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Summary

Mannimarco is a complex necromancer in The Elder Scrolls with multiple timelines due to a Dragon Break.
Mannimarco appears in Elder Scrolls Online, Daggerfall, and Oblivion, aiming to achieve godhood.
Mannimarco plays a major role in Elder Scrolls lore, involving the Mages Guild and multiple versions of himself.

As an open-world sandbox RPG, The Elder Scrolls games are as simple or as complicated as the player decides. The Elder Scrolls' lore follows the same pattern, and players can engage with it on a surface level. Dig deeper, however, and the lore of The Elder Scrolls proves to be one of the most complicated among video game RPGs.

One character that encapsulates the complexity of The Elder Scrolls' lore is Mannimarco. Known as The King of Worms, Mannimarco is a high elf necromancer who has several separate timelines that are canon at the same time, thanks to the Dragon Break that happened at the end of The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall. Thanks to his achievements in attaining first lichdom, then apotheosis, Mannimarco appears in several The Elder Scrolls games that take place over hundreds of years.

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By Emily Serwadczak

Who is Mannimarco in The Elder Scrolls?

Mannimarco is the most famous necromancer in The Elder Scrolls, and may be one of the oldest characters in Nirn. He's often depicted opposing the Mages Guild as his personal enemy was its founder. Mannimarco has been involved in several major events in Tamriel, mostly in his pursuit of godhood, but also because of his rivalry with the Mages Guild. His involvement with the Warp in the West complicated his timeline, and he has several alternative versions ranging from a necromancer god to a mortal man.

Elder Scrolls Online

Canonically, Mannimarco's first appearance in The Elder Scrolls is in Elder Scrolls Online, which takes place just over 700 years before his next appearance in Daggerfall. Here, Mannimarco plays a major part in ESO, and is a principal antagonist in the main campaign. Mannimarco had already established his cult, the Order of the Black Worm, at this point, and they're an active group in ESO. It's revealed that Mannimarco made a deal with Molag Bal and assisted him in the planemeld, which resulted in Molag Bal's invasion of Tamriel. Mannimarco had intended to betray the Daedric Prince in his own efforts to become a god.

Mannimarco's Appearances in The Elder Scrolls Games

The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall

Mannimarco's plot is foiled during the events of ESO, and he is imprisoned in Coldharbour to be tortured for his treachery against Molag Bal. However, by the events of Daggerfall in 3E405, Mannimarco had long escaped Coldharbour and attempted another way to achieve apotheosis by using the Totem of Tiber Septim. Mannimarco used the Agent to obtain the Totem. The ending of Daggerfall caused the Warp in the West, the most recent Dragon Break in The Elder Scrolls.

The resulting Dragon Break gave rise to different versions of Mannimarco, all of which are considered canon. One version of him has him achieve his goals of apotheosis, and he ascends to become the Necromancer's Moon. Simultaneously, Mannimarco has a physical, mortal body that is later encountered in Oblivion.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

Mannimarco is next encountered in the Mages Guild questline in Oblivion. The Necromancer's Moon, technically an aspect of Mannimarco, appears during the process of creating black soul gems. His other, mortal, form is the final boss of the Mages Guild questline, where the player needs to stop him from invading Cyrodiil and overthrowing the guild.

The Order of the Black Worm is active during Oblivion, and necromancers who left the Mages Guild in protest of the Archmage's ban on necromancy flock to the King of Worms. However, Mannimarco in Oblivion is far from the intimidating figure seen in ESO, and defeating him is fairly simple. Mannimarco's death in Oblivion doesn't affect the Necromancer's Moon's production of black soul gems, and still can be used to create them.

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