» Mon May 10, 2010 11:44 pm
Dialogue in Battlespire suggests that daedra loyalties are frequently fluid, especially for the 'seducer' types. Many of the convos in that game suggested that daedra don't even really comprehend death as we understand it. They'll allow themselves to 'die' simply to prove a point, fulfill a debt of honor, etc. Its pretty alien, and its one of the most fantastically unique things about the TES lore.
There's even the sense that an individual daedra's 'type' is more like an emergent result of their intelligence level, personality, power, and self concept, all of which can change. Its implied that a given daedra might be one type at one time and a different type at another, and this even extends to the daedra princes. Gender presentation is also implied to be more a matter of choice/personality/self concept, as daedra don't mate the way mortal races do. I imagine they're quite amused that we respond so strongly to what are relatively minor differences in physical shape. It may also be that how they appear is partly based on how mortals expect them to appear, which helps to explain the differences between daedra appearance in the various games.
I really miss that level of depth for daedra. Oblivion was an opportunity missed, since aside from a handful in Camoran's Paradise and some limited stuff in Shivering Isles we saw next to no personality or culture among daedra at all, even though they were everywhere.
Since norse mythology contains strong examples of the 'trickster' archetype, I'd say scamps in particular have a place in Skyrim. Of the other types, I think only spider daedra would strongly clash with a nordic atmosphere, and even they could possibly be worked in. The fire and frost daedra as portrayed in Daggerfall would fit as well. It always did confuse me how atronachs went from being golems in Daggerfall to being daedra in later games though.