Mehrunes Dagon Mehrunes Dagon ( in Daedric script : ) is one of the seventeen Daedric Princes of Oblivion and the primary antagonist of . Background . His spheres are destruction , change , revolution , energy , and ambition . Mehrunes Dagon is the foe of all mortal races , and has attempted to conquer the physical world Nirn many times . The common reasoning behind his many plots is his belief that Tamriel is in fact a plane of Oblivion which is rightly his . He constantly invaded Tamriel relentlessly from the First Era onward . The most famous of Dagon ' s invasions of Morrowind is certainly the attack on the capital city of Mournhold at the end of the First Era . Dagon was defeated by the god - like Almalexia and Sotha Sil , but not before he destroyed the entire city and devoured its populace . Mehrunes Dagon was also behind the destruction of Ald Sotha , where he destroyed House Sotha . Some time in the early Third Era , Mehrunes Dagon was defeated by the sorcerer Chimere Graegyn . Dagon cursed Chimere by twisting the terms of a pact between the two . During the Imperial Simulacrum , in the years 3E 389 - 3E 399 , Lord Dagon conspired with Uriel Septim VII ' s power hungry Battlemage Jagar Tharn to imprison the Emperor in Dagon ' s plane of Oblivion while Tharn assumed the Emperor ' s likeness and ruled in his place . Further , Dagon assisted Tharn by attacking the Imperial Battle College in the Battlespire . This attempt at taking over Tamriel was stopped by a mere mortal . Brooding over his many defeats , Dagon eventually came up with his next attempt to conquer Tamriel . This attempt was to become known as the Oblivion Crisis . He had his Mythic Dawn cultists assassinate the Emperor and all of his heirs , but one was unknown , and survived . The heir , the Blades , and the Hero of Kvatch continually defeated him until the assault on the Imperial City , where Dagon was defeated and banished back to Oblivion by Akatosh himself . Plane of Oblivion . Mehrunes Dagon ' s plane of Oblivion is the Deadlands . The Invasion Of Morrowind . Lord Sotha Sil visited Coldharbour , following the destruction of the city of Gilverdale in Valenwood by Molag Bal . He made a deal with eight of the more prominent Daedric Princes : Azura , Boethiah , Hermaeus Mora , Hircine , Malacath , Mehrunes Dagon , Molag Bal and Sheogorath . The terms of the deal were that during the war between Morrowind and Cyrodiil , the Daedric Princes should not accept any summon by a mortal , unless it was done by witches or sorcerers . However , a former spymaster of Vivec managed to summon Mehrunes Dagon by fueling the rage of a witch of the Skeffington Coven in High Rock . The witch wanted to take revenge upon the Duke of Morrowind , while the spymaster just wanted to see Morrowind suffer after what Vivec had done to him . Mehrunes Dagon went further and destroyed Mournhold , the capital of Morrowind , in one of the most devastating attacks ever recorded by historians . Although Mehrunes Dagon was eventually banished back to Oblivion by a joint effort of Almalexia and Sotha Sil , Mournhold had been totally destroyed , and the Duke of Morrowind was slain . A new city was constructed right atop the ruins of the destroyed Mournhold . Also in Morrowind , Dagon was responsible for the destruction of Ald Sotha , ancient home of the Dunmer House Sotha and reported birthplace of Sotha Sil . It is also likely here that the Forces of Destruction were somehow involved . Imperial Simulacrum . During the Imperial Simulacrum , Jagar Tharn dealt with Mehrunes Dagon , and it is rumored that Molag Bal assisted in some way , although he did not help in the following events . Assault on Battlespire . After the Miracle of Peace , when the great Numidium was resurrected and destroyed once again , Mehrunes Dagon attempted to invade Tamriel , beginning with the Battlespire , where Imperial Battlemages would undergo their final test before graduating . An unnamed apprentice teleported to the floating fort for his final test , only to find himself in the middle of the Daedric invasion . Through purging the levels and traveling to the Oblivion planes , the apprentice frustrated Mehrunes Dagon ' s ambitions . Mehrunes Dagon assaulted the Battlespire , a proving ground and bastion of the Imperial Battlemage s . Tharn had to destroy the Imperial Battlemages to solidify his rule over Tamriel in Uriel Septim VII ' s seat . However , the Prince of Destruction had a hidden agenda : he wanted to invade Tamriel . Since the Prince and his Daedric army could not cross into Tamriel directly , he conquered and used multiple pocket dimensions and the Battlespire , which was the final gateway , as steps to the mortal realm . One of the invaded realms was the Shade Perilous , a realm of the Daedric Prince Nocturnal . Two of Nocturnal ' s