Unused Dialogue

This is a sub-page of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Wes Johnson Duplicate LinesDialogue so nice you gotta hear it twice!

Standard Topics & Scenes#

The Assassinated Man Crew in Chorrol#

The assassin normally encountered during the Dark Brotherhood quest "The Assassinated Man", Hides-His-Heart, has an unused Chorrol topic and two unused greetings. The existence of these lines, accompanied by the way they're conditioned and the fact that he doesn't have a quest-specific prefix seem to imply that Hides-His-Heart was originally meant to be encountered in Chorrol before the quest was even started. Something that doesn't happen in the final game as he only appears during his confrontation with Francois Motierre.

Not only would you've been able to encounter Heart, but he would also have two underlings with him; the Orc Homraz gra Morgrump and the Redguard Wallace, who never appear at all in the final game. They have the same type of unused dialogue as Heart, two greetings and a Chorrol topic, which also make it very clear that they don't want to be bothered by you. Where the trio would've appeared exactly, is unknown.

Alval Uvani#

Some very wordy and flavorful dialogue for Leyawiin's friendly neighborhood battlemage. His greeting goes unused due to get overridden by other greetings, while his Leyawiin topic cannot be heard as you can't actually engage in dialogue with Uvani. His normal greetings are all set to close conversation immediately. His Leyawiin topic was originally even longer as well, as the lines used here are numbered "1" and "4", suggesting two middle portions were removed.

Bothiel#

Bothiel is the caretaker of the Orrery in the Imperial City's Arcane University. Under normal circumstances, she can't be found in the actual Orrery cell, since it's in disrepair. However, there are two lines that are meant to play while she's in there. This may imply that it was originally intended for the Orrery to be accessed in the base game. With the Orrery DLC, Bothiel regains access to the cell, and these lines can be used. The second line was meant to be used during the quest "Necromancer's Moon".

Demo Scene#

There are lines present for some kind of demo scene that would've played out between Eronor and Brother Piner at Weynon Priory.

Guard Directions#

In the final game, you can ask guards for directions to various places. However, this was originally a bit different, as there are earlier variants of player topics still left in the files, albeit no response lines for the guards. These may have just been renamed and reused, after all. The Fighters (the faction normally isn't spelled as "Fighter's" like in the topic) and Mages Guid topics were consolidated, landmarks and services options were added and the arena question was removed, as the other arenas outside the Imperial City were removed, making the topic obsolete.

Grey-Throat#

Grey-Throat has an unused greeting and Imperial City topic. This is because they can only be heard before the quest "The Order of the Virtuous Blood", but he isn't enabled yet at that point and only gets enabled once the quest starts.

Hieronymus Lex#

In addition to the unused standard greeting Lex has, as seen above, he would've also gotten a second unique greeting. While this greeting would've presumable been overridden the same way, it never even got the chance to, as while the filepath is correctly set up, the actual voice line isn't correctdly linked to the dialogue itself. The subtitle doesn't entirely match the dialogue, as it lacks "the" before guard.

Holidays#

Strangely, there is audio present in the files that is specifically tied to holidays. Each voice type has the same couple of lines leftover. There are two greetings, two lines for entering dialogue and the two lines for closing dialogue. The only two holidays explicitly named by these lines are Heart's Day and New Life Festival. Besides the dialogue, there is nothing in the files that even hints at what the purpose of these lines really was. In an interview, Pete Hines stated that the first two ideas for Oblivion's DLC were Horse Armor and Holidays. He went on to explain that different towns would celebrate different holidays and that the player could go there to get "perk bonuses and special artifacts". He also mentions that one of the towns would celebrate Jester's Day, which is a holiday that doesn't have any related dialogue in the files. Oddly enough, since this dialogue is present in every version of the game, it seems very likely that Bethesda originally wanted to have holidays play out as world events in the base game before removing and possibly reworking them, to try and sell them later as DLC. After the horrid reception of the Horse Armor Pack, it was likely decided to not put out the Holidays expansion. Subtitles have been made from scratch.

