Hold Guard

"You have committed crimes against Skyrim and her people, what say you in your defense?"

- Hold Guard Every Hold in Skyrim has its own Guard. These Guards protect the capital cities of each Hold and any other villages or settlements within.

All hold guards wear very similar armor sets, differences are normally just the color of the sash and material of the undershirt used, either scaled or quilted. They also wear the same model of helmet, however the colors vary depending on the Hold.

Hold guards can be permanently replaced by either Imperial or Stormcloak soldiers during the Civil War, depending on which faction the player joins. They will perform the same duties and have the same dialogue (although they may also have additional faction-based dialogue) as regular guards. Holds that are loyal to the victorious faction will keep their guards, however those that are not loyal will be replaced.

Hold guards also carry a round shield which varies in color, and typically displays the symbol of the hold across the front.

Only Stormcloak-controlled Holds have female guards.

Level
Hold Guards level with the Dragonborn until around level 50. This means that at level 50+, the Hold Guards are rather powerful, and have no problem fighting even a Dragon.

Notably, Hold Guards continue to level up to match the Dragonborn's level, while regular characters (including Followers) are locked at the level in which they are first spawned.

Falkreath Hold Guard
These guards patrol Falkreath and Falkreath Hold.

They wear the dark blue version of the guard armor. This armor is a leather scaled vest with a chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Boots.

The guards also carry a round, blue, wooden shield with a painted motif of a Stag's head on it.

During the course of the civil war, the Stormcloaks may occupy Falkreath and replace these guards.

Hjaalmarch Hold Guard
These guards patrol Hjaalmarch and Morthal

They wear a pale green version of the guard armor. The armor is a quilted vest with a chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Boots.

The guards also carry a round, green and gray wooden shield with a painted spiral motif.

During the course of the civil war, the Stormcloaks may occupy Morthal and replace these guards.

The Reach Guard
These guards patrol The Reach and Markarth.

They wear the green cloth version of the guard armor. The armor is a quilted vest with a bronze chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Gauntlets and Fur Boots.

The guards also carry a round, green, wooden shield with a painted motif of a stylized ram's head.

During the course of the civil war, the Stormcloaks may occupy Markarth and replace these guards, although the one guarding Soljund's Sinkhole will remain a Reach Hold Guard.

The Pale Guard
These guards patrol The Pale and Dawnstar.

They wear a pale, cream cloth version of the guard armor. The armor is a scaled vest with a bronze chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Gauntlets and Fur Boots.

The guards also carry a round, gray, wooden shield with a painted motif of a four point star.

During the course of the civil war, the Imperial Legion or Stormcloaks may occupy Dawnstar and replace these guards, despite Dawnstar's Jarl Skald siding with the Stormcloaks.

The Rift Guard
These guards patrol The Rift and Riften.

They wear a purple cloth version of the guard armor. The armor is a scaled vest with a bronze chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Boots.

The guards also carry a round, lavender, wooden shield with a painted motif of two crossed swords.

Ivarstead and Shor's Stone are a part of The Rift, but their guards are slightly different and are named "Ivarstead Guard". The Armor, Helmet and Shield will still be considered as Riften Armor however.

During the course of the civil war, the Imperial Legion may occupy Riften and replace these guards.

Haafingar Hold Guard
These guards patrol Haafingar Hold and Solitude.

They wear a red cloth version of the guard armor. The armor is a scaled vest with a chainmail shirt underneath. Also it should be noted that Haafingar Hold Guards' helmets are dark brown on the crown, rather than the bronze color that is on every other "guard" helmet in the game. In addition, as Solitude is the Capital of Skyrim and under Imperial Legion control, the guard also wear Imperial Bracers and Imperial Boots.

The guards also carry a round, red, wooden shield with a painted motif of a wolf.

The guards around Castle Dour are Imperial soldiers and will wear full Imperial Armor, though they are still named Solitude Guard.

During the course of the civil war, the Stormcloaks may occupy Solitude and replace these guards.

Whiterun Hold Guard
These guards patrol Whiterun Hold and Whiterun. Commander Caius serves as commander of the Whiterun Guard.

They wear a yellow cloth version of the guard armor. The armor is a scaled vest with a chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Boots, but most guards wear no gauntlets.

The guards also carry a round, yellow, wooden shield with a painted motif of a horse's head.

During the course of the civil war, the Stormcloaks may occupy Whiterun and replace these guards. Commander Caius will also be removed from his post and replaced with Sinmir. The detachment of guards that was sent to Riverwood during Dragon Rising will remain.

Eastmarch Hold Guard
These guards patrol Eastmarch and Windhelm. They are Stormcloak soldiers and share their speech options.

They wear a blue cloth Stormcloak uniform. The armor is a quilted vest with a chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Gauntlets and Fur Boots.

