Skyrim puts you in the shoes of the ultimate hero; the Dragonborn! Someone who constantly puts their life on the line to protect Tamriel from Dragons, Vampires, and evil Daedric Princes. Unfortunately for the citizens of Skyrim, Bethesda has also offered us players a plethora of opportunities to do some more dubious actions; actions that pretty quickly make you go from wondering why you began the game as a prisoner, to learning why. And today we're going to take a look at ten of these evil things you can do in Skyrim, which you probably weren't aware of. 

So, without further ado, let's get into it!

Skyrim is the first Elder Scrolls game to introduce marriage; something which is typically a beautiful affair where two partners bind their souls together under Mara's loving gaze, till death do them part. The last phrase mentioned is key here, as Skyrim doesn't offer any formal way to divorce your partner for any reason. 

This isn't a problem for the most part. After all, you get a fresh home-cooked meal every day, a business that generates money, and, most importantly, you finally have someone that loves you. 

But what happens if you suddenly aren't that into your spouse anymore? This could be due to a variety of reasons: Maybe you found out about Ysolda's passion for Skooma smuggling, or you realize that Aerin might as well be physically attached to Mjoll, and you're definitely going to run into problems when you finally install the 'marriable Serana' mod. The point is, things can happen and you may have to end your relationship with your spouse. 

Unfortunately for the spouse in question, however, the game is quite literal about the whole "Till death do us part" thing. That's right, to end your relationship with your spouse, you have to also end their life! And since this is a list about doing evil things, why not go about it by sacrificing them during the quest "Boethiah's Bidding" while you're at it? 

It's evil, sure but you can't deny that it certainly beats divorce court!

Diplomatic Immunity is one of the more well-known quests in Skyrim, thanks to its unique setting and freedom of choice offered to the player. The quest has you infiltrating Skyrim's Thalmor Embassy to find out what they know about the dragon attacks. One of the key players in getting you into the embassy is a Wood Elf called Malborn, who not only helps you with getting into the embassy but also aids in causing a distraction so you can slip out of the party's view unnoticed. 

Needless to say, Malborn is a very likable and useful friend of the Dragonborn. This makes it all the more evil that you can provide absolutely nothing to him in return when he gets caught and tortured by the Thalmor later on in the quest. Since the Thalmor agents that are torturing Malborn have keys that you need to continue the quest, most players will help their Bosmer ally out; hell, most players will do anything if it means they get to kill some Thalmor. But if you're not feeling like the heroic type, then there's nothing stopping you from pickpocketing the keys off one of the agents and leaving Malborn at the mercy of the Thalmor, which if you've brushed up on your lore, you know is nothing good.   

However, this may not be evil enough for some players; after all, all's fair in love and war and you did just meet Malborn like, a day ago, which must be exactly why Bethesda gave the option to frame Brelas, a High Elf maid at the party, of fancying one of the guests. After she rejects the noble's offers and embarrasses him among his friends, she will be accused of "throwing herself" at the guest and subsequently taken to the torture chambers for a crime she didn't commit. 

I'm sure you must be pretty proud of yourself after that ordeal…

I think we all agree that all of the previous entries are pretty despicable things to do, but I do think this one takes the cake. 

Alongside introducing house building and land ownership, the Hearthfire expansion for Skyrim also gave players the ability to adopt certain children in the game. And although there is a wide variety of kids with different personalities and upbringings, you can't adopt every child… at least, not by default. 

Some children still have loving homes with parents that can take care of them, giving them no reason to be adopted. However, if something were to go wrong and a child's parents had an "accident", then the child in question would be sent to Honorhall Orphanage and put up for adoption, allowing you to bring them into your home. That's right, you can adopt children that you made into orphans, turning what was once an act of kindness and love into one of the darkest and most twisted choices that a player can make in the game. 

Talk about a messed-up family! 

If you thought the previous entry was a little too elaborate of a way to deal with kids that you don't like, then you'll be happy to hear that Bethesda lets you be downright rewarded for beating up some unfortunate children.