Idle Lines#

Oblivion's NPCs were supposed to have "idle" dialogue lines, just like in Morrowind. These would get used when they're just standing around, but there's no trigger for them to actually play in the final game. It's unknown if this was accidental or a deliberate decision, as having all NPCs basically constantly spout dialogue could potentially get quite annoying. Also notable is that while they were re-recorded for Oblivion, very many of these are directly carried over from Morrowind, which means that some of the references don't make as much sense here as they did there. Some lines were tweaked to make more sense, however.

Argonians

Breton

Imperial

Khajiit

Ingredients#

These player-only topics are... very interesting. Split up by "distinction" of where they came from, there are player-only topics for every ingredient in the game... and quite a few which aren't. It's unknown why exactly these topics exist. Either they are a testing carryover, or you were at one point meant to be able to ask NPCs (presumably only alchemists or people familiar with the trade) about all these ingredients, similar to Morrowind.

These are "F" ingredients, likely standing for "Foodstuffs".

These are "C" ingredients, likely standing for "Creatures".

These are "O" ingredients, likely standing for "Oblivion". Half of these don't appear in the final game and as they don't correspond to real-life flora or fauna, it's unknown what exactly these would've been.

These are "I" ingredients, unknown what that stands for. Final game ingredients Bergamot Seeds, Cairn Bolete Cap, Foxglove Nectar, Green Stain Shelf Cap, and Wisp Stalk Caps do not have corresponding topics.

J'Ghasta#

J'Ghasta is a Khajiit boxer that normally only appears during the Dark Brotherhood quest "Broken Vows". However, there is a line in the files that appears to have been a greeting for him, should he have been enabled in-game before the quest. Subtitles have been made from scratch, and there is no related Bruma topic.

Jearl#

Jearl has an unused greeting and Bruma topic. They cannot be heard because Jearl only gets enabled during the quest "Spies" and you only have hostile interactions with her.

Jesan Rilian#

The following lines for Kvatch's Jesan Rilian go unused, for reasons unclear at the moment.

Lurio Maenius#

Lurio is a removed Imperial commoner. It's apparent from his dialogue that he would've lived with Matthias Draconis. Recording notes state that originally, "Draconis", was pronounced incorrectly.

Oleed-Ei#

Oleed-Ei is a removed Argonian, he was meant to be a member of the Blackwood Company, and supposed trainer of stealth abilities to Company members.

Orok gro-Ghoth#

Orok gro-Ghoth has a greeting that goes unused because it has an impossible condition attached. He will only say it when he is located at The Flowing Bowl, somewhere he can never be found under normal circumstances.

Romana Faleria#

Romana Faleria has a second Imperial City topic that was supposed to reveal her new leaf was all a sham. It is supposed to be played when asking her about the Imperial City if her disposition towards you is over 50, but her standard line is above it in the dialogue list and this one gets overridden as a result.

"Skill" Dialogue#

It's unclear as to where exactly these lines would have been used. They're only present in the female elf voice type, similar to the generic quest dialogue, suggesting the voice directory was cleaned up less properly than the others. Unlike the generic quest dialogue, though, it's unknown if other races at one point had this dialogue as well. These 21 lines of dialogue are prefixed with "sklx" followed by a skill name and a number. They all match a certain skill book. For example, "sklxalchemy2" matches with the text from "Mannimarco, King of Worms", which is internally known as "SKLxAlchemy2". Every line corresponds to one skill, with a passage from a fiting skill book being read out.

Readings#

Transition Lines#

These 7 lines, all internally referred to as "sklxgeneric" followed by a number, would've seemingly been used to transition from one book reading scene to the next. Although it's quite unclear how exactly this would've worked.

Thamriel#

Thamriel doesn't have an Imperial City topic in the final game because hers was accidentally attached to Elragail. Seeing as Elragail already has her own topic, this one goes unused.

(Un)believer Greetings#

These... quite bizarre player-only topics would have had the player telling someone that they either were or weren't a member of the Chapel. Depending on some unknown factor, this could've either been the truth or a lie. The first two options seem to be placeholders, and in classic Bethesda fashion, you couldn't lie to the person if you were actually a member just to see the bad outcome. These may very well be some of the only leftovers of the scrapped Nine Divines questline in the base game, although it can't be determined for sure with this little context.

