The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim/Awesome

"Secessionist: "My point exactly.""
 * Fus Ro Dah!
 * The revised version is even better
 * The trailer would be nothing without Jeremy Soule's unbelievably epic soundtrack.
 * In the Gametrailers short demo at E3, Todd chooses to mess with some normally peaceful Mammoths and their Giant masters, who normally would not attack the player. While he is facing off with one of the Giants, there is a roar and suddenly a massive dragon swoops down, grabs the Giant in its talons and drops it from the sky to its death before turning its eye to the player for its next victim.
 * In another E3 demo, Todd slows down time and uses a two handed lightning blast to Kamehame Hadouken a Draugr into the ceiling, receiving a round of applause for his efforts.
 * Storm Call is a weaponized Empathic Environment on demand. Watching as the dragon desperately tries to keep flying as it's hit by lightning, knowing that abandoning its tactical advantage and meeting you on the ground is death...and not choosing in time and plowing into the ground as it dies. Cue soul absorption.
 * The anonymous soldier in the initial demonstration video gets one: after being set on fire by the dragon, he draws his sword and challenges the dragon. Then he is bitten in half.
 * Animation of Skyrim Video. How do you kill a lizard with a toothpick? Let Dovahkiin show you.
 * The first time you kill a dragon. Especially if you're high enough level (around 10) to fight it with little trouble. Regardless of how easy or hard the fight is, once you strike the final blow, the dragon realizes who you are and yells: "Dovakhiin, nid!" (Dragonborn, no!)
 * Occasionally, when fighting a high-level enemy (such as a dragon), a triumphal remix of Sons of Skyrim begins playing. Whatever's happening on-screen is instantly transmuted into pure win.
 * This troper went through a period where she absolutely dreaded going up against dragons. Mostly because I was still too low-level to be able to do so and not get violently slaughtered. Of course, whenever the dragon approached and I tried to run away, that song started up, and I was almost shamed back into going to fight it. The game is pretty much literally cheering you on, after all.
 * The Dark Brotherhood gets one in their introduction. In Oblivion, you awaken to find a Speaker of the Black Hand offering an initiation contract. In Skyrim, you still have to sleep but Ladies and Gentlemen, the Dark Brotherhood.
 * Speaking of the Dark Brotherhood, the final mission has you
 * The whole final confrontation is almost more of a Crowning Moment for HIM then for you;
 * Also with the Dark Brotherhood, we have Shadowmere's cameo; a nearby pond turns into pitch-black bubbling tar, and the demonic steed rises up from its depths with fire in her eyes.
 * The Subquest to get him is even called "Behold! Shadowmere!"
 * Another one for the Dark Brotherhood:
 * A random secessionist NPC gained one for successfully pointing out the Logic Bomb of a loyalist. He asks her why it is Skyrim shouldn't fight the Empire's control, comparing it to how the Empire gave in to Thalmor's demands. She says the conflict with the Thalmor was different! They were foreign invaders who threatened the Empire's way of life.
 * A random secessionist NPC gained one for successfully pointing out the Logic Bomb of a loyalist. He asks her why it is Skyrim shouldn't fight the Empire's control, comparing it to how the Empire gave in to Thalmor's demands. She says the conflict with the Thalmor was different! They were foreign invaders who threatened the Empire's way of life.

""Hurry up! I don't have all morning!""
 * She proceeds to shut up, and the conversation ends.
 * The first time you kill a dragon outside main quest. Full stop.
 * Especially if it attacks you while you're in a village and you manage to keep anyone from dying. Picture it: You're just harvesting cabbage, and see two people walk by, maybe give you a nod. Suddenly, there's an unholy sound and nightmare monster swoops in, torching everything in its path. The two people don't run from it like all the rest. They actually shoot arrows at the thing! Then lead the creature outside down, and actually take it down, one with just the power of their own voice! "I've never seen ANYTHING like that!" is an understatement.
