Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-24.44.141.89-20130821205858/@comment-1255618-20190419230306

I'm surprised Boethiah is number 3 on most people's lists. Without her, the Dark Elves wouldn't exist as a people, and she's helped them out too many times to count. Also, her sphere is rebellion, and if one is an American of the U.S., or a citizen of any nation founded by rebellion, then it's clear what the benefits of rebellion are. Plus I see tons of Lorkhan aficionados in the fandom, and as far as we can tell in the lore Boethiah is the Et'ada who is one of the closest if not the closest to Lorkhan's way of thinking. She/He showers praise on him in Vivec's sermons. To me, she's definitely a Daedroth that does both "good" and "bad" pretty consistently. The only constant is the emphasis on transcending limits and laws, survivalism, and dislike of authority.

Anyway, I don't think there is supposed to be any one most "evil" Daedric Prince; it kind of defeats the point. They are alien entities who act according to their spheres, including in their spheres good and bad aspects. The malevolence and benevolence of Daedra are intended to be deconstructed and speculated upon both in-universe and out-of-universe.

As "the Prince of Domination", Molag Bal encourages dominance in all its forms, both good and bad, and clearly dominance is an aspect of the natural world that's been around for almost as long as life itself and has been partially responsible for its survival. Without Molag Bal's sphere we wouldn't have leaders or means of ending conflicts except through death or deceit. The reason people are ranking Molag Bal under Mehrunes Dagon right now is because he was the most recent game antagonist, and we haven't heard from any persuasive apologist for him like Mankar Camoran has been for Dagon (and Dagon's backstory as a creation of angelic beings is very similar to Satan's). People even willingly submit to him to gain the power of being a vampire or vampire lord. I think vampires especially (and anyone who acknowledges that they are cool or are capable of being morally good) are going to be grateful for any protection Molag Bal can provide them, and in the Elder Scrolls world Molag Bal as vampires' patron is one of the few deities that will actually look out for vampires. To Stendarr's Vigilants, vampires are "abominations" who should be slain on sight, not to mention to the Dawnguard.

Finally, I'm at least a little bit surprised Sheogorath has been given this much of a pass by people. Post- Hero-of-Kvatch Sheogorath can be pretty kind, sure, but certainly not the original version. He was constantly lashing out at people because he was angry he was cursed. He wasn't in full control of himself because he was a madman, but the anger was real. Case: Execution Point.