The guards also carry a round, blue, wooden shield with a painted motif of a bear's head

During the course of the civil war, the Imperial Legion may occupy Windhelm and replace these guards.

Winterhold Guard
Only two guards patrol the city of Winterhold at any one time, while a third is in the Jarl's Longhouse. Only one additional Winterhold Hold guard can be found elsewhere in the hold at the Whistling Mine, located to the south-east of Winterhold proper. This guard is the holder of the only known Winterhold guard shield.

They wear a white cloth version of the guard armor. The armor is a scaled vest with a chainmail shirt underneath. In addition, they also wear Fur Boots.

During the course of the civil war, the Imperial Legion may occupy Winterhold and replace these guards.

Bounties
Bounties in each hold are treated separately. For example, the player can obtain a bounty in Whiterun, and Riften will not recognize it.

Normally all guards can be bribed if the player is a member of the Thieves Guild with the exception of the guards of Markarth after the completion of The Forsworn Conspiracy and No One Escapes Cidhna Mine. These guards will not accept bribes and the player will have no choice but to fight. There is the option to go to jail, and after selecting that option the guard will have dialogue. Cancel out the conversation and the guard will ignore the player.

It is possible to kill guards without gaining a bounty, as long as one is sneaking. Slain guards will respawn three days after their death. They can also be killed if they are hit by an unrelenting force shout and pushed off a cliff, or sometimes even down the stairs. The player does not get a bounty unless he has shouted at quite a few guards beforehand.

Trivia

 * Guards saying "Let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll " is a reference to several other Bethesda games where the theft of a sweetroll is treated as an ongoing joke.
 * Another Easter Egg is the "Arrow in the knee" comment, which is a reference to the lack of Greaves in Skyrim. This later became a meme.
 * Guards are not fooled by the invisiblity spell when attempting an arrest.
 * Guards are not fooled by non-guards wearing guard armor, regardless of reputation, skills, or armor faction.
 * During The Forsworn Conspiracy, a Reach Hold Guard may warn the Dragonborn to stop asking questions to the residents.
 * When the Dragonborn has a small bounty, a guard may say "Wait, I know you...". Instead of replying "You're making a mistake." the conversation can be backed out of and he will not pursue the matter any further.
 * Sometimes, if you shout in front of a Hold Guard, you might have the option "Hello".
 * Guards will recognize the Dragonborn's race even if his/her face is concealed.
 * It is impossible to decapitate Guards who are wearing a helmet that covers their entire head.

Bugs

 * If all Solitude Guards are slain at once there is a possible bug where guards will not respawn.This also happens to the the Imperial / Stormcloaks in Riverwood. If you have a large fine you want to pay, and there's no guards to arrest you, you could enter castle dour and find the commander.
 * There is a bug when the guards arrest the player, and the player says that he/she is the Thane of the Hold, the bounty will get cleared but the guards will still attack the player, without any choice but to fight, getting the player another bounty which makes the Thane dialogue useless.
 * There is a possible bug when getting caught and having to pay bounty in Solitude, the game might glitch and put you under the city. This can be avoided simply by walking to the exit doors.
 * There is a bug where if you pickpocket someone in the Whiterun hold, tell the guard you'd rather die than fight, and return to Whiterun and enter Breezehome, the guards will attack you once you come out and will not let you surrender. This can be fixed by running away from the city to Riverwood and sheathing your weapon in front of a guard.
 * There is a bug (so far only confirmed in Whiterun) where everytime you enter the city the guard at the main gate will start attacking you for an unknown reason. You just have to sheathe your weapon, or if you don't have a weapon out: take a weapon out then sheathe it.
 * In the Whiterun Dungeon the guards may become invisible
 * Currently, even if you have gone through the Purity questline, curing your own lycanthropy, guards will still make remarks as if you were a werewolf, such as, "Is that fur... coming out of your ears?"
 * Even after you've become the Harbinger, the guards still say that you're the "new member of the Companions."
 * In Winterhold, if guards are killed by enemies or by the Dragonborn, they won't respawn even if they were in the city.
 * If the player fast travels to Sarethi Farm there may be a chance that there will be a Riften guard fighting a Imperial soldier. The guard will still be there even if Riften was taken over by Imperials.
 * (360) There is a rare bug in Solitude where five guards leave Castle Dour naked except for their sword. The guards begin to walk the streets, however once the player enters any building, they either equip clothing or vanish. This is the only known way to see a guard's face without killing them.
 * In Riften a Riften Guard will spawn and start attacking the Imperial Soldiers, if you took over the Rift with the Empire.
 * (360) (PS3) When you decapitate a guard their head will stay on their body, until you take their helmet off.
 * A Whiterun Gaurd may sudenlly appear when you fast travel. He will stand then and say the normal Gaurd Dialogue. To fix this, carry on with your game as normal, as he will eventually disappear.