 * The final main storyline mission. Wow. After, you  . But the coward   But how are you going to get there? Well, you simply   Have fun storming the ruin, filled with high-level Druagr and two dragons at the gate, then when you reach the top and fight a lich, you literally   I don't care what Ulfric says, you are the only one fit to rule Skyrim.
 * Finishing the Companions quest chain and meeting Kodlak there is even better, I sprinted to find Alduin just after the fogs were lifted and found Kodlak there, after I used Dragonrend and brought Alduin down, the two of us destroyed the World Eater together. Felt good fighting alongside him.
 * And once you're finished and return to Skyrim, (assuming you didn't kill ) you will find yourself surrounded by dozens of dragons who are roaring and thundering into the air, loud enough to shake the snow and deafen an unwary player, as they all acknowledge   There's something deeply moving about that entire sequence.
 * An alternate interpretation: consider the power structure of dragons, where Asskicking Equals Authority, and only the strongest is considered fit to lead. Alduin half-unseated himself from power by . Then, you finished the job when  . The dragons you see are indeed honoring the strongest among them, except
 * The battle to save Winterhold College, the Eye of Magnus, the atmosphere, the special effects and everything else, a really fitting ending to the quest line of what is basically Skyrim's Mage's Guild.
 * The fight against Queen Potema, there aren't many fights this flashy and cinematic in games running with this sort of engine.
 * Roaming near a village en-route to a town on the other side of some mountains, Alduin is flying around and lands by a burial site to resurrect another dragon. Doesn't seem like much, right? The encounter is done by chance alone. This encounter isn't scripted, it just catches your curiousity enough for you to check it out. You'll never feel more powerless no matter how much you've levelled up in the middle of the game knowing the big guy's doing as he pleases. This is a pure moment of awesome for the developers alone for thinking outside the box and showing us the main antagonist is doing more than just sitting around waiting for you.
 * The prisoner beheaded before you at the start of the game. I don't care if he was a regular guy, verbally flipping off your executioner as you're about to be killed takes some serious courage.
 * Hell, everything he said was made of awesome! He defended Talos by telling the priestess to shut up, yelled at the Imperial Captain to hurry it up all without fear in his voice.
 * And he does all in this annoyed voice as if his own execution is making him late for work.

""As fearless in death as he was in life.""
 * Heck, he's so badass that one of the Imperial soldiers praises him.

"Tiber Septim: "You have suffered for me to win this throne, and I see how you hate jungle. Let me show you the power of Talos Stormcrown, born of the North, where my breath is long winter. I breathe now, in royalty, and reshape this land which is mine. I do this for you, Red Legions, for I love you.""
 * Actually, if you look around at that point, you'll notice it's Ralof, the Stormcloak who first speaks to you, who says that. Doesn't really take anything away from his badassery, though.
 * Ulfric's Rousing Speech right before you tear into Solitude.
 * Listen to it in Japanese here starting at 0:28; his soldiers already cheering while he spoke, then they all cheer together right after just when they begin the seige. And even Ulfric's ending speech is just as good, and he knows it (after asking Galmar how he did, Galmar replied "Not bad", and Ulfric remarked "I thought so").
 * The first time you see Alduin resurrect one of his long-dead dragons. The sheer spectacle of watching a godlike dragon do his thing is beyond words.
 * Can unfortunately become Awesomeness Retardant if you're at a high enough level and/or have enough powerful followers to kill the resurrecting dragon in 10 seconds flat, before it has even completely finished regenerating and while the Crowning Music of Awesome is just warming up.
 * Encountering a dragon nearby certain important NPCs, such as the Mages of Winterhold -- Dragon lands down in the courtyard, Sons of Skyrim starts up...And the dragon proceeds to get utterly destroyed as Mirabelle and Saros Aven pummel it with firebolts before you've even drawn your blade.
 * Also related to encountering dragons at the College of Winterhold is something of a Self-Imposed Challenge. Instead of fighting the dragon in the courtyard, you can choose to make your way to the top of the main building and fight it up there. It sounds pretty basic, but given the heightened arena-like design of the building's roof, the blizzard thundering at you non-stop and the aforementioned music playing continuously, it's a really good opportunity to impress yourself with your character's skills with fitting imagery to boot.