Unused City Topics#

A lot of NPCs have remaining player-only topics that were originally meant to appear as basic information sources, rather than the generic city topics like "Chorrol" and "Anvil" in the final game. It seems that in many cases, the NPCs response dialogue was re-used for the finalized topic. When not re-used, the dialogue seems to have been completely deleted.

Unused Guard Greetings#

These named guards were meant to have unique greetings, however, their guard dialogue overrides these greetings, resulting in them going unused.

Unused Mages Guild Head Greetings#

Chapter heads for the Mages Guild Halls around Cyrodiil have unique greetings which all get overridden due to quest-related dialogue taking precedence. Leyawiin's Dagail and Bruma's Jeanne Fransoric have no such greetings, and Cheydinhal's Falcar can actually use his. Also of note is the fact that Kud-Ei introduces herself as a trainer, which she isn't in the final game, despite her still having the ability to give the master training recommendation.

Unused Master Trainers Dialogue#

Master trainers have unused dialogue for refusing to train you, probably when you haven't completed their quests. These likely would've played when you press the training icon instead of from a topic.

Uurwen#

Uurwen was supposed to have a unique greeting, but it can only play when she's in Mach-Na's books. Since she never goes there, the greeting goes completely unused.

Wellspring Mages#

Eletta and Zahrasha, two mages you're meant to seek out during the Mages Guild questline, can't be encountered alive by you through normal means. They only appear alive in Wellsrping Grove, a portion of the dungeon you can't normally access, as it's locked behind a quest key. By the time you get this key, both mages have already been killed. However, both Zahrasha and Eletta have greetings that imply you might've once been intended to meet them beforehand. These greetings are properly conditioned to not play once the player joined the Mages Guild faction, also implying they would've had no unique dialogue for Guild Mages, or the idea to interact with them was axed before any could be recorded.

Wilderness Lines#

While the NQDWilderness quest normally only contains dialogue for people that are found outside of the major cities, it seems that it was at one point also used to store placeholder dialogue. These lines were presumably stored here until they were voiced and would then get moved. However, these would never get voiced at all and remain in text form in the quest.

Cat-Face#

A unique greeting and Leyawiin topic for the local ostler Cat-Face. His greeting is very peculiar, as with a whopping 9 lines, it would have been one of the longest NPC greetings by quite a margin in the game. It may very well be that this greeting was written before the general dialogue was reworked and often shortened because the developers encountered memory issues.

Atahba#

The same also goes for stablehand Atahba who, just like Cat-Face, completely lacks a Leyawiin topic in the final game. Her Leyawiin topic would've discussed the Trans-Niben debate, although it's unknown who the "Councilor" is that she refers to, as all members of the Elder Council (except Ocato) go unseen and unnamed in-game.

Ugak gra-Mogakh#

Skingrad's ostler also has quite a bit of dialogue that goes unused here.

Bongond#

Chorrol's ostler has arguably even more intricately set up leftovers, with a line suggesting joining the Chapel, which is a faction that cannot be joined by the player in the final game (unless you're playing the Knights of the Nine DLC).

Quest Dialogue#

A Watery Grave#

This hello line gets overridden in the final game, by Captain Tussaud forcegreeting you instead. Since at every point afterwards he's hostile, this line goes unheard.

In the final game, an Imperial and a Redguard pirate have a flavor conversation about the quest. While the Imperial's line were unchanged, the Redguard pirate was originally either a Nord or Orc instead, as his lines are present in the shared Nord voice bank as well. Developer notes attached to the dialogue states that there was a "race change to Redguard to make the conversation stand out more." Whether or not this was succesful is up for debate as the early lines are a lot better acted, but the final variant, while flatter in delivery, pronounces the Captain's name better. Neither actor really adheres to the intended grizzled pirate delivery. The Imperial's line are present in text only for added context.

Alchemy Acquisitions#

These player-only topics all prefixed with MG19. They're related to the special quest "Alchemy Acquisitions", in which you as the new Arch-Mage get access to the special ingredient-reproducing chest. Based on the topics, however, you might've originally needed to talk with Julienne in order to get ingredients, similar to how "ordering" something in the minor expansions works. This idea was presumably scrapped to make the chest, and as a result, the reward, more unique.

