10 Video Game Side Characters EVERYONE Loves

Fantasy action RPG series Elder Scrolls has always had a strong supporting cast of NPCs, and the developers have increasingly paid more attention to the guards - arguably the least important of figures in the games - as the series had progressed, imbuing them with amusing phrases and even backstories. And no backstory more famous, and few characters more memeable, than the Skyrim guard who took an arrow in the knee.

The guards are kind of just everyday fellas; and their dialogue was written with that idea in mind, spouting mindless chit-chat, being dramatic and OTT, and sometimes cosying up to you, offering to pay your fines and the like - all depending on how much they dig you, or, indeed, how infamous you have become.

But a few guards have a personal story to tell, recounting how they themselves used to be an adventurer, before they took an arrow in the knee... And not a person who encountered them could say they didn’t love to hear it.

Since Skyrim’s release 14 years ago, the character has taken on a life of its own, well outside the game. There was a time it felt like everyone knew the quote, although most of the people repeating it couldn’t tell you why or where it was from; the true hallmark of a side character success story.