 * This troper has one save where a dragon's skeleton is lying in the courtyard of the college, facing the entrance.
 * The way that the Greybeards summon you once you find out that you're the Dragonborn. You're walking back to Whiterun after slaying the dragon and suddenly there's a bellow of "DOVAHKIIN!" that's loud enough to make the heavens and earth tremble. It's short, but it made this troper wonder exactly how powerful the Thu'um can be.
 * You wanna know how powerful? Tiber Septim used it to turn Cyrodiil from jungle to deciduous forest. Quoth the (now canonized) tidbit of lore miscellany. The latter parts may sound familiar

"I don't care how many colleges they build! Or how much the sea swallows up! I'll outlast them all!"
 * On my first playthrough of the game, I found it to be more Nightmare Fuel than Awesome. I knew nothing of the Greybeards, and everything of how Ulfric had used his voice to kill the High King...my initial expectations were to find the Jarl fo Whiterun, and probably the entirety of Dragonsreach, blown to pieces. (It didn't help that I didn't quite catch what was being said through the thunderous booming that accompanied it...) Thank the Divines I was wrong...
 * A subtler one for the designers: if you've played Morrowind, taking a walk through the Grey Quarter, on a windy day, while The Jerall Mountains is playing, is an instant nostalgia trip.
 * This Dovahkiin was wandering in Skyrim when they chanced upon a wandering bard in the road. Not having heard "The Dragonborn Comes" yet, they requested to hear it from said bard. Who decides to appear in the sky in the middle of the bard's song? Alduin. Truly a winning moment for Bethesda's programming.
 * Most non-scripted dragon battles are awesome events. Picture this: You're talking to a guy. Maybe requesting entry to the College of Winterhold, maybe asking a bard for a request, maybe just selling some cabbages. All of a sudden, a dragon swoops in. You quit out of the conversation, kill the thing... then go back to the conversation and pick up from where you left off. The entire event of slaying a dragon oozes with epicness, no matter where you are, who you are or how you kill it.
 * JOOR ZAH FRUL. Basically THE shout which "kills" a dragon. Not only can you get those nasty lizards down - them faceplanting being an option-, but each time you use it, you're introducing them to the notion of their own mortality. Which kinda makes you the dragon equivalent of the Grim Reaper. Bonus point if you're using Volendrung and punctuating each of your blows with "JOOR!" (mortal) to keep the dragon from taking off or roasting you: here, you're not just introducing him to the notion of death, you're literally BEATING ITS SENSE INTO HIM, one bash at a time.
 * Speaking of shouts, TIID KLO UL, also known as Slow Time. Think about it for a minute: it's a Shout that slows time. You are yelling at time itself to slow down. And it listens.
 * Actually becomes Fridge Brilliance when you remember that dragons are related to Akatosh, who is not only king of the Divines, he is the god of time. It makes perfect sense that his children would be able to command time, and for.
 * I was doing a Companions quest where I had to recover a Steel Sword from a giant camp. Cool enough, but on I see Tolsgar the Wanderer facing off against a dragon. I rush in, do my thing and take the beast out, and devour its soul as Tolsgar looks in awe. I then ask him to play 'The Dragonborn Comes'. Needlessly to say, I'm alright with Tolsgar writing the Song of Hrothgar Bloodrager.
 * A dragon attacks Whiterun. The Stormcloak guards put up their defense as the citizenry flees, all the while one screams out to the beast; "I'll rip your heart out!!" That guard embodies so many different tropes.
 * While negotiating a peace treaty between the Stormcloaks and the Empire, you can kick Elenwen out of the negotiations.
 * The peace treaty itself. The Greybeards want nothing to do with the civil war and the political strife of Skyrim, Ulfric and Tullius are at war, Elisif is the widow of the High King that Ulfric murdered, the Blades are enemies of the Greybeards hunted by the Thalmor, and Elenwen, well everyone hates the Thalmor. But, teeth-clenching though it may be, you manage to get all of them to sit down in a room together to discuss a temporary truce so you can deal with the larger threat of Alduin. And inevitably they each look to you for your opinion on how Ulfric and Tullius should handle the other's demands, and even if they don't like what you say they yield to your will.
