just something I've wondered since Morrowind...

so why are mudcrabs hostile? even towards predators that are much more dangerous than them?

I think about that too...crabs are not hostile, they don't attack people, they are delicious steam cooked.

mudcrabs are tough... i saw one kill two wolves.

They are only offensive if you stumble close. This is natural instincts for basically every animal.

Every animals are hostile in this game. naturally, animals are not hostile, wolves and bears will run away and avoid human. But Mud Crabs also hostile is funny.

Yep, it's meant to be when you get too close. They're not meant to actively hunt you down unless they feel threatened.

Having said that, the way the AI works sometimes leads to some amusing fights.

I always play with a mudcrab mod to make them non-aggressive in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.

Most real animals will run if threatened, and fight either if cornered or a hungry enough predator. In Morrowind, Scribs were passive unless attacked, but other wildlife went suicidal on sight. In Oblivion, Deer would run from you, but other creatures would again go ballistic on you.

Besides, if you constantly took all that "nasty creatures" verbal abuse that Mudcrabs get in the series, you'd be angry too.

They are probably protecting their habitat... Even though they are crabs.

They all have crab-rabies, and simply can't help but try to pinch the head off of anyone who has the misfortune of stumbling by.

Because the devs have a sense of humor, and they want you to jump out of your skin when your level 25 Warrior comes around a corner and you hear that battle music.

They're simple-minded carnivores, like mosquitoes. They don't measure you up before they attack. They're pretty tough, anyway. I've seen them kill bandits, especially if two of them gang up.

do not underestimate the mudcrabs, they have been plotting since oblivion but since too many people there noticed they went to be more secretive

in the next game they will be ready

TES VI, Mudcrabs of Doom

to the OP: I don't know but I downloaded the "swearing mudcrabs" and that completes the crab's neurotic nature.

My flippant answer would be: they're crabby! Sorry, I had to do it.

More seriously, I tend to think of them as fiercely territorial, even rabidly territorial, living in those little groups (herds? pods? tribes?) of theirs. Mostly because, in Skyrim at least, I've noticed them just going into warning stances like giants, wolves, and bandits if I get close enough for them to notice me. They attack when I get too close for their comfort, when I become a threat. The problem is: they tend to blend in to their surroundings well enough that I run into or over them before I realize it. 'S probably happened to all of us at one time or another.

There's also the Mudcrab Nation theory and the vast network of operatives they have, but that's too silly to be mentioned...

Eeyup!

I was following a Giant one day and he walked right past a Mudcrab... The mudcrab attacked him. Was quite amusing.

They are seeking World Domination!
their goal : Kill everything that's not a Mudcrab.

Once they get land, they refuse to ever give it up.

A Mubcrab never retreats!

From what I've seen of mudcrabs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqaFGemOxW0.

A Giant can kill one Mudcrab easily. You need like 50 Mudcrabs to kill a Giant.

Thanks to the Mudcrab Merchant in Morrowind, the Mudcrab underground conspiracy is well-armed, and ready to take on both men and mer in the next installment.

That's not true at all. Clearly you have never met a squirrel. The crabs should eventually develop the instinct that they are more likely to be killed if they attack than if they don't.

Probably in a TES V DLC: Check the game jam video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SE5owAIPmk

Though I guess that uber mudcrab would be too irrational.