lieutenants , Deyanira Katrece and Jaciel Morgen , suffered severely due to Mehrunes Dagon ' s invasion . Although the Battlespire had fallen , an unnamed apprentice managed to banish Mehrunes Dagon to Oblivion . The hero used Mehrunes Dagon ' s protonymic and neonymic , and then struck the Prince with the Daedric Broadsword of the Moon Reiver , an artifact of great power that was forged from Mehrunes Dagon ' s own essence . With this action , Mehrunes Dagon ' s anchor to the mortal realm was severed and he was banished to Oblivion . The Battlespire itself was destroyed in the wake of the invasion , due to the fact that the magicka anchors that supported the floating citadel were also severed . Another artifact worthy of note in this period of chaos was the Daedric Crescent Blade . These Blades were used in the invasion of the Battlespire by Mehrunes Dagon ' s army . After the event , the Septim Dynasty declared this weapon illegal , and thus made the blade highly prized among collectors . Oblivion Crisis . In the last years of the Third Era of Tamriel , Mehrunes Dagon formed an alliance with the Altmer wizard Mankar Camoran . Dagon presented Camoran with his book of razors , the Mysterium Xarxes , the principles of which Camoran used to found the Order of the Mythic Dawn , a Daedric cult devoted to the destruction of the Septim bloodline and the re - creation of the Mythic Era in which they believed Dagon would rule . The most infamous and far - reaching show of power from the Daedric Forces of Destruction occurred during the Oblivion Crisis , where Mehrunes Dagon sought to conquer all of Tamriel . In order for Dagon ' s Forces to invade , however , the Emperor and his heirs had to be removed . This task fell to the Mythic Dawn , who succeeded in assassinating Emperor Uriel Septim VII . This extinguished the divine Dragonfires and allowed Gates to Oblivion to be opened all across Tamriel . The first attack made by the Daedra was on the city of Kvatch , which was utterly razed . Following the Battle of Kvatch , Oblivion Gates were opened in earnest by the Mythic Dawn , allowing the Daedra to roam the countryside while the main army focused on attacking the major cities . This invasion was to be foiled by the combined efforts of the last surviving heir to the throne , Martin Septim , and the anonymous Hero of Kvatch . Time and again , the Hero took the battle into Oblivion itself , fighting off the Daedric Forces of Destruction and retrieving the Sigil Stone that anchored the gate to Tamriel , thus closing the portal . After the Hero led the combined forces of Cyrodiil to a famous victory at the city of Bruma , as well as the fall of the Mythic Dawn during the Hero ' s raid on the cult leader Mankar Camoran ' s realm of Gaiar Alata , the Daedra launched a final all - out assault on the Imperial City itself . It was here that Dagon himself entered the battle , in an attempt to stop Martin Septim re - lighting the Dragonfires . But it was to no avail . Using the power within the Amulet of Kings , Martin summoned and merged with Akatosh and banished Dagon back into Oblivion , and with him the whole of the Daedric Forces of Destruction . This act , however , consumed both Martin himself and the Amulet of Kings , but apparently rendered the Dragonfires and the Septim Bloodline redundant , leaving Tamriel without the need of the institution of the Empire . Presumably , Akatosh ' s direct intervention , infused with the life - force of a living Septim , secured the wards that kept Oblivion separate from Nirn to the Divine realm rather than the mundane . In the southern regions of Cyrodiil , deep within a long - forgotten Ayleid ruin , lay the Nefarivigum , a foul construct of Mehrunes Dagon , that was erected to be ever watchful for the pilgrim who would step forth and best an unknown trial of worth . It was said that such a pilgrim would be rewarded with the blessing of Mehrunes ' Razor . It seems that the construct was able to retrieve the razor from its current owner , and pass it to the pilgrim that solved and survived the trial . The Ayleid s tried to prevent the blade from being released , erecting Varsa Baalim , a city that surrounded the Nefarivigum . For many years the city stood strong ; however , some unfortunate events occurred , and the city was destroyed and lost from the annals of history . Sometime during the Oblivion Crisis , Frathen Drothan , a rogue Telvanni mage , tried to retrieve the blade in order to support his rebellion against the Septim Empire . He found the ruins of Varsa Baalim , and eventually he reached the Nefarivigum . However , the Hero of Kvatch thwarted Drothan ' s nefarious plans and retrieved the blade for himself . Appearance and roles in Tamriel . When in the mortal realm , Mehrunes Dagon appeared as a gigantic demonic creature with