 * This is a long one, and admittedly more of an Evil Plan then a Crowning Moment, but still Awesome. You and Mercer Frey track down Karliah, who betrayed and killed the previous Thieves' Guildmaster Gallus. Gallus's death and the infighting that followed are responsible for the Guild's run of bad luck, and Mercer wants revenge.  So, to recap:   This troper was actually very impressed.
 * In Winterhold, there's a skeleton clutching a tattered flag. No matter what you do to disturb it, the skeleton will not let go of the flag. Nearby, there's a book about the fall of the Knights of the Nine. The implications are astounding.
 * If you kill enough of the wandering Thalmor Justicars (or trick them into attacking you then kill them) eventually the Justicars will start attacking you on sight. Loot their bodies to find out why; the Thalmor have put out an order for your execution. They consider you such a threat they've ordered their troops to kill you on sight. Not captured, not tourtured, they want you dead. How does that feel? It feels pretty awesome.
 * Simply learning a word - you hear echoes of chanting, then you approach the place where the word was written, then it fills your vision as you receive a Theme Music Power-Up
 * On occasion, you will find Couriers running through Skyrim. Try to talk to them, and they will hurriedly state that they have no time to chat with you. But if a dragon happens to land nearby one? Out comes the dagger and he rushes in to meet it. No time to talk to you, but he will make time for some dragonslaying. Granted, he is almost surely to get swallowed whole, but still. Also worth mentioning that they do all their message delivering on foot, unlike those sissies at the Black Horse Courier.
 * Even some of the books that can be found in the game have their moments. For example, one book, The Marksmanship Lesson tells the story of a Bosmer Slave getting a boy to kill his father by telling him exactly where to aim his bow and shoot, then leading his father to be exactly where he needs to be when the arrow ends up getting there. And he does this all while being whipped by the man who ends up dead. How awesome is 'that?
 * "The Locked Room" tells of a master thief who trains people on how to pick locks, but one student prefers to tinker and study the locks instead of break them, even when she has an obvious talent for it. Fed up with her wasting his time, the teacher locks her in a room with a crated vampire and tells her to hurry and get out before it wakes up. The student breaks the lock in seconds, but comes back the next day and asks the teacher if she can use the vampire room to test a lock she's been designing. She promptly locks the teacher in the room and triumphantly announces her lock is impossible to pick, but she was nice enough to leave the key in the room if he gives up. The teacher refuses to submit and tries again and again to pick her lock, and when he finally gives up he can't find the key she left. Eventually the vampire wakes up and descends on him, the teacher seeing the key around its neck as it rises.
 * When your followers do their job right, they really get it right. This troper had Iona (the Dragonborn's housecarl after becoming Thane of Riften) with him along in one gaming session that included both quests and random explorations (which spanned several game days). Along the way we ran into THREE dragons within that session. Though she was too far behind to do make any difference on the first one, she kicked ass on the 2nd and 3rd encounters, which were within MINUTES of each other. Especially the 2nd one which was a Blood Dragon at a Northwind Summit, where she and I actually stood Shoulder-to-Shoulder fighting the dragon by its head, and she even knew to Shield-bash it, not just swing her sword at it. Needless to say those two latter dragons went down very quickly thanks to her efforts. After the whole session I dismissed her so she could get a well deserved rest.