Within the small farming community of Rorikstead, players can find a character known as Lemkil. This Nord farmer is very cantankerous, particularly towards his two daughters, Sissel and Britte. This is because he blames the death of their mother on them, and is angry to see that her death was, in Lemkil's eyes, in vain. He calls his children "a waste" and compares them to weeds.

He dislikes them so much that he's willing to pay the player for a very horrible service. If Lemkill witnesses the Dragonborn fighting someone within Rorikstead, then he will send you a letter praising your skills and offering to pay you to do something similar to one of his daughters. That's right, Skyrim lets you get paid to attack children.

This may seem quite out of the left field for Bethesda to include, and you'd be right. This option was likely caused by an oversight by the developers, let me explain. Every character in Skyrim has a designated relationship with each other, with the default being neutral. However, in cases where two characters have a negative relationship with each other, then they could become the target of the Dragonborn during the radiant quest 'Scare my Enemy', where you are hired to beat someone up. It’s likely that Bethesda developers didn't realize these variables working in tandem could lead to players getting rewarded for introducing their fists to children's faces. 

So Bethesda's not the bad guy here, they just didn't know what they were doing. But you certainly knew what you were doing, didn't you? 

I don't think anyone is arguing whether or not the Dark Brotherhood are good people. We all know they're not, and working with them does make the Dragonborn a bad person for killing mostly innocent people. However, there are certainly choices made during the Dark Brotherhood questline that are a bit more dubious than others. A standout example of this occurs during the quest 'Mourning Never Comes', where the player must travel to Markarth and speak with a Nord woman called Muiri. 

Muiri grew up in Windhelm and at some point met and began a relationship with Alain Dufont, but Muiri realized too late that the relationship was all a ruse on Alain's part to get closer to the Shatter-Shields and steal their valuables. Once Alain's heist was complete, Muiri took the fall and was subsequently exiled from Windhelm. This is where you come in. 

Muiri later performs the Black Sacrament on Alain Dufont. And this on its own isn't so evil, hell as far as Dark Brotherhood contracts go, this is one of the more just ones. However, Muiri also offers extra gold to take out a second target: Nilsine Shatter-Shield. And, yeah. This story just got a whole lot darker.

Muiri was once seen as part of the Shatter-Shield family. Despite not officially being a Shatter-Shield, Muiri was like a sister to Nilsine like a daughter to Nilsine's mother Tova. Muir believes that the death of Nilsine will make her realize what she has lost and perhaps consider allowing her back into the family again. Her justification is delusional and selfish at best, and downright insane at worst. But the whole situation gets a whole lot worse once you realize that

Tova previously had a second daughter called Friga, who was killed by the Butcher of Windhelm. 

This means that not only will Tova be mourning the cold-blooded murder of not one, but two of their daughters, but it also means that the Shatter-Shield clan will be in ruins since Nilsine is the last person in the Shatter-Shield lineage. 

Once everything is done, Tova will no longer see a reason to live and take her own life in her bedroom, and Torborjn, Nilsine's father will end up as a drunkard old man who's waiting to die, along with the Shatter-Shield clan.

Although Giants in Skyrim are very territorial and seem to be primitive, they're quite fascinating creatures with an artistic side to their culture, as we can see with the various runes they have carved into their flesh and the tusks of their mammoths. And despite looking intimidating, giants will typically leave the player alone if they remain undisturbed. Which makes you all the more of a menace to society if you choose to provoke these solitary creatures.

You can of course just find the nearest Giant Camp and wreak havoc, but why not be just that little bit extra evil while you're at it? 

By going just northeast of Mistwatch Folly, you will find a giant mourning the loss of its pet mammoth. And anyone who's lost one of their pets will know just how heartbroken this giant must feel. He doesn't even get aggressive if the player gets close to him and just continues to stare at his wooly friend. This allows heartless players to surprise attack this giant and receive an easy giant's toe, costing only your dignity. 

