Dragon Shouts

Dragon shouts ( or Thu'um in the Dragon language) are an ancient form of magic prominently used in Skyrim during the late Merethic and early First Era, but has gradually become obscure.

The Dragonborn is able to use the language of the dragons to great effect due to their ability to absorb the souls of dragons.

A minority of other characters also have the ability to use dragon shouts, such as a small group of monks known as the Greybeards, who live in the fortress of High Hrothgar atop the Throat of the World.

There are twenty shouts in Skyrim †. Each shout is performed by the vocalization of specific words of power. Shouts are learned on the word walls of old ruins, and are unlocked with dragon souls. There are a select few however, that are unlocked by completing quests for the Greybeards along the main storyline. Dragon souls are gained by slaying dragons and absorbing their souls. Each full shout has three words of power, and each word of power requires one dragon soul to be unlocked. Hence, each shout requires three words of power and three Dragon Souls to be used at full power.

These shouts have powerful effects and provide the user with a variety of abilities. For instance, one shout sends foes hurling away, another shout allows sprinting a short distance almost instantly, and yet another projects spells of ice or fire, doing heavy damage to opponents. A Dragonborn with only a partly unlocked shout (only one or two words unlocked) can use it, but the shout grows stronger with each word used. The second and third words will also usually increase the recharge time of the shout, limiting the use of the shout if used at full power.

† = Skyrim without any add-ons. The Dawnguard expansion adds three new shouts, and the Dragonborn expansion adds four new shouts.

Significant events involving Dragon Shouts

 * Kynareth was the one who granted the power to use the Thu'um to the mortal races of men. Paarthurnax was then the first to teach mortals to use the Thu'um.
 * The Nord heroes Felldir the Old, Gormlaith Golden-Hilt, and Hakon One-Eye contrive the Dragonrend shout and use it and an Elder Scroll to partially defeat Alduin by casting him adrift in time, marking the turning point in mankind's favor during the Dragon War.
 * The Greybeards study shouts and are the primary institution for studying the Thu'um among mortals.
 * Akatosh first facilitated the creation of dragon souled and blooded mortals, mortal dov (dragonkind), or dragonborns, by granting the Alessian Bloodline the power of the dragons (i.e. the ability to use the Thu'um naturally, to steal the power of a dragon by absorbing its soul as it dies).
 * After the great Nord army defeat against the Dunmer at Red Mountain, Jurgen Windcaller converted to pacifism and founded the Way of the Voice to be thereafter practiced and taught by the Greybeards.
 * General Talos was known to have been dragonborn, possessing the natural ability to use shouts.
 * Ulfric Stormcloak studied and then used the power of shouts (Thu'um) to disable the previous High King of Skyrim in order to kill him. This was part of Ulfric's effort to show that the empire was unfit to rule, supporting the cause of the Stormcloaks, the Nordic rebel force named after him. He also used shouts to retake Markarth from the Forsworn who had taken control during the Great War.
 * The Last Dragonborn in defeated Alduin and was recognized by the other dragons as the dominant dov in Mundus.

Locating Shouts
After finishing "The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller", Arngeir can be asked ''"Have you located any Words of Power?". ''The location will be added to the map and a miscellaneous quest will be added to the journal.

After shouting in a populated area, a courier may deliver a Letter from a Friend, which reveals the location of a nearby word wall, although it may be a location that has already been visited.

The first word of the shout is always the first to be learned, so traveling to the default location of a shout's second word, will only learn the first word, and the locations will differ. All three locations can hold any one of the three words.

Learning Shouts
Once a new shout has been discovered, a dragon soul is required to unlock it. Access the shouts sub-menu from the magic menu. Locked shouts are grayed out. In the bottom right corner of the menu is the number of dragon souls available to use. These accumulate as dragons are killed.

According to the Greybeards, a dragonborn absorbs the knowledge of the words from the dragon's soul. Fully unlocking a shout requires the use of one dragon soul for each word of power learned, with each shout being composed of three words.

Unlocking shouts
To unlock the shout, hover over it and press the correct button for the system.


 * Xbox 360: Press 40px-Button x.png (x)


 * PlayStation 3: Press 40px-PS3 Square.png (square)


 * PC: Press the R key.

Dragon Shouts not available to player
Meteor Storm is the only shout with no words associated with it. During both encounters of this shout, Alduin's roar is what seems to produce the storm.

Trivia

 * Using a shout in a city may prompt a guard to run up to the Dragonborn and request that they stop, stating that it's making people nervous.
 * Storm Call will strike friendly characters, including followers.
 * It is possible to learn the first word of Whirlwind Sprint before going to High Hrothgar If learned before going to High Hrothgar, the Greybeards will teach the second word of Whirlwind Sprint.
 * All three words of Throw Voice are learned at a single word wall.
 * The locations are shout specific not word specific, meaning they can be visited in any order and the words will be learned in the proper sequence.
 * Summon Spectral Clone has voice files (Tested with Nord and Dark Elf) and is availabe through Console Commands (Skyrim).
 * None of the shouts the player learns use the same Word twice. However, numerous shouts not available to the player repeat words from learnable shouts.

Bugs

 * Rarely, a dragon shout will not work, and the Dragonborn will sound as if something is caught in their through before the first word can be spoken.