 * A similar display of companion badassery came while I was raiding Northwatch Keep with Mjoll. We're storming the entrance to the keep, Thalmor archers are firing from every direction, and I'm stuck weaving and dodging between multiple Thalmor troops while hammering them with spells and fighting for my life. For a few seconds I think I'm in over my head, when suddenly the head of Volendrung comes rising up over the back of one Thalmor's head, and he gets slammed straight down into the ground. Mjoll winds up and swings at the next one, and in a single blow she sends him flying into the nearest wall. The third turns toward her, raises his shield, and declares that she is just a dog and that he is her master. Mjoll's response is to flatten him with another swing in a single blow, straight through his shield. She then turns and runs up the stairs tot he fortress wall and slaps an archer so hard her goes flying off the side of the fortress, and proceeds go around the perimeter of the fortress, putting in work. Only one Thalmor survived more than a single whack from her, and that knocked him down to a sliver of health, and her subsequent blow (thanks to the game engine's handling of damage in relation to health) sent him tumbling over the top of the keep. Sure, I didn't get to use my spells much, and half of the gear the Thalmor dropped is inaccessible because she whacked them out of reach, but it was worth it just to see Mjoll lay down one of the most brutally epic beatdowns ever.
 * You remember that fortress Rikke sends you to clear out, when you're tying to show her you're Legion material? I was tackling it with Argis the Bulwark. The sun was setting, I was in werewolf form, and the two of us were tearing through the bandits who'd taken up residence in the fort like they were paper. I'd herd the ones up on the battlements down into the courtyard by howling at them (and batting them over the wall if they didn't get the hint), and they'd run smack into my housecarl's sword. We were almost finished, and I was down to half-health, when I rounded a corner and ran smack into their leader, who was carrying a glass sword. An enchanted glass sword. Of course, it was at that precise moment that my werewolf transformation wore off, and I was reduced to a teeny tiny Breton, stark naked, unarmed, and staring a one-hit kill right in the face. The bandit drew his sword... and then suddenly, Argis was right there, interposing himself between my character and her attacker. The blow he caught on his shield was intended for me. And then he picked the bastard up by the throat, and calmly ran him through. Fuck yeah, you are my sword and my shield.
 * Simply seeing Blackreach, the huge underground area with glowing plants, Dwemer ruins, and red nirnroots. Plus the  that shows up if you FUS RO DAH at the orange orb at the middle of the whole place.
 * In the final fight between myself,, my other two companions got blown away. So I faced both of them by myself in a handicap match that only rivals the battle between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Darth Maul in terms of epicness. When finished, you are given the choice of , what did I do? I did it, obviously, but then I   like I was fucking Conan the Barbarian. It felt amazing, I almost played King of Kings by Motorhead in the aftermath. it's moments like these that make Skyrim the way it is, I made my awesome moment, the game didn't make me sit in the throne, it didn't coddle me and tell me how awesome I am, I just am. I'm going to go play some more now.
 * The first thing I thought of after reading this was Game of Thrones. No lie.
 * A mix of awesome and funny: While on my to Karthspire for "Alduin's Wall," I passed a guard and a civilian. The guard complained that his cousin was fighting dragons, whereas he was on guard duty. Just seconds later, a blood dragon appeared. Lydia, the guard, and I fought the dragon until he died while the civilian ran around like a headless chicken to avoid him. The guard pulled an Unflinching Walk away from the dragon's body before turning around to stare at it, amazed (along with the civilian). As I turned to leave, he said "So you can cast a few spells. Am I supposed to be impressed?" to the man with whom he had just killed a dragon.
 * Small one for my Stormcloak-aligned character. I was on the road to Winterhold when I passed a group of Legionnaires with a Stormcloak prisoner (why they were going to Stormcloak-allied Winterhold is another question entirely). I was about to free the prisoner when I spotted a snow bear just up the road, charging. *light bulb* I improvised, yelling "RAAN MIR TAH!" (Animal Allegiance). About five seconds later, the bear had a nice breakfast (they're kinda cute when they're not trying to kill you), and the Stormcloak was running for Windhelm. Now if only I'd managed to get a screenshot...
 * Any time you kill a new type of enemy is bound to be this for you.
 * "Let the Dragonborn be the one to do it. It would make for a better song."
