M'aiq the Liar

"M'aiq knows much, and tells some. M'aiq knows many things others do not."

―M'aiq the Liar^[src]

M'aiq the Liar is a recurring source of misinformation in the Elder Scrolls series, featured in Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and Online. He was introduced by the game designers as an easter egg to provide commentaries about the Elder Scrolls series.

By game[]

Behaviour[]

M'aiq is quite an eccentric character; wherever he is found and interacted with, he loves to share his claims of great knowledge from his travelling and opinions with those he meets on a variety of random topics including children, Colovian Fur Helms, the Companions, crossbows, dragons, fighting with one's feet, fish sticks, nudity, werewolves, dwarves, combining magic, multiplayer, and more. He almost always speaks in the third-person when spoken to, like most Khajiit do.

Due to the often dubious nature of M'aiq's dialogue, and M'aiq as a character, whatever degree of truthfulness or reliability any of the information he may provide is up to one's own discretion or interpretation.

Background[]

M'aiq's history and circumstances are largely kept a vague mystery. The Skyrim incarnation of him claims to not remember his childhood. It is believed that if he was ever directly asked about his past, M'aiq would simply lie in his answer, leaving his true nature unclear.

Both in-universe and amongst real-life fans, M'aiq is most often believed to be either one of two things: a member of a long-lived lineage or clan of male Khajiit who all bear the same name, or an immortal individual who aimlessly wanders the lands of Tamriel doing whatever he fancies on a whim.

M'aiq has never directly confirmed how old he is, further clouding the mystery around him. One of his lines in Skyrim is "M'aiq's father was also called M'aiq. As was M'aiq's father's father. At least, that is what his father said.", giving support to the fact that the M'aiq in each game is different from the others. Considering M'aiq has been around since the events of The Elder Scrolls Online, if he were to be the same individual he would have had to have lived over 1,000 years, an abnormally long lifetime for a Khajiit, or any race for that matter. An Inscribed Flute in Crow's Wood reads "A gift from M'aiq to his son, M'aiq," further implying that each M'aiq is not the same one as the previous, but rather related.

Quotes[]

Main article: M'aiq the Liar/Quotes

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

M'aiq's physical appearances throughout the series are not consistent; they each bear some differences from each other. Though each version of M'aiq may differ in some way, they all do share a number of consistent traits, such as always being a bipedal breed of Khajiit, possessing great speed, and always wearing attire featuring full-length sleeves and a head covering, such as a robe.
- In Morrowind, M'aiq is a digitigrade-legged Suthay-raht, whereas every subsequent appearance features him as a plantigrade breed, such as a Cathay or Dagi. Granted, this is most likely due to game limitations, as each game prior to Online only had one design or model that all Khajiit characters shared.
- M'aiq's Morrowind incarnation is the only version of him to possess an ability unique to the character as a whole, called "M'aiq's Water Walking".
- M'aiq's Skyrim incarnation is the only version of him to imply a consumption or usage of illicit drugs.
Despite making comments about eating horses in Morrowind and Oblivion, horses were not edible in-game until the release of Skyrim.
In The Elder Scrolls Online, if the companion Sharp-As-Night is with the player, the player will gain +10 rapport with Sharp-As-Night for every time he/she finds and interacts with M'aiq. He even has unique dialogue for this, implying the two are acquaintances.
M'aiq was originally planned to appear in The Elder Scrolls: Legends, though this idea was ultimately scrapped.^[1] However, at least two dialogue files and an unused Khajiit card art believed to be intended to be him still remained within the game's files.
According to an August 2006 issue of the British gaming magazine PC Zone, M'aiq was allegedly named after and inspired by then-Morrowind programmer Mike Lipari, who was nicknamed "Mike the Liar" due to his mischievous nature.^[2]^[3] When the character was conceived, part of his purpose was to inform the player about a number of untrue topics that he/she could supposedly experience in the game, only to find out that these features did not exist in the first place. Another purpose of his was to make fun of useless, trivial items or topics to entertain or confuse the player; the latter behaviour has stuck with the character since.
M'aiq is vaguely reminiscent of 'Smith the Horse' from the Ultima series; Smith played a similar role in those games, but his information, while useful, was always one game too late.

Appearances[]

Notes[]

↑ archived forum post by Pete Hines; 02-08-2016
↑ PC Zone issue 170, Tales from the Edge of Oblivion - Secrets And Liars; page 54; August 2006
↑ In Morrowind, there was a relatively disturbed Kajiit [sic] called M'aiq the Liar who, if found, would regale you on a number of untrue topics - where to find dragons, where to find nude characters, the nature of were-sharks and some curious opinions on horses. Now, come Oblivion, he's back - although he doesn't lie so much. This time out, he races around the map searching for callipers in five-hour stints - so the chances of meeting him are slim. "We love to wink at the camera sometimes and have a little fun," explains Todd Howard. "In each Elder Scrolls game we have one item that for some reason, all the artists and designers have placed repeatedly in the world. Callipers became the thing (in Oblivion). In Morrowind it's pillows. So when you open a chest you might have some callipers or a tong - and you're just wondering what you're supposed to do with these things, and eventually you realise there's no use for them. So we have this character, M'aiq the Liar to make fun of them. M'aiq is actually named after one of the programmers on the team, Mike Lipari, who's one of the nicest, hardest-working guys, who we caught lying about a couple of things, so we started calling him Mike the Liar - this is back in the Morrowind days! It's great in Oblivion because he's so fast - he'll run up to you, say something, then run off so quick..."

[1] rchived forum post by Pete Hines; 02-08-2016

[2] PC Zone issue 170, Tales from the Edge of Oblivion - Secrets And Liars; page 54; August 2006

[3] In Morrowind, there was a relatively disturbed Kajiit [sic] called M'aiq the Liar who, if found, would regale you on a number of untrue topics - where to find dragons, where to find nude characters, the nature of were-sharks and some curious opinions on horses. Now, come Oblivion, he's back - although he doesn't lie so much. This time out, he races around the map searching for callipers in five-hour stints - so the chances of meeting him are slim. "We love to wink at the camera sometimes and have a little fun," explains Todd Howard. "In each Elder Scrolls game we have one item that for some reason, all the artists and designers have placed repeatedly in the world. Callipers became the thing (in Oblivion). In Morrowind it's pillows. So when you open a chest you might have some callipers or a tong - and you're just wondering what you're supposed to do with these things, and eventually you realise there's no use for them. So we have this character, M'aiq the Liar to make fun of them. M'aiq is actually named after one of the programmers on the team, Mike Lipari, who's one of the nicest, hardest-working guys, who we caught lying about a couple of things, so we started calling him Mike the Liar - this is back in the Morrowind days! It's great in Oblivion because he's so fast - he'll run up to you, say something, then run off so quick..."

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