I was wondering if anyone knew who is the most beneficial person to marry in Skryrim? I am at the point to where it would be fun and am ready to do it. I lost Aela a while back via my own hand and didn't think to re-load my last save so she's out. Anybody else is fair game, let me know.

Considering you can only marry once I wouldn't pick anyone you plan on using as a follower Choose some eye-candy you can come home to.

I was thinking the same thing, I love my follower Faendal he is the only positive follower there is. Everybody else is negative and sarcastic.

Not all of them I'm travelling with Aranea and she's not annoying at all.

Erandur and J'zargo were ok. J'zargo was actually pretty cool. Can't speak for anyone else, haven't used them.

Follower: useful
Spouse: eye-candy (OK, the 750 gp store is nice, too)

lol, you svck! Why would anyone want to marry you??

What steps do you take to marry somebody?

The only good looking characters are followers though. Save for Camilla but she's a little [censored]

Derkeethus!!

Benefits : You live in a Cave with him
lol

Can't marry J'zargo though, or any Khajiit or Bosmer for that matter.

Obtain the amulet of Mara. It can be found on some guards or in chests or from a shopkeeper..then of you do a quest for that certain person and they like you then you can marry them, but I actually haven't married anybody myself yet

Some are quest driven, but even if you find the amulet of Mara, you still have to talk to Maramal at the Dibella Temple in Riften. Also, don't know about the computer, but on the P3, if you have two of the amulets in your inventory, they negate one another and no one notices that you are soliciting for marriage. Best to dump one. Also, those that find the amulet in the tent in Windhelm's the Pale might still end up having to buy one from Maramal. There seems to be no "fast tracks" to getting around buying the amulet for marriage.

As for spouses, depends on your playing style. One of my characters picked Jenassa, the Dark Elf in The Drunken Huntsman because as a mercenary for hire/bodyguard, she more than earned her place. She offers pretty interesting info here and there and that sultry accent she has isn't hard on the ears. Put her in some smithed/enchanted Forsworn armor (since she can wear mostly the Light Armor) and she isn't that hard on the eye at all. Busty.

The Sisters 3 (Lydia/ Iona/ Jardis) range from annoyingly sarcastic to dang right chipper. Jardis is the best of them, really. Put her in Heavy Armor, or if you want the "candy", put her in Falmor armor. Revealing as much as Ancient Nord armor is on them.

The peppered women throughout Skyrim range from shrews to desperates, but when they marry many of them soften one way or become worse, like the farmer Sarethi woman who becomes irascible and ditches the very sister she claims to worry so much about. Honestly, the sister is the one that should have been the marrying one, as she aspires to be an artist and wishes to either visit Solitude or go back to Mournhold.

The women who work the Mills like Temba and Gilfre are hard at first, but once their quests are done soften nicely. Some of the others I'll never understand why they were made so, such as the busybodies, thieves, beggars, and especially the antagonistic ones like Grelka in Riften.

Mjoll the Lioness was a good spouse, but Aren literally walks in between you and where she goes, he goes, even if he has his own place. Personally, if he wanted her that bad, he should have married her (laugh). She is a great fighter if a bit reckless but for the love of Mephala the gal won't shut up. It would not be bad if like Jenassa, she talked about interesting things like her past, history, things to watch out for, tidbits, if you will. But spend a month with Mjoll in the wild and every conversation nearly ends up "I, I, I, me, me, me, I, I, ....to infinity." Having pride, I like that. Being confident, even more so. But Mjoll is her own cheering section and publicist, which given how you get her in the first place, you'd wonder. Many times I speak to the screen with the controller in my hand yelling "shush dang it, don't you see we're knee deep in Falmer country???" for a laugh. Ghorza the Orc in Markarth is a decent one too, and spend some time in the Stronghold (once invited or earned) and you get to see why she and her brother left when they did. Uthgerd was a decent companion/spouse but she will settle fights for you sometimes by charging ahead or attacking when you could/should just walk around. Guess the real question is what type of immersive interaction you're looking for? Come home bloodied to your home cooked meal and accolades kind or the "Honey, can I have one of your Ultimate Healing potions please, Daddy's getting his ass whipped by this Dragonlord with the eagle eye shots?"

What was said above is so true. Many of the best Followers and companions are not spouses. Aranea is a powerful fighter, and when you get her in something other than her Mage robes she isn't hard on the eyes at all. Cleans up right nice, jokingly. Same for Ilia, the gal you pick up in Darklight Tower. Funny thing with them, give them different clothing and you'll never know when they change into it. One day they're robed and all you see is half their face, and in another cell change, they're digital hickey bait.

Some of the ones I would have loved to have seen made marriable were Saadia, the Redguard. Birna, in Windhelm. The in-hiding Nord archer woman (name eludes me) that is a widow from drunken Imperials that killed her family. Ilia, for sure, Aranea definitely. The Sarethi woman's sister, Ingun Black-Briar (for darker souls taste), some Khajiiti and Breton's wouldn't have hurt since you find more of them trying to kill you than trying to marry you. Same for Redguards and Bosmeri. Found an entire keep filled with blooded vampire Bosmeri women calling me "meat", but you'll never find one that says "Is that an Amulet of Mara? You looking for marriage then?" There are widows a plenty in that land, and it's a shame really as some are so remote and living in the most dangerous areas, you'd wonder why they stay. Like Gilfre; she shares her small mill with bears in one area, giants in others, sabrecats on the perimeter, and once in swing, the dang dragons. Letting her set up shop in Whiterun or Solitude is doing her a favor. Every time you'd go outside to scraqe up some fish or something you'd have to suit up for a hunting war.

Now I see why some just marry one to keep at home that runs a store with some great items you'll need, but run the wilds of Skyrim with the non-marrying followers so that they can have a companion that holds their own and is pleasant to be around, like Anneka, Verner's wife. Verner complains the minute you hit the mining camp, and taking her as a traveling companion/extra archer is doing her a favor. Don't forget Orc Stronghold's either. There are some pretty stable and hardy gals and guys that can travel with you.

As for putting an arrow in them by accident or a wild sword swing, that's the nature of the companion really. You can eliminate some of that by deciding for them what weapon they will favor by limiting them to it. Some are good archers but poor swordsmen(women), so outfit them accordingly. Some listen fairly well and keep close, while others, like Mjoll and Uthgerd will knock you over a mountain to get to the battle. Mage spouses/companions will hold their own just keep them in Magicka potions and don't forget to recharge their staves with soulgems after major battles. I gave Jenassa four staves to wield and only regretted one of them, the Chain Lightning one because every so often in a battle my shots are ruined because the bolt will indeed smack you in the ass too. But when you're surrounded by Forsworn or attacked by three dragons at once, those companions can mean the difference between watching your body die miserably, or watching three sets of dragon skeletons and deciding amongst you two "who carries the bones and who carries the booty?"

Mjoll the Lioness is cool shes in riften you can marry here once you find her sword in the dwmer ruins, Kill her husband tho ,you don't need to but i didn't like the extra person running around, But you do get 2 followers but he's not the greatest.

Aela the Huntress <3