red skin , yellow eyes and four arms , each one armed with a deadly weapon , one such arm had metal claws protruding from its fist . Six horns adorned Dagon ' s bald skull and his pointed ears were pierced with large gold hoops . His entire body was scarred and tattooed with ritualistic markings . Sharp fangs lined his jaw , and he wore an armoured neck brace around his shoulders . His hands and feet were clawed and he frequently used them in battle to stomp on and crush his enemies . Mehrunes Dagon was also one of the Dunmeri Four Corners of the House of Troubles . The Four Corners of the House of Trouble consisted of Molag Bal , Mehrunes Dagon , Malacath , and Sheogorath . These Daedric Princes rebelled against the counsel and admonition of the Tribunal , causing great strife among their daedric kin and confusion among the clans and Great Houses of Morrowind . They are holy in that they serve the role of obstacles during the Testing . Through time they have sometimes become associated with local enemies , like the Nord s , Akaviri , or Mountain Orc s . As written in the " The House of Troubles , " Mehrunes Dagon is the god of destruction . He is associated with natural dangers like fire , earthquakes , and floods . To some he represents the inhospitable land of Morrowind . He tests the Dunmer will to survive and persevere . Appearance in Skyrim . Mehrunes Dagon temporarily returns in for the questline Pieces of the Past . After the Dragonborn has acquired the pieces of Mehrunes ' Razor , Silus Vesuius explains that in order to repair the Razor , the daedric lord himself must be contacted . The Dragonborn is then prompted to meet at Dagon ' s altar . Upon arriving at the altar , Silus quickly greets the Dragonborn and then starts the contacting ritual with Dagon . After the first try , he gets no reply – and then suggests that the Dragonborn tries too . This time Dagon answers , explaining that in order to repair the Razor , the Dragonborn must slay the " pawn on the board " ( Silus ) , in order to be his champion and wield the Razor . After accepting or refusing , the Dragonborn hears some last voiceovers from Dagon , and then two Dremora are summoned to attack . Using the PC version ' s in - game console , the player can spawn an actual Mehrunes Dagon character . However , this character takes on the appearance of a standard Dremora , such as those found in the shrine . This model is likely used as a placeholder , as Dagon ' s actual model was never meant to be seen in game , explaining the inconsistencies with his previous appearances . Artifacts . Several Artifacts have been attributed to Mehrunes Dagon and all of them primarily evil in both creation and function . Chiefly among them are : Mysterium Xarxes . The holy book of the Mythic Dawn , written with razors and forged in the fires of blood and death . Penned by Dagon himself and given by him to Mankar Camoran . Its exact contents are for the most part unknown , however it does contain a passage on the subject of domination and enslavement which Camoran reads to his disciples . Camoran would later write a collection of four volumes of commentaries on the Xarxes , these books were kept and read by members of his order and prospective members were required to decipher a hidden code found in the text in order to prove their commitment to Lord Dagon ' s service . Once they had cracked the code they would be able to locate Dagon ' s hidden shrine in an event known as the path of dawn . As of the Fourth Era , the only known remnant of the Mysterium Xarxes is a single burnt page in the possession of Silus Vesuius . Mehrunes Razor . Another famous artifact of Mehrunes Dagon is Mehrunes ' Razor . This mythical artifact was capable of slaying any creature instantly . This blade was highly prized among assassins . The Hero of Daggerfall was once rewarded by Mehrunes Dagon , after his service of eliminating a troublesome Frost Daedra , with the Razor . Decades later , the blade was recovered in bad condition by the Nerevarine and then Mehrunes Dagon in his shrine of Yasammidan , restored the blade to its former glory . A deadly weapon crafted by Dagon for his most loyal champions . It takes the form of a jagged dagger which has the ability to kill a person instantly and imprison their soul in Oblivion . The razor was bestowed upon Msirae Faythung , who was Dagon ' s champion until he failed some unknown task and both the razor and its wielder were entombed in Sundercliff Watch until it was recovered by the Champion of Cyrodiil . After the event of the Oblivion Crisis , several groups were founded or formed to fight the Daedra . One group , " the keepers of the Razor " found the dagger and split it into three parts . Almost two hundred years later it would be recovered and repaired by the Dragonborn hero of Skyrim .