 * During "Diplomatic Immunity", I rescue the prisoner from the Thalmor embassy. Then those two Thalmor soldiers come up to the balcony with Malborn as a hostage. They start telling me to Put Down My Sword and Step Away. While they ham it up, I roll my eyes (it should be noted I was close to level 50 by this point) and pull out my bow. Let's just say a daedric arrow to the forehead makes a great way to say, "Shut UP, Hannibal"
 * I did something like that too. Except I ran up the ledge while they were speaking, sneaked up behind them and killed them mid-speech.
 * After witnessing Ulfric curb-stomp Tullius to the ground, he starts giving us his summations, telling us we've pretty much given the Thalmor what they wanted. Ulfric replies that while the Empire may not be the villains in all of this, they are certainly no heroes either. Tullius agrees with him. It's moments like this that truly show how well-written the Civil War storyline truly is.
 * This troper was on their way to Karthspire during the main quest when a dragon flew overhead. Okay, but then something happened that I didn't know could happen even -- there was a second dragon! I was already worried because I didn't have Dragonrend yet and had enough trouble fighting one dragon at my current skill level, then I noticed one of them was an Ancient Dragon. I quickly turned tail and ran, and as I crested the hill something came into view close by -- a Forsworn camp. I ran over there hoping the dragons and Forsworn would fight each other, and they did. The normal dragon landed and I brought it down, but the Ancient was still flying. With most of the Forsworn wiped out, I suddenly noticed a mage not wearing Forsworn armor. Suddenly I realized I was smack at the cave entrance to Karthspire, and Esbern and Delphine had arrived to help me. The clincher of the fight was Lydia shooting the Ancient Dragon down with her bow, causing it to crash land on an empty dragon burial mound overlooking the region. Using the rocks around the mound as cover when needed and the Become Etheral shout to get in close while he was distracted by Delphine and Lydia, eventually we brought it down after much, much reloading. It was the most epic, challenging battle this troper has ever had in the game.
 * This troper and Faendel were fighting an ancient, right after killing a frost troll. We were having a lot of trouble, and I was almost dead, down to my last potion of healing. Then, using a staff of dread zombie I forgot I had even given him, Faendel resurrected the troll, which beat the dragon out of a sizable amount of health while I recovered health. The dragon attempted to fly off, but with one shot of a bound bow, It crash-landed, leaving me and Faendel to kill the beast. Without that change of strategy from Faendel, we would've been screwed.
 * Civil War questline. Assaulting the Stormcloak fortress in the Rift. The Imperials begin their charge. The Stormcloaks prepare to fight back. Then the barbarian choir starts up. I look up, and an Ancient Dragon swoops down on the battlefield, strafing the fort with a column of fire breath. But the Imperials press the attack, and just before the Dragonborn joins them, he lets out a shout of "ODAHVIING!" Odahviing swoops down to join the fray, and suddenly you've got this epic-full-scale war raging. Two dragons are flying overhead shooting fire and ice at each other, Imperials and Stormcloaks are ducking it out, a pair of summoned Atronauchs are rampaging around, Mjoll the Lioness is smashing skulls, and to the entire glorious storm of chaos we have One they Fear pounding away. Its this kind of unscripted moment that makes Skyrim epic.
 * Yeah, the Thalmor are a group who redefine the concept of "asshole." But I finally found one Thalmor agent I couldn't bring myself to kill outright while walking around in Falkreath. I came across a small camp where a trio of bandits were apparently fighting a Thalmor Justicar. I was initially just going to watch and reward whoever won with a few fireballs....until I looked over the camp. There was a Dunmer woman lying dead, bent backward over a tree trunk, with blood splattered around her feet. I had a horrific realization as to what happened. And that Thalmor agent was exacting justice on the bastards that did that to her. So, just this once, I helped out a Thalmor with a couple of Soul Traps and Black Soul Gems. After it was over, I met the Justicar face-to-face. He stared at me for a moment, and I knew that he recognized me, as the Thalmor have a standing order to kill me on sight, but he simply looked at me for a few seconds before walking away. It was as if he was acknowledging that today, we were not enemies. He was the one Justicar that I could respect, if not like.