Dremora in Breaking the Siege of Kvatch#

It seems that at one point, you would've been talked to by a Dremora during "Breaking the Siege of Kvatch". While no Dremora is specifically named, it would have likely been the Dremora Sigil Keeper you fight before getting the Sigil stone. He would want to know the player's "blood" and "rank", but all dialogue for them has been removed, and the player-only topics are all that remain. It's notable that the blood option does not exist for Argonians, Bretons, or Dark Elves.

There is also an alternative, probably older, take of what the Dremora Sigil Keeper says to you during the quest.

Early Spies#

Unused player-only topics tied to MQ07, Spies, give quite a different impression of the quest. Quite a few references are made to a password or code phrase of some sort. It's unknown with who these would've been discussed. Martyn, as seen here, as the earlier spelling for Martin's name, used in some places. Ruma is mentioned here becuase she originally was a member of the Blades, and was there to help you from the start of the game.

There are two other quest-related topics that don't have anything to do with a password. It's unknown what the potions were for or who exactly the second line refers to. A sleeping potion item exists, but it never got out of its testing phase before getting cut.

Early Blood of the Divines#

Blood of the Divines, MQ08, seems to have been very different originally. Leftover player-only lines show that it once had the player get a Great Welkynd Stone, something that normally happens during MQ10 (Miscarcand) in the final game. While not much can be gathered from the leftover dialogue, it's clear that the player met with someone called Dro'fahr (who's actually an Argonian, rather than a Khajiit, as indicated by other leftovers) with whom they could've bartered in order to get the Great Welkynd Stone. It also seems you would've met them outside of a removed Ayleid ruin called Lissalda, and he could also want something from you, possibly to trade the Welkynd stone with.

Generic Radiant Quests#

Oblivion was apparently meant to feature a radiant quest system. While not much is known about it, it seems that a majority of the questgiver's dialogue remains in the files. It also seems that any NPC in any town might've been to initiate a radiant quest, which might have been the reason why Bethesda decided to drop this system. Only a handful of quests in Oblivion are radiant in the final game. All lines shown here all remained in the female elf voicetype. Some lines of the other voicetypes were later repurposed for some of Oblivion's DLC, they are also included here for inclusion, and their origin is noted. Subtitles have also been made from scratch, except for the lines that come from repurposed NPCs, as they had subtitles while the majority don't.

Starting up#

A random NPC would've used one of these six lines to lure the player into a conversation. They seem to be connected to one of three possible scenarios. The first scenario is an item fetch scenario where an NPC would ask to player to retrieve either one item, or multiple items. The second scenario involved ecnountering an NPC locked up in a dungeon, and they would ask for your aid. In the third scenario, an NPC would sneakily try to get you to buy a treasure map from them.

Getting vague details#

Four lines for the item fetching scenario, vaguely describing it and its location. Two lines for the same scenario, but with multiple items. The NPC would've given the player a list in that case. One line for an NPC trying to get you to buy a treasure map, two possible lines for you accepting the trade, and two for denying it. The last two lines appear to be for the rescue scenario, where the captured NPC would give you a note, likely detailing the location of the key to free them.

If spoken to during the quest#

The NPC would not be happy if you spoke to them again before finishing their task. The item fetch scenario has three possible lines. One for the player returning without the requested item, one for the player returning empty-handed when multiple items were requested, and one where the players return with some but not all requested items. The rescue scenario has four possible lines where the NPC would scold you for delaying their rescue.

Upon quest completion#

It seems that there were four possible responses after turning in the item(s) during the item fetching scenario. The NPC would likely reward the player in either gold or other random items. The rescue scenario could play out a bit different. The rescued NPC would either mark a dungeon on your map, or they gave you a treasure map. They could also apparently not give out any reward, but rather suggest you seek them out in their home city at a later date. Once revisited, then the NPC would give you a reward, with one of three lines.

Hircine#

Vajhira was supposed to elaborate on both the Shrine and the Unicorn. Unfortunately, the related topics cannot be accessed during normal gameplay, as they're never linked. The shrine topic makes sense, as unlike most other shrine questgivers, Vajhira's greeting immediately brings you to a question with two responses, rather than give you the time to ask about the shrine first. Also, Vajhira's shrine topic was presumably meant to read just as "Shrine" like all other questgivers', but here the Editor ID was incorrectly copied instead.