But if that doesn't satisfy your bloodlust for giants, then maybe head down to Steamcrag Camp, a small giant encampment just south of Windhelm. There you will find a note on one of the nearby road signs which explains that the giant here has been "given leave to keep his camp" and is tells people to not disturb the giant. But I mean c'mon; who are we talking about here? Just kill the damn thing already and be done with it!

Ah, the bro-code… The secret doctrine that every guy must abide by whether they want to or not; okay well, maybe that last part isn't true. And thankfully so, if you've decided to roleplay as a douchebag for your next playthrough. Skyrim has many marriable spouses, and if they're good enough for the Dragonborn, then they're probably good enough for other townsfolk who are also trying to court your potential lovers.

One of the more notable instances of this happening is with Camilla Valerius, the sister of Lucan Valerius, the owner of the Riverwood Trader. You likely have already witnessed the love triangle of Sven the bard and Faendal the woodworker both wanting to win Camilla's heart. Their way of doing this, however, isn't exactly moral. Both suitors want you to send a defamatory letter in the other person's name. Making false accusations of someone to the person they fancy is already a pretty cruel thing to do, but why not go the extra mile and fulfill one of the suitors' requests and then later marry Camilla yourself after you retrieve the Golden Claw; forcing someone who saw you as a friend realize that they were completely swindled out of their crush. 

If you want to attain maximum evil points, then it's best to side with Faendal, make him train you in archery, marry Camilla, take the money you gave to Faendal back from his inventory, and then sacrifice him to Boethiah!

Man… what has this video turned me into?

As you all know, the Ebony Warrior is one of the toughest characters in the entirety of Skyrim. With him only being found after you reach level eighty, the Ebony Warrior is seen by most players as Skyrim's final challenge. And this is quite fitting considering that the Ebony Warrior sees you in the same light. The Ebony Warrior believes that only the Dragonborn is capable of giving him a death suited for a Nord and sending him to Sovngarde. 

But if you're not feeling so honorable, then you can always stop him from enjoying his afterlife in Sovngarde and use a soul trap on the Ebony Warrior and send him to the ghastly hellscape that is the Soul Cairn. The Dawnguard expansion showed us this plane of Oblivion and if you've been, you know it's not exactly a coastal getaway. And unfortunately for the Ebony Warrior, and everyone else whose soul you trap, people are stuck in the Soul Cain for all of eternity, having to serve the revenant spirits that rule that realm of Oblivion.

So I hope their eternal sacrifice was worth the five points of fire damage.

The Ebony Blade is one of the most powerful weapons in Skyrim. This two-handed Daedric artifact can be attained at the end of the 'Whispering Door' quest in Whiterun. Not only is it a greatsword that swings as fast as one-handed weapons, but the Ebony Blade also gets interesting with its enchantment. The Ebony Blade absorbs ten points of health by default, however, you can increase this up to thirty points as long as you throw morality out the window. 

See, the Ebony Blade is described as being "strengthened by the blood of deceit". In layman's terms, this means that the Ebony Blade will add one point to its health absorption for every friend of the Dragonborn that is killed with it.

This can include random townsfolk that you helped out, all the way to your favorite companion who you went through thick and thin with. So long as the blade tastes the blood of the deceived, it's good to go! Just don't start wondering why nobody will show up to the Dragonoborn's next birthday party!

Although the previous entries were all despicable, this one is the ultimate finale to your evil playthrough, as we will now be talking about how you can put all of the innocents and loved ones you killed to good use and create an army of the dead! 

To do this, you will need to have the Fury spell and the Ritual Stone activated, which can be found just east of Whiterun. You will then have to find a large gathering of people. The execution scene in Solitude is a pretty good example, and so is any one of the civil war battles. However, the best choice is going to be at the end of the Bards College quest, during which a celebration will take place. 

You simply have to cast Fury on everyone there and repeat doing so until you're knee-deep in bodies. Then, use the Ritual Stone's power of reanimating nearby corpses and use it to completely wreak havoc everywhere you go. Bandit camps and forts won't stand a chance against your minions, and you can just sit back and enjoy the chaos as your army kills all of your enemies without you having to lift a finger. 

The only thing better than being evil is being evil in style!