The Forgotten Hero The Forgotten Hero , also known as The Smuggler and The Savior of Cyrodiil is the player ' s character and protagonist of . It is also a name of the base game ' s campaign . Background . The Hero aided the Empire during the Great War between the Empire and the Third Aldmeri Dominion . Due to the deeds of the Forgotten Hero , Lord Naarifin ' s prophecy was unable to come true , while at the same time , the Forgotten Hero made Lord Naarifin unable to use the Orb of Vaermina , which was used by the Dominion to spy on the Imperial Forces stationed in Skyrim . After the Emperor got attacked and became too weak to lead the assault , the Hero led the charge against the Aldmeri in the Imperial City during the Battle of the Red Ring . Due to the Hero wearing the Emperor ' s Armor , he led many to believe , including the author of the book " The Great War " , that he was the Emperor . Events of Legends . The pit . The Forgotten Hero was thrown into a fighting pit , to fight against Tyr by the order of Reive . How the Hero got captured is unknown . During the fight , Tyr saw that the Hero was a good warrior , and they became companions in order to escape the pit . They fought against a dozen daedric cultists as well as Reive to escape the pit . Journey to Laaneth . After their escape , they journeyed north to meet Laaneth , a sorceress friend of Tyr ' s . Tyr and the Hero were eventually ambushed by bandits , who demanded a toll . After defeating the bandits , they continued on with their journey , until they were halted by Dominion Guards . When they had defeated the guards , they chose to avoid the roads . When they eventually arrived at Laaneth ' s house , it was crawling with daedric cultists , who had already started transporting Laaneth away north , to use her to help them bring about The Culling . Search for Laaneth . In order to catch up with the cultists , they needed a ship . The Hero and Tyr tried to board one , having it on good authority that the ship was empty . However , the captain of the ship , Swims - at - Night , was aboard and put up some resistance . After a Dominion Guard asked what was going on , on the ship , the captain and the Hero realized they had a common enemy . The captain joined the companions and agreed to sail north in search of the sorceress . Pirates and crash . On the sea , the companions encountered pirates and the daedric cultists , but during a storm the ships crashed onto the shore . Laaneth nowhere to be found and was assumed to have died , either by the crash or by spriggan s , who lived close to the crash site . After the companions had beaten the spriggans , they continued their search for Laaneth . They found her , along with some cultists , in an ancient ruin . The Hero and his companions rescued Laaneth from the creatures inhabiting the ruins . Informing the Emperor . Laaneth had learned that the cult was secretly led by Lord Naarifin . To bring about The Culling , he intended to sacrifice all the inhabitants of the Imperial City . In order to reach the Emperor and inform him of Naarifin ' s plot , they had to go to Skyrim . Upon their arrival in Skyrim they were told by the local Nords where to find the Legion . While the companions were searching for the Legion , a group of Nordic Imperial deserters blocked their way . The deserters were running from Legate Cassia . When the deserters were beaten , Legate Cassia joined the hero and his companions . Infiltrating the Imperial City . After informing the Emperor of Lord Naarifin ' s plan , the companions went to the Imperial City Arena , posing as gladiators in order to infiltrate the city . After their infiltration , they went through crypts until they reached the White - Gold Tower . Inside Lord Naarifin ' s study , they learned that Lord Naarifin had used the Orb of Vearmina to track the Imperial army . Lord Naarifin and Reive , however , arrived at the study and the companions had to fight them . Reive had been granted Goldbrand by Boethiah to destroy the companions . Assassination . After their success in the Imperial City , they went back to the Emperor , who had been attacked by assassins . Too weak to lead the assault himself , the Emperor asked the Hero to wear his armor and go in his stead . In the Emperor ' s armor , nobody would realise that it wasn ' t the Emperor who was fighting . The Battle of Red Ring . Free from prying eyes , the Legion launched a surprise attack from the west , followed by a similar attack from Cheydinhal . The Hero would then lead the charge to the city gates . Lord Naarifin , however , had already started the Culling . The Hero and his companions had to fight Naarifin and his minions . They were successful in disrupting the Culling and retaking the Imperial City . Gallery . There is also some unused avatars .