Imperial Express#

There are some player-only topics remaining that were intended to be used during the removed Imperial Express quest(s) that shed some light on the player's involvement.

Mach-Na in the Main Quest#

Mach-Na, the bookseller in Cheydinhal, apparently once had some kind of a role in the main quest. The following three player-only topics bear their name, implying they would've been discussed with them. In the final game, Mach-Na is permanently set to essential but has no quest ties, this may be a remnant of this earlier role.

It seems like Baurus would have been the quest giver involved here, or you had to report to him, at the very least, as he also has similar empty "Black Ring" and "Liminal Bridges" topics linked to him. Baurus also has an empty "Mach-Na" topic, which presumably would have elaborated on their earlier role. It's unknown what the purpose of the black ring was, but Liminal Bridges is a book that can still be encountered in the final game.

These two blank topics are related to the black ring, but they do not provide more info on the matter.

These three empty topics were created concurrently and may or may not have had something to do with this. They may also be related to the dro'fahr-related content seen above.

This blank topic is similar in name, but wasn't created alongside the others. The Great Sigil Stone is an important item during the Great Gate main quest, but it's never brought up in dialogue.

Mythic Dawn Postulates#

There are six player-only topics that are all prefixed with "MythicDawnPostulates". This seems to have been an earlier name for the Mythic Dawn propaganda book as seen in the final game, the "Mythic Dawn Commentaries". In the final game, the fifth main quest "The Path of Dawn" is all about getting your hands on these books. It's possible that these were related to an earlier version of said quest. It's clear from these topics that you would've been asked the book by one of your allies, and that you could've elaborated on where you found it. Both options are quite interesting. You could've replied that you got it from Eugal Belette, who's a sleeper agent in Chorrol with the distinction of being the only agent with rumors about his suspicious behavior. These are never followed up on in the final game, but he could've once been intended to figure into the main quest. Your allies would've apparently asked further about him, at which point you would've confirmed his death. The second option states you would've gotten the book from a campsite in Sancre Tor. In the final game, you can't gain access to Sancre Tor until the ninth main quest, "Blood of the Divines", and there's no campsite of any kind present.

Namira#

Hjolfrodi the Harrier was meant to elaborate on the Forgotten Ones, but her "Anga" topic mistakenly does not link to this one, making it go unused.

Skingrad Recommendation Quest#

Sulinus Vassinus was initially supposed to give the player another method of completing the Skingrad Recommendation quest. For a fee of 300 gold, Sulinus would go to Bleak Flats Cave, kill the zombies, and return to the Guild Hall with Erthor in tow. He still possesses the AI packages for this option, but the dialogue that would set it in motion can never be obtained, as the script requires his disposition with the player to be both less than zero and greater than or equal to 70.

Talasma's Shady Business#

In the final game, Chorrol rumors speak of shady business at the Oak and Crosier. The inn's basement cell is set to play dungeon music, but nothing out of the ordinary can be encountered there. Three blank topics bearing innkeeper Talasma's name seem to be a leftover of this. All three make reference to the Renrijra Krin, a Khajiit crime organization. Talasma presumably would've had ties with them.

Todd's Test Adventure#

As the name implies, this was a quest that was made during production by Bethesda's Todd Howard. Some of the things tested in this "adventure" are the emotion settings of facial expressions, and disposition increase and decrease through dialogue. For this purpose, Todd voiced a male Imperial, Alban Corinis. Alban himself isn't unique and appears in multiple test maps.

Ulterior Motives#

When confronted by the Count, the three necromancers were supposed to yell this out. However, this line is never triggered by anything.

Whodunit?#

Fafnir the door guard was meant to have a hello line when you got near him before speaking to him. However, because he is programmed to seek you out and forcegreet you, this line goes unused.

Matilde Petit has two lines that go unused. The first was meant to be a reply to you remaining quiet during her alliance offer. However, this choice isn't linked to that dialogue, only the other two options, meaning it can never be chosen. The second line is a hello line shared with the others present at the house, however, in Matilde's case, the proper variable for the line doesn't get set (and appears to not exist at all, in fact), and so she alone can't use it.