 * This troper was traveling on the road near Whiterun when I came across a group of Thalmor leading along a group of human prisoners. Having not been in the game for long, and not having much knowledge of who the Thalmor were, I decided to talk to them out of curiosity. Cue the Thalmor I was talking to going off on a rant about how elves are the greatest beings that ever lived, and how nothing can surpass them...as a dragon slowly rises over the top of a mountain in the background and approaches the area where we are talking. The dragon lands, and the Thalmor decide to attack it. They are slaughtered to a man.
 * "I faced him fearlessly - my fate inescapable, yet my honor is unstained - can Ulfric say the same?" This quote from High King Torygg sums up how his death went. He wasn't scared of Ulfric, even knowing he was going to die, but as a true nord, he was honorable and fearless in battle, while Ulfric simply continued his attack on the people of Skyrim. His only regret is leaving behind Elisif
 * This seems to have been the mindset of the Emperor as well when you're about to kill him. Apparently being awesome is a requirement for the job.
 * This troper was going on the mission to find the temple for The Blades. I had Esbern, Delphine, Shadowmere and Aenea with me. As I apporached the Forsworn Camp near the temple's entrance, a dragon's roar cut through the air. Soon, the Forsworn are firing at it as it swoops in while my companions and I fight both the dragon and their forces. Them, as the dragon gets to about half HP, another dragon arrives! Now there is the Dragonborn, four followers, and army of Forsworn and two dragons battling throughout this camp. In the end, only my followers and I were standing. It felt amazing.
 * A simple one, but there is nothing so satisfying as calling Odahviing to rip another dragon's throat out.
 * More of a personal one for this troper, but the first time I fought a dragon as a werewolf. It was a simple enough night at first. Running through Skyrim's wilderness in wolf form, enjoying the sights and sounds, and simply being one with nature. Then, a dragon decided to interrupt my relaxation. Fighting in the air was problematic, as I was running along a mountain, so I was reduced to dodging its breath attacks and wailing on it when it landed. It gets to the point where we're both at low health, and I have no way to heal. I decide, "screw it, might as well go out with style." The dragon flies beneath the road on the mountain, and I jumped off. Right onto its back. I managed to give one last power attack, and the beast's life ends. We both go crashing into the ground, and I survive with just a sliver of life. Still in beast form, I absorbed the dragon's soul, and gave a mighty howl to thank Hircine for standing by my side.
 * This troper was playing through the College of Winterhold questline and was about to do the final quest ("The Eye of Magnus") when a Dragon showed up. I pursued it to the main Winterhold village, then hit it with ranged attacks (because it was either flying or landing on the houses) before it flew to the edge of the village and landed on the ground with just a quarter of its health left. As I came close I noticed someone confronting the dragon alone, and at closer inspection, he was using his FISTS! Eventually he fell to the ground exhausted from the dragon's breath attacks, so I finished the dragon off with my sword. Looking at the guy who fought the dragon with his bare hands, I took a real good look at him, and he had those elaborate robes on worn by persons of high standing or in high government positions, and the first thing he said after getting up was:


 * Thus I was floored to find out it was Jarl Korir of Winterhold himself who confronted the dragon unarmed!
 * The march on Windhelm was epic enough, but halfway through the fight, Legate Rikke and General Tullius were knocked down, whilst every other soldier died. It was a huge Crowning Moment of Awesome standing there, being swarmed by Stormcloaks, being the only one left to keep the battle going.
 * After many games, the Player finally gets to read one of the titular Elder Scrolls. And it turns out it's not so much "reading" them, but using it is as a viewport to scry events elsewhere/elsewhen in spacetime. And it turns out that's but a simple use of them: you can also use them to unbind entities from spacetime, and do many other things to screw around with the fabric of reality with them.
 * toward the end of the Thieves' Guild questline. Getting to put on that badass gray armor and stand in front of a Daedric Prince  is little more than ceremony padding out the quest, but the setting and armor make it look and feel like a massive accomplishment. The final battle against  running around a massive statue and narrowly escaping the flooding chamber isn't too shabby, either.