedric armor would probably take a few thousand lbs PSI to break through in real life. The Dremora have done something productive with their eternal existances.. Perfecting weapons and armor.

(I guess it depends on if we're using gameplay knowledge, or lore knowledge to define them. Perhaps we can get our contenders to complete a quick survey....)

Q: Hello Dagoth Ur, thanks for joining us today.
Dagoth Ur: Yeah fine, I need to get back to the heart so make it quick-
Q: Sure. Uh, what major acts of destruction and/or conquest have your minions achieved in the game(s)?
Dagoth Ur: Mostly we just hang out by the heart, uhm... they pinched Keening and Sunder off those Tribunal nerds a while back... I've really gotta go-
Q: Thank you Mr. Ur.

Q: Hello Mehrunes Dagon, thanks for joining us today.
Dagon: Yo.
Q: What major acts of destruction and/or conquest have your minions achieved in the game(s)?
Dagon: Ha ha! You want me to list 'em ALL!?
Q: ... Yeah.
Dagon: Oh. Right. In the game. Ummm...
Q: Take your time Mr. Mehrunes.
Dagon: My boys [censored] up that Battlespire place that one time. You ever hear of a city called Kvatch?
Q: No, sorry.
Dagon: And my boys is why! Ha ha! Awesome!
Q: Uh, right. Thank you for your time.

Q: Hello Alduin, Devourer of Worlds, thanks for joining us today.
Alduin: Hi everyone!
Q: What major acts of destruction and/or conquest have your minions achieved in the game(s)?
Alduin: Oh! Well I did damage some houses in a small Imperial-occupied town in Skyrim one time!
Q: Your minions, was the question...
Alduin: Oh! Sorry! Ummm...
Q: Take your time, Mr. Alduin.
Alduin: Hehe, did you know my father is-
Q: Stay on topic please.
Alduin: Right. Sorry! Umm, well my priests tend to just stay in their tombs. They tried to beat up the Dragonborn when he broke in though!
Q: ... Anything else?
Alduin: My dragon friends attacked some towns in Skyrim!
Q: And what in particular was destroyed and/or conquered?
Alduin: Umm... well... did I mention my father? He's the-
Q: Look at that, we're out of time for our interview. Join us next time for exciting interviews with the lore versions of our three charming guests.


________


Q: And we're back with our three guests, now in their lore incarnations. Please welcome Dagoth Ur, Mehrunes Dagon, and Alduin, Devourer of Worlds back to the sh-
Dagoth Ur: Oh sh-
Dagon: You actually brought Aldui-
Alduin: Ho ha ho. Low spirits are crunchy with ketchup~
Dagon: [censored] [censored] [censored]!
Q: Thank you for um, joining us... what... major acts of destru-
Alduin: Om.
Q: ...ction have y-
Alduin: Nom.
Q: ...
Alduin: Nom.

You kinda went away from minions on that last part.

Lol (literally)

I wish there was a way to favorite posts.

So all cities are squares (Arena), bandits get better armor as you get stronger (Oblivion), and nothing falls to the ground when I drop it (Morrowind)?

This is the greatest thing to happen ever

Maybe it's a video game first and a universe second anywhere else on the forums, but in the Lore forum, that is the complete opposite of how it is. Universe first, video game second.

Everybody loves a smart ass. No, you know what I mean.

Actually, no, I don't. You said that the game stands higher than the universe, I pointed out several obvious examples where it does not. While the strength of Alduin isn't quite as in-your-face as a lack of physics, it is just as much gameplay mechanics as any of my examples.

Alduin's voice was way too high pitched and happy in my head when he uttered this line.
You did not just say that to Alduin.
Almost gonna quote this. But you're wrong, Alduin, ketchup makes things soggy. If the exposure is long enough, that is.

OP: Dagon's servants, obviously. They did a number on Tamriel. A serious number.