Dragon Shouts

Dragon Shouts, also known simply as 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 have gradually become obscure. Shouts use the vocalization of specific "words of power" to create powerful magical effects, usually for offensive purposes. Each Shout is made up of three words. However, one or two words of a given Shout may be used, but the effect is correspondingly less powerful compared to the full force of the word.

Dragons are able to master and use them at will, as the sacred language is naturally inborn into their souls from the moment of their creation, though mortals are only able to learn and use them through a long process of meditation and practice of the words. Exceptions to this are rare individuals known as Dragonborn, those who are born with the body of a mortal but the soul of a dragon. Dragonborn are able to intuitively use Shouts and learn them by absorbing the soul of a dragon, and with it the dragon's understanding of the words. As shown during The Way of the Voice, they can also absorb knowledge from other individuals who have mastered specific words.

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 seclusion inside of the fortress of High Hrothgar. High Hrothgar is located halfway up the mountain, nearest to the Throat of the World. The Greybeards use their Thu'um to praise and worship the Divines. However, their beliefs differ from the Blades, who believe that the Thu'um should be used for battle against dragons.

There are twenty Shouts in, the expansion adds three new Shouts, and the  expansion adds four more. Shouts are learned on the word walls of ancient Nordic 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 for travel across a patch of ground almost instantly, and others project spells of fire or ice, inflicting heavy damage to opponents. The Dragonborn can use a partially unlocked Shout (only one or two words unlocked), 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.

Significant events involving Dragon Shouts

 * Kyne, Nordic aspect of 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 ancient 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.
 * After the great Nord army's defeat against the Dunmeri Tribunal at Red Mountain, Jurgen Windcaller converted to pacifism and founded the Way of the Voice to be thereafter practiced and taught by the Greybeards.
 * The Greybeards study shouts and are the primary institution for studying the Thu'um among mortals.
 * General Tiber Septim was known to have been Dragonborn, possessing the natural ability to use shouts.
 * Ulfric Stormcloak studied and apparently used the 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 defeated Alduin and was recognized by the other dragons as the dominant dov in Mundus during the Fourth Era.

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, which reveals the location of a nearby word wall, although it may be a location that has already been visited.

While the locations of the three words walls for each shout are fixed, the words are not locked to a specific wall. Therefore, traveling to any of the walls related to one shout will always gain the Dragonborn the first, second, and third words in order.

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.

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, although this will never create in a bounty.
 * Storm Call will strike all 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 the Throw Voice shout 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 available through Console Commands.
 * 44 Dragon Souls are needed to unlock every shout in the vanilla game. 13 Shouts require the full three souls to unlock, four Shouts (Call Dragon, Call of Valor, Clear Skies, Dragonrend) are learned automatically without needing to acquire any Dragon Souls, the first words of two Shouts (Fire Breath and Whirlwind Sprint) are learned automatically, but require two more souls each to fully unlock; and Unrelenting Force requires only one soul, which is used automatically when Mirmulnir dies, with the other two words being learned automatically through completion of the first act.
 * All Shouts can be "sheathed" by pressing Square (PS3) or X (360) right after the first Word.
 * With the  and  add-ons, 62 dragon souls are needed to unlock all dragon shouts. This does not include shouts learned from external sources (The Greybeards or Hermaeus Mora).

Bugs

 * Rarely, a dragon shout will not work, and the Dragonborn will sound as if something is caught in their throat before the first word can be spoken.
 * Sometimes, it is possible for a word wall to produce no word. The only fix for this is to reload a save.
 * There is a chance of, after shouting, it will not be possible to change said shout to another, and it will display something along the lines of "you cannot switch shouts in the middle of one." To fix it, save and restart your PS3/Xbox. Another potential fix is to switch to a power rather than a shout, as this seems to "unlock" the shout menu, allowing a different shout to be selected.
 * Shouts, like 'Drain Vitality,' may duplicate more than once. Saving before approaching the Word Wall may fix the bug if reloaded.